Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2 PC Boxart Release Date: 2008 Developer: Ubisoft Publisher: Ubisoft Series: Far Cry Platforms: PS3 PS4 Xbox 360 Xbox One PC Genre: First-person shooter

Far Cry 2 is one of two spiritual sequels to Far Cry (the other being Crysis, made by Crytek, the original developers). A sequel in name only, it does not follow on from Far Cry's storyline, instead taking the player to a fictional African country wracked by civil war, tasking them with hunting down and killing an arms dealer called "The Jackal" who has been selling weapons to both sides. Things quickly get more complicated, however, and the player is soon doing missions for the temporarily at-peace factions as a hired gun. As well as a substantial list of not-particularly-realistic firearms, Far Cry 2 boasts an open world map covering over fifty square kilometres (split into two 5x5 maps), dynamic fire effects, a continuous day / night cycle, and really annoying checkpoints.

The following weapons appear in the video game Far Cry 2:

Overview

"I made you a door, boss."
"Get out of this Wiki you are a knife."

Far Cry 2's weapons are split into a four-slot system, corresponding to the four directions of a 360 or PS3 controller's D-pad. The first is the player's melee weapon; in reference to Far Cry, this is a large machete. Two additional skins can be downloaded for it, but the player has no choice as to what goes in this slot; it is always a machete of some kind.

The three other slots accommodate whatever weapons the player has in their respective category; one primary, one secondary, and one special weapon can be carried at a time, as well as two types of grenade. Enemy weapons can be picked up, but weapons in Far Cry 2 have simulated wear and enemy weapons are always in the worst condition possible, so this is usually only a good idea in extreme circumstances. Weapons in poor condition are able to jam, which requires a press of the reload button to clear; some of the explosive-firing weapons instead misfire, with the shot going violently off-target or dropping dangerously close to the player. In the end, if the player hangs on to a weapon for long enough it will fail, in a spectacular and generally deeply ridiculous manner. Jam animations always happen instead of a shot being fired, while failures always happen after the shot fires normally, resulting in some very bizarre occurrences such as a weapon blowing up only after cycling its action completely or misfeeding despite cycling correctly after the preceding shot.

Getting new weapons requires the player to do missions for the Arms Dealer, a shady character who apparently wants to corner the market on driving trucks in circles endlessly; he sends out the player to deal with any rivals attempting to drive their own trucks in circles, and adds weapons to the list of available ones every time one of these bizarre errands is complete; only half can be completed in the Northern map, after which he vanishes without explanation, only reappearing when the Southern map is unlocked.

The player pays him for specific weapons in African Conflict Diamonds found in briefcases around the map or earned through completing missions, paying via a website; it's best not to think how that's supposed to work. The Arms Dealer then makes the bought weapon available in his warehouses, several of which are placed in the two maps; after buying a weapon, an infinite number of brand-new weapons of that type can be acquired from any warehouse. In addition, he offers upgrades to the amount of ammo the player can carry, crates allowing weapons to be put in storage and retrieved at safe houses, and per-weapon upgrades which increase a weapon's accuracy or decrease jam rate; these are explained to be "technical manuals" the player character simply has to buy to gain all knowledge from.

Secondary Weapons

There are nine secondary weapons available, from the expected sidearms through SMGs, explosives and even a grenade launcher.

The complete secondary weapon wall in the Arms Dealer's warehouse.

Star Model-P

The Star Model-P, a Spanish M1911 clone, appears as the "Star .45." It is the first weapon the player character is given, after The Jackal threatens them with it. Since the secondary weapon slot in Far Cry 2 can accommodate remote bombs, a grenade launcher or a submachine gun, it isn't something the player is likely to hang on to, though it's common among mercenaries as a sidearm. Despite the game specifically noting it as a .45, the weapon shares ammo with the two Makarovs and the Desert Eagle, making it the world's first .45 also chambered in .365 and .50 Action Express. Like all the handguns, it has an eight round magazine.

Star Model-P - .45 ACP.

Frank Bilders holds a "Star .45" at the beginning of Far Cry 2. Note the uncocked hammer; all four pistols are treated as having double action only trigger mechanisms.

The Star .45 features a reload obviously inspired by action movies; Frank holds the pistol vertical, ejecting the empty magazine to the right with a flick of the wrist, then loading a new one.

In an ideal world, an assassination should not end with you flat on your back with malaria while your target holds your gun, reads your orders to you, and then makes fun of you for being useless.

The Star .45 jams; taken from an enemy and fired repeatedly, the Star will actually blow up before it has jammed even once; seemingly, a particular gun's chance of jamming is partly based on how long the player has been carrying that specific gun. Here Frank is left tugging on the slide until the player prompts him to do so more forcefully.

The Star .45 blows up; the slide and hammer fly off and the magazine drops out; there's just enough time to notice the gun has no magazine well and a concerningly large hole in the barrel before Frank discards it.

Makarov PM

The Makarov PM is the second regular pistol in the game, and really isn't that different to the Star .45 in practical terms; slightly less powerful and more accurate, but overall still a questionable choice compared to other secondary weapons.

Makarov PM - 9x18mm Makarov. The one in-game has a two-tone finish.

Frank holds a Makarov PM as an enemy soldier is struck dead by the vileness of his own shirt.

Taking an aimed shot at an explosive barrel with the Makarov; Far Cry 2's pistols are effective at surprisingly long range for videogame handguns. Note the depth of field blur at the edges of the screen.

Reloading the Makarov; many of the reload animations in the game show the new magazine actually empty.

The Makarov's jam animation; the slide locks up, the player character repeatedly trying to pull it back between making hand gestures. Pressing the button pulls it back sharply enough to actually clear the jam.

The Makarov blows up; that is indeed the hammer about to subject Frank to a life of pirate jokes.

Makarov PB

The Makarov PB, known by its "6P9" GRAU designation, is a modified Makarov PM with an integral two-part suppressor, the rear part of which is fixed around the barrel; unusually for an integrally suppressed weapon, the 6P9 can be safely fired without the front part of the suppressor attached, though the result is much louder. The weapon is called the "Silenced Makarov 6P9" in-game. The only suppressed weapon available in the secondary slot, it can be useful if the player is sure they'll need to be quiet, but is rather situational.

Makarov PB with secondary suppressor - 9x18mm Makarov

Far Cry 2's Africa is a somewhat condensed version of all African environments; here, Frank sneaks through the local rainforest.

Frank admires his 6P9 suppressed pistol, briefly cocking the hammer.

The 6P9 jams. "Why are you jammed, 6P9?"

The 6P9's failure animation; as with the Star and Makarov, the magazine falls out, the slide flies off, and the hammer attempts to remove Frank's depth perception. But at least it didn't-

Oh.

IMI Desert Eagle Mark XIX

Referred to as the "Eagle.50" (with a missing space) on the Arms Dealer's computer, the IMI Desert Eagle Mark XIX is the sidearm of most of the "buddy" characters the player can recruit as allies. The most powerful of the four pistols by a considerable margin, it wears out extremely quickly and fires slowly compared to the others, but is extremely accurate, and since almost every enemy carries a pistol as a sidearm, the player is unlikely to run out of ammo for very long. The game says the Desert Eagle is chambered for .50AE, but it has an eight round magazine like the other pistols; in reality, this is only seen on the .44 Desert Eagle. The Desert Eagle is also used if the player chooses to execute a wounded buddy; some players will find this an emotional, saddening moment, while the rest will wish they were allowed to use the M79 instead.

