GamingPickz
Game vs game · side by side

Far Cry 2 vs Far Cry 5

Far Cry 2 is an FPS open-world game (2008) while Far Cry 5 is an action-adventure FPS game from Ubisoft Kyiv (2018).

Quick answer: Far Cry 5 rates higher, 7.4 to 7.2 on the GamingPickz Score, and Far Cry 2 is the cheaper at $9.99.

Far Cry 2

2008 · Studio not listed

7.2GamingPickz Score

$9.99

Steam: Mostly Positive

Far Cry 5

2018 · Ubisoft Kyiv

7.4GamingPickz Score

$59.99

Steam: Very Positive

What each one is

Far Cry 2 is filed under FPS and Open-World. In contrast, Far Cry 5 under Action-Adventure and FPS.

Far Cry 2

You are a gun for hire, trapped in a war-torn African state, stricken with malaria and forced to make deals with corrupt warlords on both sides of the conflict in order to make this country your home. You must identify and exploit your enemies' weaknesses, neutralizing their superior numbers and firepower with surprise, subversion,...

Description from its Steam store page

Far Cry 5

Fight a fanatical cult in this open world FPS. Engage in intense combat, free hostile territory, recruit loyal followers and animal allies, and liberate Hope County solo or in full 2-player co-op.

Description from its Steam store page

Story, characters and reception

Far Cry 2
Plot

In the wake of a rebellion against the old government of an unnamed African nation, civil war rages between the rebel forces' two political factions, the United Front for Liberation and Labour (UFLL) and the Alliance for Popular Resistance (APR). While each claims to represent the people, they are equally brutal and exploitative with the civilian population. The situation is being worsened by the Jackal, an arms dealer distributing efficient low-price… (Wikipedia)

Reception

Reception The Windows version was the best-selling game in North America during its opening week. The 360 version was fourth, while the PS3 version was fifth. According to a report by the NPD Group , Far Cry 2 was the fifteenth best-selling Windows game during November 2008. (Wikipedia)

Far Cry 5
Plot

Setting and characters The flag of Eden's Gate The game is set in the fictional Hope County, Montana , where a preacher named Joseph Seed (portrayed by Greg Bryk ) has risen to prominence. Seed believes that he has been chosen by God to protect the people of Hope County from "the Collapse", a global catastrophe that will see the collapse of society, and has established a congregation called the Project at Eden's Gate in order to lead the people to… (Wikipedia)

Reception

Reception Far Cry 5 received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic . Daemon Hatfield of IGN gave it an 8. 9 out of 10, saying " Far Cry 5 is another wide-open playground with all the necessary ingredients for causing a real ruckus: loads of enemies and allies, temperamental wildlife, and plenty of explosions. (Wikipedia)

At a glance

Far Cry 2Far Cry 5
GamingPickz Score7.2/107.4/10
Steam ratingMostly Positive (76%, 18,720)Very Positive (81%, 188,832)
Critic aggregate85/10082/100
Price$9.99$59.99
Install size—40 GB
Steam Deckplayableplayable
Released20082018
Developer—Ubisoft Kyiv

Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.

Far Cry 2 vs Far Cry 5, point by point

Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.

  1. Genre and premise

    Far Cry 2FPS open-world game
    Far Cry 5Action-adventure FPS game

    What each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.

  2. How it plays

    Far Cry 2Open World, FPS, Action
    Far Cry 5Open World, Action-Adventure, Co-op

    The tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.

  3. Reception

    Far Cry 2Score 7.2 · 76% on Steam · 85 critic
    Far Cry 5 ✓Score 7.4 · 81% on Steam · 82 critic

    The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.

  4. Content and scale

    Far Cry 218,720 reviews
    Far Cry 5188,832 reviews · 5 add-ons · 40 GB

    Reach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.

  5. Price

    Far Cry 2 ✓$9.99
    Far Cry 5$59.99

    Read live from Steam and subject to change.

  6. On a Steam Deck

    Far Cry 2Playable
    Far Cry 5Playable

    Valve's own Deck compatibility rating.

Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 1 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.

The two on the grid

Compare the whole catalogue

Far Cry 2 and Far Cry 5 on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.

2 games have both

01000100Players →Popularity →

Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.

Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.

  • Multi-platform

Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.

See the whole grid

How positions are decided

No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
  • Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
  • Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
  • No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
  • A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
  • Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.

Which to pick, by what you want

  • The higher-rated of the two: Far Cry 5 (GamingPickz Score 7.4)
  • The cheaper right now: Far Cry 2 ($9.99)
  • The safer bet by weight of reviews: Far Cry 5 (188,832 reviews)

What they have in common

Both are tagged by Steam players with:

Open WorldFPSActionShooterFirst-PersonMultiplayerAdventureRealistic

Where they differ

Far Cry 2 is also

SingleplayerSandboxLevel EditorImmersive SimControllerGreat Soundtrack

Far Cry 5 is also

Action-AdventureAmericaHunting3DNaturePsychedelic

Tags players apply to one game and not the other.

Difficulty and who each is for

By the tags players apply, Far Cry 2 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Far Cry 5 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.

System requirements, side by side

Far Cry 2Far Cry 5
Minimum GPU256 MBNVIDIA GeForce GTX 670
Minimum CPUPentium 4 3.2 Ghz, Pentium D 2.66 Ghz, AMD Athlon 64 3500+Intel Core i5-2400 @ 3.1 GHz
Minimum RAM1 GB8 GB
Install size—40 GB

Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Far Cry 2 · Far Cry 5.

Accessibility features

Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Far Cry 2 and 1 for Far Cry 5. A declaration is a floor, not a review.

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Common questions

How different are Far Cry 2 and Far Cry 5 in scope?

Far Cry 2 has drawn 18,720 Steam reviews. Far Cry 5 has drawn 188,832 Steam reviews, ships 5 add-ons and installs in 40 GB.

Is Far Cry 2 or Far Cry 5 better?

By the GamingPickz Score, Far Cry 5 rates higher (7.4 to 7.2). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.

Which is cheaper, Far Cry 2 or Far Cry 5?

Far Cry 2 is cheaper right now at $9.99, against $59.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.

Should I get Far Cry 2 or Far Cry 5?

Far Cry 5 rates higher, 7.4 to 7.2 on the GamingPickz Score, and Far Cry 2 is the cheaper at $9.99. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.

Do you rank one above the other for a fee?

No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.

All comparisons

How we compare, and what we will not do

The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.

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