With a development team that had nothing to do with the original Far Cry, and the only link between the two being Ubisoft's ownership of the trademark, Far Cry 2 may sound like a dull cash-in. But judging by Shacknews' preview, the game actually has much to offer.

Shacknews' Nick Breckon got a chance to test Far Cry 2 first-hand, and he paints a tantalizing description of a huge, vivid game that lets players explore and mold the course of the story to their whims. Far Cry 2 features a 19-square-mile (50-km²) game world, a"branching mission-based plot," warring factions, wildlife, and a fancy graphics engine with real-time radiosity rendering and destructible vegetation. Ubisoft is developing the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC versions simultaneously, though, so it hasn't been quite as indulgent on the graphics front as Crytek was with Crysis.

Breckon sums up his impression of the Far Cry 2 experience in one word: variety. "It's a full menu of a game, a long list of cool features, interesting twists, and surprising detail," he says, comparing the title to a mix of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, the Grand Theft Auto series, and the original Far Cry.