Magnum Research / Israeli Military Industries Desert Eagle Mark XIX - .50 AE

Frank holds the "Eagle.50" as he examines a fuel stockpile; this is ammunition for the flamethrower, molotovs and flare gun. Note the Desert Eagle has an abnormally tiny hammer and a backwards rear sight.

So IMI and Magnum Research would have issues with their names being on the Far Cry 2 Desert Eagle's slide, but this is ok with them?

Frank fires the Desert Eagle. Or Eagle.50. Or Deagle. Or whatever it is.

Reloading the Desert Eagle. Frank decides to actually use bullets for this, though a bullet is still visible in the dropped magazine even if it was empty. If it's not one thing it's another. Note also the gratuitous left-handed barrel lock.

After that, he pulls the slide just a little too far back. In front is one of the trucks the Arms Dealer has the player character destroy in order to unlock new weapons, claiming they are carrying shipments of "rusty AKs" for competitors. These particular rusty AKs appear to be invisible.

A low-condition Desert Eagle. Given how fast it wears off the finish can't be chrome or nickel; tinfoil attached with glue is a safer bet.

APR leader Prosper Kouassi holds a rusty Desert Eagle during a mission briefing. Despite that every NPC's weapon is in the worst possible condition, only the player character ever experiences jams or failures.

When a buddy is down, the player character has the option of using healing syrettes on them, or putting them out of their misery by spontaneously pulling out a Desert Eagle. Here, Frank contemplates killing Warren Clyde for his terrible Turok costume.

Jam animation; the bizarre sight of a Desert Eagle jam that isn't a stovepipe.

The Desert Eagle blows up; note the weapon is massively more detailed internally than the other handguns, including a visible magazine well; this is also the only handgun failure animation where the hammer doesn't fly off.

Ingram MAC-10

The MAC-10 is the weaker and less accurate of the two SMGs in the secondary slot; it's the only one available in the Northern map, and useful if the rest of the player's chosen weapons aren't geared for fighting up close; the rapid rate of fire and 30-round magazine go some way to making up for the terrible accuracy and weak power per shot. Enemy snipers and soldiers with rocket launchers tend to carry one of the two SMGs as their back-up weapon.

MAC-10 - .45 ACP

Ingram MAC-10 in Far Cry 2. It's never clear what version it is due to the slightly odd ammo system the game uses.

Idle animation; no matter how much you want to look like a tough guy, picking your nose with a loaded MAC-10 is still a bad idea.

Frank finds a discarded Ingram MAC-10 in a sniper's lookout. Enemy automatics are among the worst things to pick up, given their propensity for jamming at the least opportune moments.

The Ingram jams; this animation consists almost entirely of the player character struggling with the charging handle, with a short pause to fiddle with the magazine.

The Ingram blows up; while it might seem not much has happened, it seems the bolt spontaneously disintegrates; the charging handle simply vanishes at the start of this animation.

IMI Uzi

The Uzi is the second of the two secondary SMGs, and other than durability is better than the Ingram in every way; while it fires more slowly, the result is a much more accurate and controllable weapon. Enemy snipers and rocket launcher troops are likely to carry this in the Southern map, though sometimes they will still have an Ingram. It has a 30-round magazine, much like the Ingram.

IMI Uzi - 9x19mm Parabellum

Frank holds an Uzi as he wishes he was holding a fishing rod.

He doesn't let his lack of proper equipment get to him for long, however.

Idle animation; Frank holds up the Uzi, this time pointing it away from his face.

Reloading the Uzi; bullets in the magazine are a welcome sight.

Frank holds an Uzi in a cease-fire zone, shaking his head at the injustice of firearm apartheid.

The Uzi jams in much the same way as the Ingram.

The Uzi fails; the charging handle flies up into the air and the magazine falls out.

Number 4 Mark 1 Flaregun

The Webley & Scott No. 4 Mk. I single-shot signal flare gun can be used by the player and is seen in the hands of some enemies; while they use it when alerted to call for reinforcements, for the player it is only useful as a means of starting fires from a distance. Oddly, it uses the same ammunition as the flamethrower and molotovs, which is depicted as a 20-litre plastic can of fuel. How this transforms into a magnesium flare in a metal casing is unclear. The flaregun doesn't appear to have a jam animation or misfire (or even an idle animation); it's possible that sometimes it misfires and flares fail to ignite, though there may be other causes of this.

Number 4 Mk 1 flaregun - 1.5 in.

Frank holds the flaregun in Far Cry 2.

Frank uses the iron sight of the flaregun as he looks over a completed safe house; finishing buddy missions provides upgrades, until every safe house on the map spawns a truck with a Mk 19, a medkit inside the building, and stockpiles of all three types of ammo.

A fired flare detonates. While not hugely useful as a direct-fire weapon, a few flares can level an entire checkpoint with the fires they cause.

Frank reloads his flaregun.

The flaregun as it's intended to be used, ie how nobody in their right mind would use it in this game.

The second "proper" use of the flaregun is to provide illumination at night; it's actually extremely bad at this, since the flare doesn't produce an enormous amount of light.

In the unlikely event that the player actually holds on to a flaregun for long enough, this happens.

Enemy soldiers killed in vehicles do not drop weapons, and seemingly have yet to decide what sidearm they should carry, leading to this abomination being found in their holster.

IEDs

Far Cry 2's improvised explosive devices are essentially crude remotely triggered bombs made from one of three types of explosive device, a cell phone, duct tape, a battery and some randomly placed transistors. They can be placed on the ground or attached to objects by standing close to them; placing one will automatically switch to the detonator, but more can be placed by pressing the aim button to switch back to the explosives.

These explosives are so improvised they come as a mass-produced kit. Erm...

The three IEDs on the hood of a handy car; a TMRP-6 anti-tank mine, a 60mm mortar round from the Norinco Type 63, and a cluster of pipe bombs. The player character always holds the detonator with at least one finger clipped inside it.

Frank prepares to detonate the IEDs.

With predictable consequences.

Frank puts the IEDs into a secondary crate. Only he doesn't put the actual IEDs into it at all. Primary, secondary and special crates appear in every safe house and Arms Dealer warehouse; once bought, anything put into one crate can be retrieved from any crate on the map, showing they are built using the same technology as Resident Evil's chests.

M79

The M79 grenade launcher is the most powerful projectile weapon in the secondary slot; a single-shot grenade launcher which fires shots in a long arcing trajectory, it destroys any object in the game in a single hit and has an extremely wide splash radius; a few shots will easily annihilate a checkpoint.

M79 Grenade Launcher - 40mm.

Frank aims his M79 at a particularly vicious-looking lake.

Firing the M79 demonstrates that local buildings are made of explodium instead of wood.

Reloading the M79; note that a red band on a 40mm grenade indicates it is a chemical round.

The M79 allows the creation of impromptu scrapyards even at relatively long range.

The M79 misfires; the grenade is visible about to hit the ground in front of Frank. There's then a brief pause before it detonates, despite that the grenades normally detonate on impact.

The M79 failure animation; the weapon's hinge breaks after firing.

The front of the weapon then leaps over Frank's shoulder to freedom; either that or a howitzer has just snuck up on him.

