Our first unhurried play experience with Far Cry 2 starts where most games should: at its beginning. A jeep ride, in fact, from the airport to Pala, the central town of the war-torn central African country in which it’s set, past fleeing refugees, a raging savannah bush fire and through a checkpoint. The malaria attack hits just as we arrive – the screen blurs, pulses and blacks out, and the next thing we see is The Jackal in our room. He knows he’s our assassination target, but as far as he’s concerned we’ve already failed: he decides who lives and dies in this country.

The prelude is effective scene setting for a gameworld that feels as dense, dirty and sweaty as its developers have been promising. Environments are animated by the constant movement of shadows thrown by swaying trees, the soundscape is rich with birdcalls, the buzz of insects, voices on radios and conversations among NPCs, the light is subtly toned according to the time of day and terrain – smouldering savannah reds, mottled jungle greens, bleached yellow desert. Details abound, too – burned-out cars, rotting shacks, torn posters, rusting cans, and bites pocked into your forearms.

It takes time to understand Far Cry 2’s flow, though. The prescriptive tutorial is intrusive, demanding that you press the buttons as it explains their uses, when all you want to do is run out into the world. Conversations with NPCs must also be carried out at the game’s leisure, their speeches difficult to discern against their incidental chatter, sometimes requiring the press of the ‘interact’ button, sometimes triggered by your proximity. It successfully enforces the sensation of being foreign and unwanted, a spare wheel in a country falling to pieces, but it’s a tough introduction to a game. And then, tutorial complete and with some anti-malarial tablets in your pocket, which quell your symptoms enough that you can sprint for more than a few seconds at a time, you’re left with the aim of hunting The Jackal and the suggestion to start with a mission from one of the warring factions.

The country is hostile indeed. Its roads, which you can traverse with a range of vehicles, are dotted with outposts manned by aggressive mercenaries. Before long, the game becomes a series of tense journeys between icons and objectives on the map. Once unlocked, by killing their occupants, safehouses allow you to save (though the PC version also supports quicksaves) and advance time. Guard posts are marked with the supply they hold – health or ammo – once scouted with your eyeglass. For a game with such a natural visual style, such naked game mechanics can feel somewhat jarring.

The gunplay in the 360 version we tested is entertaining, but Ubisoft acknowledges that the enemy AI is unfinished, betraying terrible driving skills and teamwork as well as a lack of self-preservation. It’s still easy to die – health recharges to an extent, and your stock of fully-restorative syrettes is limited. If you have a mortal wound you’ll need to pull the bullet out with pliers. Get taken down, and there’s a chance that one of your AI buddies will come and drag you to safety, but if they’re killed they’re killed for good, rendering each encounter meaningful through the weight of its consequences.

Overall, our first hours with a nearly final Far Cry 2 are resoundingly compelling, but, without a feel for the way the story plays out, the play mechanics develop and the extent of the world resolves itself, it’s hard to make any real judgment. One thing’s for sure: we want more.