Far Cry 2 is a sequel to the original Far Cry. The game features an open-ended experience. Players are able to ally with one or multiple factions, and to progress through the game world and missions as they see fit, resulting in a nonlinear style of gameplay commonly referred to as sandbox mode that allows the story to progress at their speed and in the order they choose.
Players can utilize a range of vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats and hang gliders, to travel within the 50 km2 (19.3 sq miles) gameplay area. The playing styles range from head-on assaults to stealthy infiltrations and assassinations. The game takes place in a sprawling African landscape, with terrain ranging from desert to savannah to jungle.

The game has realistic features such as weapon degradation and the dynamic weather system. Also, the player needs to hold a physical map and use a handheld navigation system (which highly resembles a military-type GPS, the PLGR+ 96 by Rockwell Collins except for the display which is a color graphics LCD where the PLGR has a mono dot matrix display) to get around, but they are automatically updated as the player travels through the environment. The player is able to tag certain objects and locations such as cars, sniper towers, ammo pickups and buildings, so that they are able to monitor them on their map. When vehicles are damaged the player must perform a short repair animation, involving the tightening of one of the bolts on the radiator (assault trucks), headers (buggy) or other interior part with a ratchet. The player also must deal with malaria. Every 30 to 40 minutes in real time, the player must take a pill in order to combat the effects of the illness.