Primary Weapons

The twelve primary weapons are the mainstay of a player's arsenal, as a rule; assault rifles, sniper rifles and shotguns are found in this slot, as well as an inexplicable grenade launcher.

The completed primary weapon wall in the Arms Dealer's warehouse.

Heckler & Koch MP5SD3

Without the Fortunes Pack DLC, the Heckler & Koch MP5SD3, referred to in-game as the "Silent MP-5," is the only suppressed weapon in the primary slot; regardless, it is the only SMG in that slot, and unsurprisingly is therefore extremely weak compared to the assault rifles and sniper rifles it is placed alongside. A rapid rate of fire and a 30-round magazine go some way to making up for its shortcomings. In a continuation of the caliber-sharing shenanigans of the pistols above, the MP5SD3 shares ammunition with the assault rifles it is classed together with in-game. Its ammo pool is separate from the MAC-10 and Uzi.

Heckler & Koch MP5SD3 - 9x19mm Parabellum

Frank holds an MP5SD as he marvels at the Far Cry 2 team's belief that a truck's axles are attached to the rims of its wheels.

Frank places an MP5SD into a primary weapon crate.

Idle animation; the player character checks the suppressor, turns the gun side-on to show the stock isn't fully extended, and then fiddles with the fire mode switch.

Reloading the MP5SD.

Jammed MP5SD; as ever, fiddling with the charging handle and whacking of the magazine ensues.

The MP5SD blows up; the magazine even falls out as Frank discards it. Because he sucks. And H&K hates him.

"Homeland 37"

A pump-action shotgun named as the "Homeland 37" is one of the cheapest weapons in the game, and one of the first available to buy at the Arms Dealer. It is referred to in the pause menu and on the Arms Dealer's computer as the "Homeland 37," implying it is supposed to be an Ithaca 37 "Homeland Security" version; however, the weapon itself is actually a long-barreled hunting style shotgun with a left-handed ejection port, completely lacking the Ithaca 37's most distinctive feature of the combined loading and ejection port. The "Homeland 37" appears to instead be a frankenshotgun with mixed elements from the Ithaca, the Remington 870, and some variety of auto-shotgun given that the bolt has a visible charging handle attached directly to it and a channel behind the ejection port for that handle to travel. It has a six-round internal magazine, half that of the other two shotguns; coupled with the relatively slow pump-action, this leaves it distinctly inferior to the others.

Ithaca 37 - 12 gauge

Remington 870 Express Field Gun with raised barrel ribbing and 28" barrel - 12 gauge

Frank holds a Homeland 37 after shooting a propane tank with his handgun. Much was made of the fact that shooting one of these produces a directional jet of flame from the exact impact point.

Idle animation of the Homeland 37. Though it would appear one of this thing's parents was a confused Remington 870.

Frank reloads the Homeland 37.

The Ithacington 837 jams; bizarrely, Frank decides to operate the pump before firing just to make this possible. Yes, that's why it has a side ejection port, not just to give a new meaning to "Elephant Gun."

Scorned by a world that doesn't understand it, the Homeland takes its own life.

Franchi SPAS-12

The Franchi SPAS-12 is the second of the three shotguns in the normal game's primary slot, and the most balanced between rate of fire and rate of wear. It fires in semi-auto mode only and holds 12 rounds compared to the real weapon's 8.

Franchi SPAS-12 - 12 gauge.

Frank holds a brand-new SPAS-12 as something blows up. Just another day at the office.

Idle animation; Frank examines the pistol grip for no apparent reason, then both sides of the forend.

Frank holds a low-condition SPAS-12 as he examines a supply box. There are only three types of ammo pickup in the game; one for weapons that use bullets or shells, one for the flamethrower and molotovs, and one for explosive weapons. Enemy weapons, however, only count as ammo for similar ones.

Reloading the SPAS-12. This is done as if the SPAS is a normal shotgun, but the SPAS requires the carrier latch button to be held or the loading gate will not move.

Jammed SPAS-12; a rather weird misfeed. Most of this animation consists of the player character hitting the opposite side of the receiver, with some attempts to pull the charging handle. Since these partly succeed to the point the whole base of the cartridge is visible when looking down the weapon, at several points in the animation it's unclear precisely what's holding it in place.

The SPAS-12's failure animation; the gun ejects the spent casing and its own forend.

Daewoo USAS-12

The Daewoo USAS-12 is a South Korean-made combat shotgun capable of semi-automatic and fully-automatic fire, and can first be found in a Northern safe house; however, it cannot be acquired from the Arms Dealer until his missions in the South are unlocked. Despite having the 20-round drum magazine, it only holds 12 rounds. It wears out incredibly quickly, starting to jam after only a handful of reloads, but is useful when a lot of enemies will be encountered at close range as the weapon's firepower is overwhelming. The jam animation is a misfeed; the player character will try to deal with this by fiddling with the cocking handle and thumping the opposite side of the receiver until prompted to actually pull the cocking handle by the player. The failure animation has the entire front end of the weapon fall off.

Daewoo USAS-12 - 12 gauge.

Frank holds a USAS-12 as he crosses the massive lake in the Southern map.

Frank uses the iron sight of his USAS-12 as he makes a safe house unsafe for a couple of soldiers.

Reloading the USAS-12; a common sight given the high rate of fire.

The USAS-12 jams in much the same way as the SPAS, so a gigantic explosion has been added to this image to make up for any disappointment.

The failure animation; determined to outdo the other two shotguns, the USAS blows itself to pieces and jams just in case Frank tries to put it back together.

Heckler & Koch G3A4

The Heckler & Koch G3A4 (which in-game is incorrectly called the G3KA4, the carbine version of the G3) is the first assault rifle the player will encounter, and is used by many of the soldiers in the Northern map. It's a middle-of-the-road weapon, not really excelling at anything but being dependable enough for the early game and relatively cheap. Like all the assault rifles, it holds 30 rounds per magazine (even though it's using 20 round magazines), and oddly, it is much weaker than FAL even though they use the exact same round. The jam animation shows the weapon's bolt sticking closed; the player character attempts to operate the cocking lever, then hits the side of the weapon several times for no good reason, then fiddles with the magazine.

Heckler & Koch G3A4 - 7.62x51mm NATO

Entering the jungle with a brand-new G3A4.

Frank holds a G3A4 as he studies an explosive ammo stockpile. This is ammo for the IEDs, mortar, rocket launchers and grenade launchers, as well as hand grenades, though most of the visible clutter is components of IEDs.

Frank reloads the G3A4. In a world of compromises, some people don't put the bullets in the magazine at all.

Idle animation; similar to the other rifles, Frank holds the G3A4 up and checks it over, here allowing the player to see that it only has two fire modes, and that this rifle is a "Model 211" made by "Precision Armory", contrary to its in-game designation. Given the Desert Eagle, it's surprising it doesn't say "Hitler & Krotch."

Jam animation; Frank uses the secret and more violent cousin of the HK slap.

The G3A4 blows up; like the USAS, the whole front end comes off.

AK-47

The AK-47 is a common sight in the game, and features quite prominently on the box art; it is also seen frequently on posters and crates. It does not have a compensator, and therefore is not an AKM. The game also features a number of hidden "gold" AK-47s, which are identical to the normal AK-47s save a gold retexture on metal parts and removed stocks; these are much more durable than regular AKs. It's possible these weapons are a reference to the custom gold AK from the movie Lord of War. The gun model itself is quite off from the real thing; it has the rectangular depression of a milled AK-47, but the metal stampings of an AKM.

