An outstanding, fun sandbox game
In the interest of full disclosure here, I'll admit right off the bat that I'm only 35% finished with Just Cause 2, according to its detailed statistics page. Scoff it up, if you want, and say I shouldn't write a review of the game with such a miserly amount of the game finished. But consider this, to the game's credit. That 35% accounts for me having completed the game on Normal, caused an incredible amount of chaos in the not-quite-friendly islands of Panau, and just over 30 hours of gameplay. Yes, this game has THAT much stuff to see and do.
Perhaps the most important part of a sandbox game to me, beyond solid gameplay mechanics, is what I can see and do in the game world. A good story is nice, but in this particular style of game, I greatly appreciate having tons of fun stuff to occupy my time away from the main storyline. In this regard, Just Cause 2 is one of the best examples of the sandbox genre done right. Like Red Dead Redemption or Saints Row 2, there is a wealth of content. Side missions, though weak in plot, are littered throughout Panau, as are opportunities to cause chaos in villages, towns, cities, and military bases. There are collectible items that can affect weapons, vehicles, or your health. Exploration is richly rewarded, often literally with cash crates or weapon caches. Some of it can get a little repetitious, especially when raising chaos levels is part of getting to the next story mission, but frankly, there's so much to do and see, and so many different ways to do it, that I never really found the repetition too grating.
The game is also noteworthy to me as a visually impaired individual for making huge improvements over the original. In the first Just Cause, the maps were nigh unreadable, the markers almost impossible for me to see due to colors blending together, and thus, rendered nearly unplayable. While the mini-map still could use some work, the rest of the issues I had with Just Cause's visuals have been completely addressed. Markers are easy to spot while in the middle of the action, the map has been expanded and text has become more legible, and there has obviously been a large degree of improvement over the scaling of text for regular televisions. Developers should take note - this is how you develop a game that consciously makes an effort to be playable by anyone with color blindness or other eye problems.
The world is gorgeous. I played it on the Xbox 360, and while some of the textures were a bit glaring, the foliage and water effects are pretty incredible. There are some obvious hiccups in certain animations, and the death animations can be a little silly, but in a weird way, it adds to the ridiculously over-the-top charm of Just Cause 2. In no way whatsoever is this game meant to be taken seriously, and that cartoony attitude towards death and animation works to its favor.
The only real negative is the story. While the dialogue and voice acting is pretty hilariously awful (though whether intentional or unintentional, I don't know), the plot is fairly yawn-worthy and only encompasses seven main missions. On normal, those missions weren't too tough, but sometimes I found it annoyingly difficult to survive some waves of enemies. The game also lacks a decent villain. But all in all, the story serves more as a way for the player to explore, blow shit up, and have fun killin' dudes with all sorts of weapons and vehicles.
And it's that central focus on fun that makes Just Cause 2 such a treat. If you tried the original and didn't care for it. I implore you to give this one a shot. It's an absolute riot from start to finish.
