I just had the geekiest moment so far at E3, as I got my hands on Far Cry 2. Ubisoft’s A.I. guy, Guillaume Frechette was trying to take me through the official song and dance, while I peppered him with questions.

What’s multiplayer going to be like?

I can’t talk about that.

Will Far Cry 2 have a map editor?

The game will have a very deep map editor on all platforms.

I fainted. My life is complete. More juicy nuggets on Far Cry 2 after the jump.

Far Cry 2 features 2 totally open world environments, each about 25 kilometers squared. Even with all of that Far Cryish terrain out there the game boasts zero load times after the initial bootup. You spend 100% of your time with Far Cry 2 PLAYING Far Cry 2.

I got to play the same level we’ve recently seen from the Ubidays presentation, so I kinda knew what to expect. The game is smooth and the near-zero-hud really enhances the experience. The guns felt good, not great, but one thing I noticed was the lack of any targeting reticule. Apparently crosshairs are for newbs.

“We prefer players to take on Far Cry 2 using the ironsights, so by default the reticule is disabled,” said my host.

I wanted to be cool so I think I said something dorky like, “Yeah… people that use crosshairs are such newbs.”

Because my host was the AI captain over at Ubi I decided to ask him all about his area of expertise. He beamed with pride at what he and his team had created.

“Every AI is autonomous,” he told me. “They don’t follow certain patterns or patrol routes. They get curious, they care about their fellow AI and they react differrently on almost every playthrough.”

As if on cue, I saw an AI bad guy come to the aid of another AI I had just wounded. He picked him up over his shoulder, carried him to cover, patched him up, and then I mowed them both down, untouched by the moving courage.

Another little nugget that I found interesting was the mechanical realism of Far Cry 2. Every device, weapon, and machine in the game seems to have its own health bar. If not maintained properly, they break, jam, or blow up. Guns that you pick up from the bad guys tend to be rustier and more likely to jam. This is partuicularly interesting when it happens as you’re about to spray a baddie point blank.

According to my host, you should be able to finish the Far Cry 2 single-player game in around 50 hours, if you hurry.

“If people want to fully complete the game, it’s going to take a lot longer than that,” said Guillaume.

Man!  That guy has a way with words.