Type 3 AK-47 - 7.62x39mm

Frank holds a low-condition AK-47, having just used it to destroy a bullet and cartridge ammo stockpile. Doing so provides a display of Hollywood physics as bullets cook off and fly in all directions, here with enough force to knock over the metal barrels on the dockside.

Idle animation; Frank holds the gun up, then, realising what website he's on, checks it isn't a Norinco Type 56.

Frank uses the iron sight of his AK to destroy his most dastardly foe yet.

With the evil one defeated, Frank celebrates by giving his AK some actual bullets to fire.

Some of the low-condition guns have obviously seen better days. This AK has seen better centuries.

A gold AK-47. Eight of these are hidden throughout the two maps, but aren't really worth the effort since they just wear out less quickly. Because gold is well known to be a hard, durable metal when used in firearm components.

Frank admires the gold AK during the weapon's idle animation.

Guard manning one of Far Cry 2's much-hated checkpoints during the game's intro, armed with an AK-47. NPCs appear to be holding well-maintained weaponry, but when they are killed they always drop weapons in the worst state of repair.

AK-47s on an APR recruitment poster. The AK appears throughout the game, seen on crates and posters as well as being used. This is a cease-fire zone, hence Frank holding the M79 vertically on the left side of the screen.

The Jackal as seen halfway through the game, with an AK-47 on his back and a Desert Eagle in his holster.

The AK-47 jams; once again, "pull the charging handle harder than you are currently pulling it" is something only the player could possibly think of. Also, when a jam is cleared, the weapon's bolt will for some reason disappear from the weapon until the animation is finished.

The AK-47 blows up; it takes a truly obscene amount of ammunition to make it do this, but the patient player is rewarded by having the entire receiver cover thrown at them.

FN FAL

The FN FAL is called the "FAL Paratrooper" by the Arms Dealer's computer and the in-game menus; this is odd, since it is shown with a fixed stock, not the folding stock of the Paratrooper variant. It can be found in the hands of some soldiers in the North, but doesn't actually become available to buy until the Southern map is unlocked. A reliable and accurate rifle, it is a solid choice for general use. It also somehow holds 30 rounds in a 20 round magazine...

FN FAL 50.00 - 7.62x51mm NATO

A brand-new FN FAL. Perhaps the most curious of the weapons held over until the second map, the FAL is a perfectly adequate rifle, but nothing spectacular. Note the unusual rear sight mounted on the dust cover; this appears to be based on some patterns of the L2A1 "LMG" variant.

Frank holds a low-condition FN FAL as he looks over the rare sight of a wildfire he didn't start himself.

Idle animation; Frank begins to suspect the guy he got it off wasn't a paratrooper at all.

Reloading the FN FAL shows the weapon's rather unusual handguard.

Frank fires the FN FAL while using the L2A1 style sights.

The FN FAL jams; Frank pulls the charging handle and slaps on the magazine, the latter giving an even better view of the handguard.

Failure animation; the FAL decides Frank needs an even closer look.

By the end of the game, Frank probably has so many of these things sticking out of his head he looks like some kind of NRA-sponsored Sonic the Hedgehog.

"AR-16"

The "AR-16" is a fictionalized AR-15 rifle with some dubious design cues from different real world variants. While the name refers to the 7.62x51mm forerunner of the AR-18 rifle, the in-game weapon is clearly a 5.56 AR-15 rifle. The name is likely just a simple fusion of "AR-15" and "M16".

The rifle's receiver resembles Bushmaster Carbon 15-pattern receiver, with three gaps in the raised upper rail instead of two. The dust-coverless ejection port has been moved to the left side, though its brass deflector is omitted and instead a normal AR forward assist that the Carbon 15 normally lacks is present on the left side. The weapon has a mounted Truglo 1x30 Green Dot Sight, with a jungle pattern camouflage forearm and stock. Ahead of this is an FN FAL-style carrying handle and a SIG SG 551 handguard and front sight. The only part similar to the real AR-16 is the forend with two side rows of holes on the top (although the overall shape is still closer to the AR-18).

The AR-16 has single shot and burst fire modes, with a short tap of the trigger firing a single shot while a longer press fires a three-round burst.

Bushmaster Carbon 15 R21 - 5.56x45mm

SIG SG 551 - 5.56x45mm

An actual Armalite AR-16, for comparison - 7.62x51mm NATO

The "AR-16" in Far Cry 2.

Frank holds his not-an-AR-16 in a ceasefire zone, giving a good view of the carrying handle.

Reloading the AR-16, Frank can't help but play around with the weapon's incredibly tiny charging handle.

Scope of the AR-16, with a green dot reticle.

Idle animation of the AR-16; the camo pattern is a large part of what makes it look so dirty when it is in poor condition. Also note the fire mode switch is currently on the middle setting, while the third setting is apparently "plus."

Frank marvels at the first AR-16 in Far Cry 2, which was apparently recently dug up or fished out of a river.

Frank's best buddy Marty Alencar with an AR-16. Best buddies offer alternate ways to complete missions, as the value of a friend in Far Cry 2 is apparently measured by his tendency to undermine your orders.

The AR-16 jams; Frank removes the magazine and holds it against the handguard with his left thumb, retracts the charging handle and examines the chamber; when prompted, he somehow uses the forward assist to correct the misfed round, which falls out of the magazine well, before replacing the magazine.

Failure animation; after such an involved jam clearing, it makes perfect sense to forget that the front of a rifle needs a hole in it for bullets to get into the barrel.

Springfield M1903A4

The M1903A4 Springfield is the first sniper rifle available to the player, and often seen in the hands of enemy snipers. It incorrectly reloads with a stripper clip inserted into a hole in front of the trigger guard instead of having the user load rounds one by one into the breech as the real M1903A4 requires, and has a five-round capacity; it also incorrectly features the bolt and receiver of a Remington Model 700, for whatever reason. The reload also has player character insert the stripper clip into the rifle, which is preceded by them removing a completely full stripper clip from the underside of the action as if it is an empty magazine. The scope has a duplex crosshair reticle; the player is able to keep the rifle scoped after firing, but can't operate the bolt like this. The jam animation is the bolt sticking; like all jam animations, this triggers before the weapon fires, which makes precious little sense since the preceding shot will have shown the bolt being successfully operated. The failure animation has the gun blow up, emitting a large cloud of thick grey-white smoke; it's then discarded.

Springfield M1903A4 sniper rifle with M84 scope - .30-06.

Remington Model 700 - .308 Winchester

Frank holds an M1903A4 near the Northern train yard. Most games have casings eject to the left, but a left-handed bolt is rarer, especially one so completely mismatched to the rifle it's ostensibly in - note the smooth striker cover with no cocking piece, forward-back safety lever in lieu of the Springfield's flag-type safety on the bolt itself, modern two-piece scope mount instead of the M1903A4's bridge-style mount, and the characteristic "cough drop" bolt handle, all features of the Remington.

A low-condition M1903A4 is covered in dirt, stains and rust. For some reason, none of the experienced, hardened soldiers and mercenaries the player can select have the slightest idea how to clean or maintain a firearm.

Scope of the M1903A4.

An enemy sniper lies beside his M1903A4. But wait...What's that brass-like gleam we see ahead of the trigger guard?

WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW?

The M1903A4 jams, leaving Frank ineffectually yanking the bolt until the player helps him realise he should be, um...yanking the bolt slightly harder.

The M1903A4 blows up. How it generates enough gas pressure to eject the bolt clear of the frame with an unsealed hole in the bottom of the action is anyone's guess.

SVD Dragunov

The SVD Dragunov is the first semi-automatic sniper rifle available to the player, and one of the last set of weapons unlocked through doing the Arms Dealer's missions in the North. The SVD is one of the most useful primary weapons, and is better than the Springfield in most regards. The SVD reloads and fires more quickly and has a ten-round magazine to the Springfield's five, while the difference in damage is negligible; it is less reliable, but not nearly as much so as the AS50. It features a highly inaccurate representation of the PSO-1 scope reticle. The model in Far Cry 2 appears to be a hybrid of the SVD and the PSL Sniper Rifle, sharing the X-shaped stamping on the magazine the latter rifle has, and having similar twin holes halfway up the side of the forend. This SVD also, for no good reason, has a three-prong open-front flash suppressor like an early M16.

SVD Dragunov - 7.62x54mmR

PSL sniper rifle - 7.62x54mmR

Frank with a Dragunov SVD outside Mike's Bar, preparing to obliterate Mike's Barrel. It's unusual to see quite this much of the SVD in an FPS; usually the majority of the stock is off-screen under the player character's arm in other games.

Reloading a weapon is generally not performed with your finger still on the trigger.

The scope of the Dragunov SVD: note it has too many ranging chevrons, and all the number calibrations are missing. Note also the area outside the scope is magnified just as much as the area inside.

Jammed SVD; the player character repeatedly attempts to pull the charging handle, punctuated by exasperated hand gestures and pointless whacking of the side of the scope.

The SVD blows up. Seemingly, the front end of a rifle in Far Cry 2 is held on mostly with chewing gum.

Accuracy International AS-50

The Accuracy International AS50 is a British-made anti-materiel rifle chambered for .50 BMG, and has a five-round magazine like the Springfield; it is a semi-auto, with the rate of fire falling about halfway between that of the Springfield and SVD. It is the most powerful sniper rifle in the game and the least durable, and is equipped with an illuminated mil-dot scope with a stadiametric rangefinder. This distorts slightly immediately after firing. The failure animation shows the barrel defying physics in order to make one final lunge at the operator's skull for not knowing how to maintain a firearm.

Accuracy International AS50 - .50 BMG

Frank holds a brand new AS50 in the second map. The AS50 is among the first set of weapons unlocked by doing the Arms Dealer's missions in the South.

A low-condition AS50. Some weapons are difficult to tell the condition of at a glance; rather than ridiculous levels of staining and corrosion, the AS50 just gets a bit scratched.

Frank encounters the first AS50 in the game, hidden in a safe house.

Firing the AS50 reveals the casings are a little on the small side for a .50.

In the words of Tim Colceri, "Get Some!"

Reloading the AS50; the player character has some trouble actually lining up the magazine during this reload, though this is hard to display in a still, hence this being a shot of the player character pulling the charging handle instead.

Jammed AS50. The jam animation shows the bolt sticking closed; the player character tries to pull the bolt several times, turns the gun side on, strikes the base of the magazine and then attempts to pull it out. Pressing reload pulls the charging handle sharply backwards to clear the jam.

The AS50's failure animation. According to Newtonian physics, every action has an equal and opposite reaction...

...except this one.

Milkor MGL Mk 1L

Perhaps the strangest weapon in the primary slot, this version of the Milkor MGL is equipped with a scope with a precision plex reticle. It only holds 4 rounds in the cylinder compared to the real MGL's six. It is a devastating weapon in certain situations, but the MGL isn't something the player can use as a mainstay of their weapon setup due to the low ammo limit, frequent reloads and unsuitability for short-ranged combat. It does, however, make Far Cry 2 probably the only game in history where the player has three weapon slots and they can all be grenade launchers. The jam animation has the cylinder emit a metallic shriek and fail to rotate properly; the player character flips the weapon upside-down and tries to force it. The failure animation has the weapon, um, split completely in half.

Milkor MGL Mk 1L in desert tan finish fitted with Armson OEG reflex sight - 40x46mm

Frank holds a brand new Milkor MGL; note the recycled scope from the AR-16.

Frank makes good use of a low-condition MGL found in a safe house.

Reloading the Milkor MGL shows the four-round cylinder. For some reason, rather than just replace the grenades, the player character yanks the entire cylinder out and shoves in a new loaded one.

Scope of the MGL. It's not clear why it appears orange when not being looked through, since it doesn't appear to be illuminated.

The MGL jams; "I'll get you next time, Gadget, next time!"

Frank regrets buying the cheap version with a midsection joint made from chocolate.

Special Weapons

The seven special weapons are for the most part heavy weapons; rocket launchers, machine guns and so on, with the sole exception being a CO2-powered dart gun.

The complete special weapons wall at the Arms Dealer's warehouse.

"Tranquilizer Rifle"

The "Tranquilizer Rifle" is a version of the Remington 700, most closely resembling an M40; it has additional components from the Pneu-Dart Model 389 tranquilizer gun, a single-shot dartgun powered by .22 "primer load" rounds in a detachable magazine. It has the gas regulator tube of the latter weapon, but the barrel is at the same level it would be on a normal rifle. Its icon on the Arms Dealer's computer shows a normal Model 389, indicating that this is what it's supposed to be. The in-game weapon is a CO2-powered single shot dart gun, fitted with a sight which appears to be based on the Bushnell-manufactured scopes used on Dan-Inject JM Standard tranquilizer guns; it's the only sniper weapon in the special / heavy weapon slot.

It can be surmised that the tranquilizer is not something intended for use on humans; a hit anywhere will kill the target instantly, and also kick up a spray of blood as with the normal rifles; odd behaviour for a dartgun.

Remington M40 sniper rifle - 7.62x51mm NATO.

Pneu-Dart Model 389 tranquilizer gun - .22 "primer load"

The "Tranquilizer Rifle" in Far Cry 2.

Frank holds the Tranquilizer Rifle in a cease-fire zone.

Frank reloads the Tranquilizer Rifle; despite mounting a small, apparently functionless magazine, the gun must be reloaded after every shot. On the Model 389 this is the magazine for the "primer" rounds which propel the dart, but is only ever swapped out in-game when it jams and the sounds used imply that it's been construed as a CO2 cartridge of some kind.

Despite the different scope model, the Tranquilizer Rifle uses exactly the same reticle as the M1903A4. And it's doubtful that's what a tranquilizer dart is supposed to do, really.

Jammed Tranquilizer Rifle; apparently a pressure failure, the player character attempts to pull the useless not-a-magazine from the underside of the gun.

On pressing the button to clear the jam, the offending object is detached with a soft hiss and a new one inserted.

The Tranquilizer Rifle's failure animation; Frank is rapidly coming to the conclusion that he is the King Midas of explosions.

PKM

The PKM is the first of the game's two machine guns, and the only one available to buy in the North; the model in Far Cry 2 has the newer flash hider. It feeds from the left and has an ejection port on the right; this is a reversal of the normal configuration of the weapon, which in real life actually does eject spent casings to the left. As in a lot of video games, the recoil of the PKM is exaggerated when standing, to the point the weapon is uncontrollable; with both machine guns, without the accuracy upgrade the muzzle climb is so extreme the player can end up firing straight up if they don't try to fight it. In reality, the PKM's slow rate of fire (roughly 600 RPM) allows for controlled full auto shooting even when firing from the shoulder. Like the SAW, the PKM uses a 100-round belt.

