Review - Just Cause 2

Well it has been awhile since I have updated... been really busy sorting out the new house and everything, but fear true believers I am back and have a fresh review this week for Just Cause 2.


Let me start by saying I never played the first Just Cause, and in fact the Demo for Just Cause 2 was pretty meh in my book, but coming across 50 bucks from work and having many friends rave about how much fun they were having I decided to take the plunge and pick up the game; I have to say I am glad I made that decision, and came to the conclusion that the demo did absolutely no justice for the full game as it throws players in without showing them the really cool things they can do and without letting the players get a feel for the controls.

• Story

The game once again puts us in the shoes of Rico Rodriguez international man of mystery... and well chaos. You find yourself tracking down your former superior Tom Sheldon who has gone rogue on the island of Panau and it is your job to take him out. Well to prevent spoilers I won't go further than that, and to be honest I have not gotten too far into the game yet to give any spoilers, so far I have clocked 13 hrs into the game and have only completed about 13% of the game.

Did I mention how massive the game world is? No? Well here is a map of Panau and let me be honest for a Sandbox game this is huge.

• Gameplay

Here is the real strength with Just Cause 2, you are able to go anywhere right after completing the tutorial missions, and to be honest you have alot of places to choose from, the game world is massive filled with snowy mountains, all the way to sandy deserts, and dense jungles. I found myself toying around quite a bit getting familar with the different controls, trying out things and pretty much playing around. There are lots of things to do as well, from freeing towns by destroying government property and collecting upgrades, to completeing challenge races, or just screwing around exploring the island. Be careful though the more chaos you cause increases your heat level and will draw the attention of the island military, but really they are no problem for the great Rico Suave. Be forewarned however this is a sandbox game, and as many of us know with any sandbox game comes some form of repeativness and Just Cause 2 is no exception you will find yourself completeing various missions that are laid out almost identical; For instance when playing the missions where you are taking over the stronghold it is the same task everytime you do it, escort a technician to the terminal so he can hack it and take over the base. Oh yes I almost forgot their are escort missions and yes they can be frustrating as the AI tends to love being killed.

• Sound

The sound effects are pretty good, you can hear bullets whiz past your head, and I am sure on surround sound the explosions must be spectacular. The music is also pretty good, nothing really stand out but decent enough to not really get on your nerves.

• Graphics

What can I say, Just Cause 2 features some of the best graphics I have seen in awhile, the world is absolutely beautiful, and I never noticed any slowdowns due to graphics.

• Controls

Here is where I have a problem, not necessarily with the controls in general but with how stiff they feel. You will really notice how stiff it feels with driving a vehicle or flying a plane, however on foot I didn't really notice any issue with the controls other than it feeling a little slower than I like.



So there you have it my two cents on Just Cause 2. It's a really fun game with flaws that so far I have been able to overcome and have enjoyed my time in the shoes of Rico. I gave Just Cause 2 3.5 out of 5 it's a really fun game with lots of stuff to do, but stiff controls and repetitiveness might turn some people off.