Game Rant reviews Just Cause 2

Released back in 2006, Just Cause had all the makings of a great sandbox game: a giant game world to explore, great graphics, and over the top action. Sadly, it fell short of expectations as it was rushed out of development teeming with glitches and a lack of gameplay variety.

Fast-forward to the present and the recent release of its sequel: Just Cause 2. Having been one of the many who eagerly anticipated the first game only to be thoroughly disappointed, I didn’t go into this game with very high expectations. Whether you were one of the few who enjoyed the first game or one of the many who hated it, you will be happy to hear that Just Cause 2 improves on the first game in almost every way possible.

Story And Sound

If there’s one thing this game does wrong, it’s story. I understand that sometimes action games sacrifice a compelling plot in order to pack in the maximum amount of action, but when there’s no interesting reason to push forward, you lose interest rather quickly.

Having just completed the game, I couldn’t relay the storyline back to you. It was entirely boring, but at the same time, constantly threw names of people and places at you, making it almost impossible to even know what you’ve been sent to do until the very end. By the third story mission, I had just stopped caring. I understand that the developers intended for the plot to be reminiscent of a B-movie, but that doesn’t mean it has to be completely uninteresting. While there were two sequences that just oozed with action, and managed to make me smile amid the atrocious writing, this is one of the few games in which I actually had a hard time making it through each cutscene.

While the plot itself was bad enough, the voice acting was just as terrible. Again, I understand that it was made to feel like a B-movie, but the characters’ stiff voice acting, coupled with the extremely bland plot, made the wait for another burst of action all the more difficult. For a game focused on over the top action, it just felt extremely strange seeing almost every cutscene boiling down to two people standing in place, talking endlessly about small, unimportant details, awkwardly breaking up the action.

Now finally, as someone who loves music even more than video games, I’m always interested in seeing what developers choose to implement into their games in terms of music. While it was not bad by any stretch of the imagination, I just didn’t end up caring about the music in Just Cause 2. Sure, it gave the player the feeling that they were on a giant tropical island, but there was absolutely nothing outstanding or notable about the music. It was just there. Nothing more, nothing less.

Gameplay

Now, having got all of the negatives out of the way, I can safely tell you that Just Cause 2 is a ridiculously fun game. It takes a lot to motivate someone to suffer through the cutscenes in this game, so believe me when I say that this game provided me with some of the most fun I’ve had in an open-world game. Ever.

At first glance, Just Cause 2 seems very similar in gameplay to its predecessor. While this is true in a few respects, one minor alteration has changed the game completely. Simply put, Just Cause 2 is all about making your way through a massive open-world island, causing as much chaos as you can. This gives you the freedom to do whatever you want, whether you’re moving from town to town, tearing down military encampments, helping the local gangs, or simply racing others on the island. By causing enough chaos, you then unlock new missions, and new items to airdrop in at any time – even in the middle of missions.

While you have the standard fare when it comes to weapons, you also have a parachute which, curiously enough, seems to be magical, as it reappears in your backpack whenever you let go of it. Realism aside, the parachute is actually one of your primary means of travel, allowing you to skim over the forests of Panau, the island you are on. As an example, opening the parachute while in a moving vehicle allows you to shoot yourself into the air using the momentum of the vehicle .

New to the series is the inclusion of a grappling hook. With this, you can latch onto anything in range, pulling your character toward it. You can also pull enemies and items toward your character. You can even attach both ends of the line to different items or people in order to tether them together. This is where much of the fun in Just Cause 2 arises. From tethering an enemy to a gas tank as it skyrockets into the air, to swinging an enemy tethered to the bottom of your helicopter as a wrecking ball, the ways in which you can use the grappling hook stretch for miles.

You’ll have tons of time to mess around with the grapple hook as well, because Just Cause 2 is one heck of a long game if you plan on attempting to 100% it. With more side missions than you can shake a C4 at, over 2000 items to search for in order to upgrade weapons, vehicles and health, and over 300 towns to take over, you’ll be playing this game for many hours following the conclusion of the story mode.

With so many ways to play the game and, in turn, have massive amounts of fun experimenting, there are a few minor negatives, even if they are rather insignificant in the big scheme of things. First is the vehicle controls. I can understand making vehicles harder to drive when you stray from roads. But when a wheel leaves the road and you attempt to turn, you immediately spin out of control, making it almost impossible to get back on the road. Planes, boats and helicopters, on the other hand, control just as you’d expect them to. I did not once run into issues with any of them like I did with the land vehicles. Even so, the use of land vehicles is often far from the ideal choice, as you can easily use your parachute to quickly glide to wherever you need to go, using the grappling hook to slingshot between objects.

Graphics

Like the gameplay, the graphics are another strong point in Just Cause 2. There’s not much that can be said beyond the fact that there are some truly beautiful moments: flying over the ocean in a jet, only to jump out, standing on the top of the cockpit as the jet plummets towards the forest, and then opening your parachute and watching as you glide through the smoke from the explosion below.

With the perfect amount of bloom lighting and a detailed environment, where the sound fails to draw you in, the visuals succeed, feeling natural, and making the various sections of the island come alive. Speaking of the island, I was extremely pleased to see that the various sectors each have their own feel and style. While one area may be covered in dense forest, keep traveling for a few minutes and you’ll be in a desert, or on snow-covered mountains. Not only do they look beautiful, but these areas also help to ensure that you won’t get bored as you’re exploring the massive island of Panau.

Conclusion

Even though Just Cause 2 has its share of flaws when it comes to the story and sound design, the immensely fun gameplay and beautiful graphics more than make up for these shortcomings. If you enjoy games with over-the-top action, make sure to check this title out.

For more info, head to the official Just Cause 2 website.