PKM with modern flash hider - 7.62x54mmR

Subtlety isn't really an option with this weapon.

Reloading the PKM.

Idle animation of the PKM: Frank pretends he's admiring the ridiculously pointy bullets, but we all know he's checking the feed cover because he's forgotten what weapon he's holding.

Jammed PKM; the top cover pops open, the player character attempting to whack it closed, then turning the weapon side-on before trying to detach the belt box. Pressing the button shows a solid whack was all it needed.

In the failure animation all that pointless whacking of the top cover comes back to haunt Frank.

FN M249 SAW

The M249 SAW is seen in both man portable and emplaced versions. While handheld the M249 will never overheat no matter how long it's fired for, but has incredible muzzle climb and limited ammunition. In this configuration it uses a 100-round belt box which appears to be made of metal. The jam animation shows the top cover popping open; rather than open it all the way to find out why, the player character just tries to slam it closed. The failure animation has the hinge fail and the whole top cover break off.

M249 Squad Automatic Weapon - 5.56x45mm NATO

Frank makes his way down a jungle trail, armed with a brand-new M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. Note the weapon is missing the diagonal STANAG magazine adaptor between the belt and belt box.

A low-condition M249 Squad Automatic Weapon; like the AS50, scratched and a little rusty, but hard to tell the status of at a glance.

When the SAW or PKM are fired the belt is taut rather than hanging loose; a nice detail.

Firing the SAW while looking down the sight; note the disintegrating links being ejected to the right. Both machine guns eject to the right, presumably so that effects involving the belt would be easier to see.

Reloading the handheld SAW. Though the weapon's fire animation assumes a belt with disintegrating links, the actual belt shown is just a series of rectangles between rounds.

The SAW jams; both the jam and failure animations are essentially recycled from the PKM.

The handheld SAW fails; once again the top cover goes flying and the belt box falls off.

RPG-7

The RPG-7 is the first rocket launcher the player can access, available from the Arms Dealer after his missions in the North are completed. In real life the rocket goes a lot faster than it does in the game, usually at around 295 metres per second, and does not have a smoke trail. It also self-destructs at maximum range; the Far Cry 2 version instead has the motor cut out and the rocket fall in a ballistic arc, allowing it to be used like a mortar. The "jam" animation in this case is a misfire where the rocket's booster charge ignites but the motor doesn't correctly, leaving the rocket spinning in circles on the ground a couple of yards right in front of the player. Needless to say, when it does this the self-destruct works just fine.

RPG-7 rocket launcher - 40mm.

Frank holds his RPG-7 in Far Cry 2. The RPG is one of the possible first heavy weapons the player can acquire; what they get depends on which quadrant of the town they collapse during the gun battle at the very start of the game.

Frank puts an unloaded RPG-7 into a special weapon crate.

Firing the RPG-7. Rocket weapons are unusually realistic in terms of physics, and require some skill to use; poorly-aimed rockets will deflect off angled surfaces.

The Far Cry 2 RPG-7 has a side-mounted (and sideways) iron sight as opposed to the modern optic sight favoured by many games. Here, Frank sights up a railcar full of propane.

Which goes roughly as anyone would expect it to. The reload animation presumably has the base of the launcher resting on the ground, given the player is left looking at the muzzle; of somewhat more concern is that the tail assembly of the rocket is exposed, meaning this rocket's booster charge has already detonated and it could not be fired.

Misfire: as Frank completes a reload, he finds the previous round didn't travel quite as far as he might have hoped.

The RPG-7's foregrip breaks off in the failure animation. Note that it has no upper surface; the player character holds it up to the screen briefly, showing it also has transparent internal surfaces and making the player wonder why their attention is being drawn to this.

Carl Gustav

The Carl Gustav recoilless rifle is a Swedish-made 84mm launcher produced by Saab-Bofors; in real life it is an unguided recoilless grenade launcher with some rocket-boosted rounds available. In Far Cry 2 it is depicted as a laser-guided missile launcher with projectiles so manoeuvrable they can turn right around in mid air if the sight is pointed at the user's feet and return to hit him, and is equipped with a scope with a circle reticle. The missile can also be manually detonated if the player presses fire again while it is in flight; normally, this will just start the empty launcher's reload animation, but if a missile is in the air it will detonate as the animation starts. The "jam" animation is a misfire similar to that of the RPG-7; the guidance seems to fail just after launch; the smoke trail turns black, and the missile veers sharply off-course, detonating on impact. The failure animation has the hinged rear venturi tube break off, after which the player character throws the weapon away.

Carl Gustav M2 - 84x246mm R

A brand new Carl Gustav; it's difficult to tell when the weapon isn't low-condition, given it always looks ten minutes from falling apart.

The first Carl Gustav in the game is as ever found in a Northern safe house in the worst possible condition.

Scope of the Carl Gustav. It's easy to justify the decision to pick it up even in this state; it's longer ranged than the RPG-7 and vastly more accurate.

Reloading the Carl Gustav. Unlike other weapons, the reload has to be triggered manually, either by trying to fire the weapon again or pressing the reload key.

The Carl Gustav has simulated backblast; not good for the careless operator in a game with dynamic fire. The backblast is also instantly fatal to enemies, allowing a player with no suitable short-ranged weapon to use it as a makeshift flamethrower by turning around.

The Carl Gustav's missiles turn incredibly quickly; here, Frank has fooled one into orbiting a tree. The missile seeks the first thing that intersects a line drawn from the middle of the crosshair, even if there is no way it could actually draw a line of sight to the object being pointed at. The missiles will only seek targets when the player is looking down the scope; otherwise, they just travel in a straight line.

In addition to guided missiles, this particular Carl Gustav also has the ability for the user to detonate missiles at will.

Misfire: the missile suddenly decides its target is on the other side of the road. It's lucky nobody is around to arrest it for jaywalking.

Failure animation of the Carl Gustav. Amazingly, it doesn't explode.

Norinco Type 63

The Norinco Type 63 60mm light mortar is one of the harder weapons in the game to use effectively, but one of the most powerful. By default it fires a marker round that produces harmless smoke, but pressing the reload button switches to the high explosive rounds; this is rather poorly documented, and many players using the mortar for the first time have trouble figuring out why it doesn't do anything. The mortar can also cause an extremely bizarre glitch if the player is in a boat which is hit by a shot from one; the impact will catapult the boat miles into the air, where it will become permanently stuck, as will the player.

Norinco Type 63 mortar - 60mm.

A brand-new Norinco Type 63; the mortar is another weapon that always looks ten seconds from exploding.

Frank holds the first Norinco Type 63 in the game, found in the transitional area between the first and second maps.

Frank sets up the Type 63. Setting and picking up the weapon uses the aim button, as part of the rather unorthodox controls the mortar uses.

Frank holds a smoke round as another descends in the distance. The marker smoke is yellow, while the smoke round itself is blue below the centre. The mortar comes with an infinite number of these rounds, but the player has to wait until one lands before they can fire another.

