You're assuming a role of a hired gun thrown in an ongoing conflict between corrupt warlords somewhere in Africa battling malaria (don't forget to take a pill approximately every 35 minutes).
At the time, it was a revolutionary FPS with an open world and decent multiplayer mode that featured every technical aspect from the singleplayer campaign. One of the most popular Ubisoft game series - Far Cry spawned a sequel back in 2008.
