From CVG

For those who can' t be bothered to read the entire article I' ll list the main points here:

* Far Cry 2 has 50 square kilometres of open world

* The sequel takes place in a virtual Africa (that " officially" isn' t Africa) locked in a civil war. Two warring factions, the Alliance for Popular Resistance (APR) and the United Front for Liberation and Labour, fight for the remaining wealth the conflict-ravaged region has left.

* Diamonds are the reward

* Interestingly there is no set main character in the game, instead you get to choose between ten or so set avatars

* You can make and lose friends depending on your actions - you can even shoot your buddies right in the face and they won' t get up again

* The environment, while definitely a bit more pixelated than the PC version
(despite Ubisoft' s claims that they' re identical), looks and feels astonishingly natural.

* The grass - which while we' re at is spread far too distant than the Xbox 360 or PS3 should realistically be capable of - blows dynamically in the wind, with no scripted animation what-so-ever. Streams and flowing water look incredible surrounded by trees, foliage and bushes that blow to bits when you shoot them. The detail goes right down to the branches snapping at exactly the point of bullet impact.

* The buddy characters in their simplest function are there to hand out missions, but there are definitely hints of a far deeper companion system in what we' ve seen.

* For one, as soon as you' ve selected a partner and taken their mission, they' ll come and rescue you when you' re shot down, dragging you to safety in a very visceral and BioShock-esque cut-scene. The punishment is that you' ll lose all of your weapons, and if your buddy dies he' ll disappear from the world for good.

* There' s no HUD or menu items dragging you out of the experience, instead tools such as your map, compass and monocular help you find your way around the world, and the deliver absolutely on the mark in keeping your head in the Savannah.

* Gun play feels a lot more realistic than in Crytek' s version; first of all Far Cry 2 has adopted a Call of Duty-style iron sight for aiming, and recoil has been cranked up several notches.

* While at this stage the enemy AI and general polish around the interaction with game characters could do with some more work, the environment and the general seamlessness of world interaction is utterly convincing.

At the very least Far Cry 2 is the showcase for one of the best game engines to ever come from Ubisoft. This one' s got its sights set on becoming the shooter of the year for sure.