Frank about to drop an HE round into the Type 63, indicated by the red lower section. Note the saw-like range indicator; as the mortar is aimed up and down, the bar moves with it to indicate the current range.

The rare sight of a shot from the Type 63 actually hitting something.

The Type 63 misfires; note the extremely shallow arc of the round.

The Type 63 blows up. Somehow, a round exploding inside the mortar does no damage whatsoever to the barrel but makes the stand fly off.

LPO-50 Flamethrower

The LPO-50 flamethrower is a Russian-made weapon which featured prominently in Far Cry 2's publicity due to focus on the game's dynamic fire effects. While promotional images show it almost correctly as tube resembling a rifle without a magazine hooked up to a backpack containing three fuel tanks, the in-game model appears to be a jury-rigged version built to operate with no backpack. It instead has a single fuel tank and what appears to be a pressure tank near the muzzle, and a fuel gauge halfway along the weapon. It is shown as projecting a stream of whatever duration the player desires, which the real weapon cannot do: the LPO-50 is a cartridge-compressed design which uses an explosive pressurising cartridge to fire the entire contents of one tank at a time, resulting in it having three 2-3 second "shots." The Far Cry 2 version, having only one tank, should only really be able to fire one shot. It also has a constant small burn at the muzzle as if it has a pilot light: the three things at the muzzle are actually pyrotechnic charges, and only burn while a tank is actually being fired.

The weapon has no reload animation, being loaded automatically with all the fuel the player is carrying, and uses the fuel gauge for an ammo counter. The misfire animation is a pressure leak at the base of the fuel gauge, requiring the nut there to be tightened to remedy it. The failure animation shows the pressure and fuel tanks breaking away from the frame, after which the weapon is discarded.

LPO-50 flamethrower with backpack and tube, the real configuration of this weapon.

It was like this when I found it, officer, I swear.

Idle animation of the LPO-50: the player character polishes the fuel gauge, then examines the weapon. Note the selector switch on the side; this is supposed to be for selecting which of the flamethrower's three fuel tanks is being used. Apparently the thin silver-coloured band is the only thing holding the fuel tank on.

The LPO-50 "jams;" this is apparently due to the nut at the base of the fuel gauge spontaneously unscrewing itself. The Quad in front is one of the two Fortunes Pack vehicles; these replace some of the buggies in the game, while the Unimog replaces some of the light trucks.

The LPO-50 blows up; the pressure tank is blasted off the weapon, the fuel tank briefly dangles off nothing in particular, and Frank is doused in highly flammable fuel which has no real effect on anything.

Cropped version of a promotional image for Far Cry 2, showing an almost correctly-configured LPO-50 complete with backpack. This version appears to have a rifle-style rear grip and chainsaw-style overhead foregrip just to confuse things, however, and the three pyrotechnic igniters should not all be firing at the same time.

Thrown Weapons

Both of these weapons are available to the player immediately, and are both carried at the same time with a button used to switch between them.

M67 hand grenade

The only thrown explosive weapon, these are used by enemies and the player character and are US-made M67 hand grenades. The throw animation omits a rather important stage of throwing a hand grenade.

M69, the inert training version of the M67 hand grenade.

So the Far Cry 2 team spent weeks in Africa researching, almost got eaten by lions, came back, and forgot to check if you're supposed to pull the pin out before throwing the grenade?

Closeup of the M67; while it has factory markings like a real grenade, it clearly has a weld seam, showing it was based on a pot-metal M69 training grenade.

Molotov cocktail

An improvised incendiary made from a bottle filled with flammable liquid with a lit rag inserted into it, these are used only by the player character, and are pretty much exclusively for starting fires; the radius of effect of a Molotov simply hitting solid ground is tiny.

Fun fact: in the previous frame of the throw animation Frank's hand is still empty and the bottle isn't on-screen. The only rational conclusion is someone stands behind him throwing these. The wick doesn't ignite until the next frame of the animation.

Mounted Weapons

M249 SAW

The SAW behaves rather differently when mounted; it has no muzzle climb, cannot fail or jam, and has infinite ammunition, as do both the other mounted weapons. The mounted SAW is fitted with spade grips, presumably to explain why the player isn't able to pick it up and carry it away. It is secured to whatever mounting it is using by the bipod attachment point, but is always horizontal, which makes it appear that the rear of the gun is levitating. As with all the game's crew-served weapons, long bursts will cause the weapon to overheat, though only when it is mounted. Rather than using a heat indicator, during protracted firing smoke will escape from the SAW; the longer it is fired without pausing, the darker the smoke that comes out of the weapon will be. If it is allowed to overheat, flames will briefly be visible, followed by a cooldown period. A bizarre note of interest is that the mounted SAW's ammo box (meant for belts of 5.56mm) is reused for the .50 cal M2 HMG and 40mm MK 19 grenade launcher without any change in size or writing.

M249 Squad Automatic Weapon - 5.56x45mm NATO

Frank uses a mounted SAW in the central village of the Northern map. Despite this being a cease-fire zone, nobody cares about the player character screwing around with the mounted guns, provided they don't actually fire them.

Iron sight of a boat-mounted SAW.

A mounted SAW overheating.

The M249 SAW in the rare anti-gravity configuration.

Browning M2HB

The Browning M2 is seen both as an emplaced weapon and mounted on vehicles. It has a significantly lower rate of fire than its real life counterpart, but is incredibly damaging, easily able to kill any enemy and deal lethal damage to an unwary player with a handful of shots. The M2 overheats much more readily than the SAW, but still not as rapidly as the Mk. 19. The final buddy mission in the North will cause all trucks at safe houses to spawn with M2s instead of the usual SAWs, but they are not seen on enemy vehicles until the Southern map.

Browning M2 - .50 BMG.

Frank encounters a mounted M2, and wonders what use that tiny tripod is supposed to be.

M2HB mounted on a Unimog vehicle. The Unimog is exclusive to the Fortunes Pack addon, though the only real differences between it and the regular trucks is that Unimogs have more health and will spawn armed with M2s even in the Northern map where vehicles would normally only spawn with M249s.

Frank fires the M2HB. The rate of fire isn't particularly respectable even for a semi-auto, never mind a machine gun, but the M2 is both long-ranged and extremely damaging.

Iron sight of the M2HB. Note that the vehicle did not explode as a result of direct damage; an M2 (along with any other firearm) can damage a vehicle to the point black smoke is coming from the engine, but after that it catches fire and explodes on its own. Seemingly, this process cannot be hurried by dealing additional damage with anything barring explosives.

Mk. 19

The Mk 19 grenade launcher is the most powerful of the three mounted weapons, though it overheats quickly, and is only encountered in the Southern map, where it can be found on tripods and monopods near enemy strongholds and on boats and trucks. The grenades are devastating, easily able to kill the player character; this can result in some frustrating deaths if the player is taken by surprise.

Mk 19 grenade launcher - 40mm.

Frank looks over a mounted Mk 19 grenade launcher; the belt links appear to have been replaced with a red cloth belt...

...Since when the weapon is fired the red band vanishes without trace.

Iron sight of the Mk 19; using it doesn't really make much difference to how the weapon handles.

Frank uses a Mk 19 to teach some enemy soldiers how to walk on water. Their boat is equipped with an M2HB.

This massive barge outfitted with three Mk 19s is the focus of the first mission in the South, and the largest mobile object in the game.

