In pursuit of realism, the developers added real-time and reactive elements for enemies and the environment. The game was built using Dunia, a game engine created by Ubisoft based on the original game's CryEngine. The narrative and tone, inspired by Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness and Dashiell Hammett's novel Red Harvest, focused on the lengths to which people would go to survive through terrible circumstances.
Director Clint Hocking conceived the setting and design, which he wanted to be more realistic than the original Far Cry (2004). Production took three and a half years, with concept work beginning during the production of Far Cry Instincts (2005). A competitive multiplayer mode allows players to fight in teams or as individuals. The player navigates the open world, completing missions for factions and allies called Buddies while managing their health and equipment. Set in a fictional African country engulfed in civil war, the storyline follows a mercenary who is assigned to kill the Jackal, a weapons dealer inflaming the conflict. It is the second mainline entry in the Far Cry series. A top-down shooter version for mobile phones was developed and published by Gameloft. Far Cry 2 is a 2008 first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
