The government in an unnamed African country has collapsed and the whole land has plummeted into a civil war with the two central factions UFLL (United Front for Liberation and Labour) and the APR (Alliance for Popular Resistance) at the front. Those who were not able to leave the land now hide in their homes while in the streets death reigns the day. But as bad as it has been, now it is even worse with shipments of modern weapons entering the land despite a weapons embargo. The player is sent into the country to find and eliminate the person responsible for it. Known only as "The Jackal", he has been successfully hiding from the federal agencies for years. Sadly, after the player enters the country he immediately infects himself with malaria. Now he has to fight two enemies at the same time.

The game puts the player in a 50 square kilometers big area in which he can do what he wants with only the goal to find and kill "The Jackal" and survive the disease. But to do so he needs weapons, vehicles and, most importantly, pills to hold the malaria in check. To get all that he gets missions like escort a weapons shipment or kill the head of police from the various factions and NPCs in the world which increase his reputation (access to better gear and missions) and gain the only currency in the game: diamonds. The world can be freely explored, but taking out certain enemies or visiting specific locations often only becomes relevant when the right quest has been triggered.

Weapons can be picked up from dead enemies but those are not in the best condition and may jam when the player least suspects it. If the weapon is too badly damaged, it will be destroyed. The player can only carry one of each of the four weapons categories. Vehicles take damage and stop working after a while but can be repaired anytime by the player. If there is no vehicle available to get across the land, the player can also just go to one of the many bus stops in the world to get through the country without being attacked.

The player is not alone on his shooting spree through the country. Other mercenaries roam the bars and lands and if the player does something for them, they will help him in his missions. Either by giving him tips for the current mission, coming with him and fight side-by-side or by expanding the scope of the current mission to increase the award at the end. These buddies always wait in one of the many safe-houses which can be unlocked by clearing them from enemies. They are also used for ammo storage, saving the game and to fast-forward time to a certain time of day.

Besides the single player campaign, the game also features a multiplayer-mode for up to 16 players in Deathmatch, Team-Deathmatch, Capture the Diamond (a Capture the Flag-variant) and Insurgence. In Insurgence two teams fight over capture points on the map. Once a team has control over all points, the enemy captain can be killed in order to win the round. Each of the game modes also uses a class-based system with six classes like sharp-shooter or rebel (uses weapons like the flamethrower) and different weapon load-outs for each class.

The different versions are identical, including the editor, except for the save system. In the Windows version the game can be saved at any point, while the console versions prompt to save at checkpoints.