Frank was going to the worst place in the world and he didn't even know it yet. Weeks away and hundreds of miles up a river that snaked through the war like a main circuit cable...

"Fortunes Pack" weapons

These three weapons are exclusive to the "Fortunes Pack" DLC that was released shortly after the game. If this is purchased, a large crate is placed in the centre of the Arms Dealer's warehouse containing the three weapons. They do not have to be bought.

The Fortunes Pack crate, containing the three extra weapons and demonstrating that Russian is just English with funny looking letters.

Sawed-Off Double Barreled Shotgun

An old-fashioned rabbit-ear 12 Gauge Double Barreled Shotgun with decorative engraving, this is used in the secondary slot. It fires both barrels with a single trigger pull, and is effective at close quarters but not anywhere else; like the SMGs, it's a good choice if the rest of a player's weapon setup is long-ranged or explosive. The failure animation is essentially lifted from the M79; in the jam animation, the shells somehow end up shoved right inside the barrels, leaving the player character struggling to free them. Also, it is worth noting that even though the shotgun fires two shots, the game only subtracts one shell from a player's ammo reserves.

Sawn-off double-barrel shotgun - 12 gauge

Any visit to Mike's Bar must include the wanton destruction of his Barrel.

Iron sight of the sawed-off shotgun; unlike the pistols, the hammers of this weapon are shown cocked. The presence of a front sight would indicate that it was manufactured with a short barrel from the get-go.

Frank reloads his sawed-off shotgun. Given all the engraving on this thing, rather than sawing it off he could probably have sold it on eBay and bought a pump-action or five instead.

In fact, given corrosion like this is the result of hours of use in Far Cry 2, an actual antique gun would probably buy Frank his own armoured division.

The sawn-off shotgun jams: Frank realises he shouldn't have listened to the salesman who convinced him to buy rimless ammunition.

The sawed-off shotgun blows up. Just like the M79 did, in fact.

Suppressed Shotgun

Most closely resembling a Mossberg 500, this is referred to in promotional materials as the "Silenced Shotgun." It is the fourth shotgun in the primary weapon slot, and a second suppressed weapon for that slot. It is equipped with a pistol grip, (empty) spare shell holder on the right hand side, and a suppressor with the weapon's sight on top of it. Like the Ithaca, it is pump-action and has a six-round tube magazine; it also recycles the Ithaca's jam animation, including pumping the forend an extra time at the start of the jam animation just so it can actually happen. This weapon may be a homage to the suppressed shotgun used in the movie No Country for Old Men.

Mossberg 500 - 12 gauge.

Suppressed shotgun from the Fortunes Pack. Note the charging handle position and general ejection port layout seems to come from either the SPAS-12 or a Remington, with possible candidates including the 11-87 and 1100. Or the Ithaca 37, given Far Cry 2's approach to shotguns.

The suppressed shotgun in a cease-fire zone, showing the side of the weapon.

Idle animation; Frank attempts to frighten his weapon into revealing what kind of shotgun it actually is by threatening to drop it on a nearby railway track. This meets with little success as shotguns can't talk.

Loading a suppressed shotgun with buckshot isn't what you'd normally call a great plan.

Frank reloads the suppressed shotgun. How six cartridges fit in that tiny tube is unclear.

The suppressed shotgun jams; it's likely the ejection port of the Ithaca and suppressed shotgun is to allow the same jam animation as the SPAS to also be used for both the pump shotguns.

Failure animation: how is this even supposed to be possible?

Crossbow

A low-durability compound crossbow with wood furniture is the special weapon for the Fortunes Pack. The Crossbow is equipped with the same scope as the grenade launcher and AR-16, this time with a crosshair reticle, and uses exploding arrows; as with the RPG-7's rockets, these can deflect off surfaces, though attaching the label "realistic" to this behaviour might be a little dishonest.

"Murdock...I'm coming to get you!"

Frank resets his crossbow.

The reticle of the crossbow is basically the same as the one used for the M1903A4.

The crossbow bolt hits home. The explosions are roughly equal to a hand grenade, and slightly weaker than most other explosive weapons; they can still easily destroy anything they hit. Well, other than...

"What the cluck?"

Yes, that was indeed a screenshot of a high-explosive crossbow bolt rebounding off a chicken. Maybe Frank should have gone the way of Hot Shots! Part Deux instead.

Idle animation of the crossbow; a nice shot showing how the mechanism operates. In the background Far Cry 2's bizarrely psychic roadsigns are visible; these change colour to point to the player's objectives, blue for secondary as seen here, red for primary.

Frank holds a low-condition crossbow as he congratulates himself on his incredibly subtle method of sinking an enemy barge.

The crossbow's "jam" animation; the string releases without firing the bolt; the player character removes the bolt and struggles to re-string it.

The crossbow breaks; one arm snaps off entirely while bending like it's made of rubber, and the other one bends out of shape. The physics of this are best not considered.

Non-usable

IMI Micro Uzi

While the Micro Uzi isn't usable in the game itself, it appears on the cover of magazines seen in the game world.

IMI Micro Uzi - 9x19mm Parabellum

The Micro Uzi on a magazine cover in Far Cry 2.

M16

Another magazine which appears to be in Japanese shows a number of illustrations of M16-series rifles, specifically captioning one as an M16A3. Some posters and crates also depict M16-series weapons, though without identifying them.

Some of the closeups seem to show motors in the pistol grip and battery capacities in mAh, which along with the language suggests the texture is taken from a Japanese airsoft magazine.

M16A2 - 5.56x45mm NATO

Nicely incomprehensible reading materials they have around here.

Looking at the title with the scope of the SVD; while blurred, this appears to confirm at least one of the two M16s is supposed to be an A3. The caption of the other is missing due to a folded page corner.

Soldiers holding M16 rifles of some kind on a UFLL recruitment poster.

Single Action Army

A pair of images of Single Action Armies appears on the label of the Molotov bottle; only one can be fully seen due to damage.

Colt Single Action Army with 4.75" barrel - .45 Long Colt

The label as seen through the Dart Rifle's scope.

Yakushev-Borzov Yak-B

In the Southern map, the wreckage of a crashed Hind-D gunship can be found in the area "Crash Site" and is part of one optional mission; only the nose, one wing and the tail remain, and while the barrels are missing, the mounting of the Hind's Yakushev-Borzov Yak-B 12.7x108mm Gatling gun is still present and intact.

Yakushev-Borzov Yak-B machine gun - 12.7x108mm

Vladimir Putin later stated that destroying the enemy sandcastle was worth the losses.

Trivia note: fake widescreen

Like many games, Far Cry 2 defaults to a fake widescreen mode which cuts the top and bottom off a 4:3 aspect ratio image rather than actually increasing the field of view horizontally. This has been fixed in the PC version, which has a selectable "widescreen" option; this is because players with multiple monitors were dealing with an image so vertically compressed they couldn't see anything. However, in the console versions it has never been fixed. All screenshots in this article were taken in "fake" widescreen mode as it is the most common, but a demonstration of the difference is below.

Low-quality PS3 screen capture with some colour shifting; this is in 4:3 mode.

"Fake" widescreen image; note that the same length of the rifle is visible, but the player character's thumbnail and most of the bolt handle is gone. This is the default mode in the PC version and the only widescreen mode in the console versions.

Real widescreen image; the lower part of the rifle is visible as in the 4:3 aspect ratio image, but now so is the entire barrel and more of the stock.