Just Cause 2 Review
The original Just Case was weighed down from a variety of bugs, a complicated control scheme, and a heap of mundane missions that squeezed the life of out of the potential the game offered at the time, which was the thrill of exploring a tropical island.
Just Cause 2 retains the same vibe, explore a large tropical island, but falls short of greatness, be-riddled with many of the same flaws and mishaps the original had. It was a hit and a miss for game developer Avalanch.
The game’s premise is the same and once again follows in the footsteps of Rico Rodriguez once again trying to outwit a dictator of a remote island. The game kicks off with you parachuting off of your helicopter into the politically unsafe tropical playground, which is an impressive 1,000sq km in size.
You must rely on your gun-savvy skills to guide you through your mission and befriend the local factions that reside on the island to gain precious intel that will help you take down the oppressive dictator.
Your journey begins once you enlist your services as Scorpio the mercenary. From here, your missions will take you all over the island, wreaking havoc on the dictators men, chasing down informants and shooting missiles out of the sky.
But the story is one of the game’s most severe weak point. I didn’t care about anything I did in the game, nor did I know why I was doing the things I did. I just when along with it because it was fun, even though the third-person control mechanics were difficult to get accustomed to, I eventually got the hang of the poorly optimized control scheme.
The experiences the game offers though are endless. You can choose to practically do whatever you want. If you chose to go off and explore the island of Panau, you’ll come across rainforests, deserts, and snow-covered mountains.
Everything is here for you to immerse yourself in and the vivid graphical engine that powers the game shows off some impressive sites, especially the water effects.
If you choose to go off and complete your missions however, the vast size of the island is it’s downside. Travel in the game takes up a lot of time, but the vast majority of collectables in each area are likely to keep you sidetracked from ever completely your mission if your anything like me when it comes to games: a completionist.
Closing Comments
If you like to explore wide open worlds, Just Cause 2 may or may not be your game of choice. While exploring the ginormous visas can be both eye popping an immerse, navigated to and within them can be a tediously long and boring process and the lack of a streamlined control scheme and piss-poor gun-play mechanics really dampens the overall experience. I really wanted to like this game, but there was nothing that ever really drew me in...