Just cause review of just cause 2 by GameNTrade Ltd. Great game!
With the Fallout: New Vegas just around the corner, back in 2010, I was really careful about choosing the title that would get me through the couple of months wait, I wanted something with good replay value, something that is has a lot of content, and something, well, fun, and I clearly made a good choice, since Just Cause 2 is just about the best choice I've made. I skipped the first installment, but no worries, the game knows what it is, and it's such a cheesy, campy, action pack game, it wastes no time with the complex story, there's only fun game play, and one-liners, just what the doctor ordered.
The story picks up just a couple of years after the first game, and for new players, it wastes no time letting us know that Rico Rodriguez is a total bad-ass. Now, Rico must get involved with affairs happening on the Panau Island, ruled by Pandak Baby Panay, a son of a former dictator, but US friendly Papa Panay. This is a try-hard attempt to make fun of Kim Jong, and it's clumsily executed, but they didn't push way too hard, so we're letting it slide, it actually compliments the game's level of seriousness. Starting from scratch, agent Rico must make friends with three local gang organizations, the Reapers, the socialist rebel group, the Ular boys, a xenophobic and nationalist group that refuses foreign influence and promotes tradition, and the Roaches, the local mafia, who play for profit. His main mission is to find Sheldon, an operative gone rogue, but it quickly gets established that Sheldon is actually undercover, and has leads on a bigger conspiracy happening in Panau. Rico must cause as much chaos as possible, to weaken the corrupt government's army, and he must run errands for gangs, who in exchange for favors, give him the necessary information to nail Baby Panay. I will just note, growing up in Serbia during the rule of Miloshevic, I found the political propaganda parodies hilarious, and as bad as they sound, I can say they're spot on when it comes to real life political propaganda.
Can you imagine Grand Theft Auto with hook shots? Out of the box the game controls just like any other sandbox title, but the hook shot adds a whole new dynamic to the gameplay. I must admit, the overall polish of the mechanics isn't quite polished as it should be, but it works. The whole feel of the game is so laid back, that even when glitches occur, they are a somewhat welcome feature.
Since this game doesn't take itself seriously at all. If we talk about the graphics, the graphics are pretty standard, but the island of Panau is so large, and it boasts a lot of collectables, encouraging players to explore. The combat is hilarious and exciting at first, but after a while loses some steam, but keeps a steady fun pace, and it never gets boring. I personally liked how, if there is a stubborn NPC, I just hook shot his sorry butt to bypassing traffic, and away he goes. The only bad thing about the game play is the commuting, getting from A to B. The cars control a bit stiff, and it just takes too long to get anywhere, but you can always stir up some trouble, make the military come after you, hook shot onto the helicopter, kick the driver out, and just cruise on to the next location.
Pros:
• Fun Game play
• Large world
• Good amount of content
• Good length
Cons:
• A little Unpolished
• Replay ability value
This game was the undisputed winner of the ending of the first half of 2010, and I loved it, but replaying it now I kind of lost interest, since I pretty much explored the Panau islands back and forth, but the first time around it was awesome, so if you're looking for a game to kill some time until the next big title you're picking up, I should check out Just Cause 2, it's easily one of the top 5 games of 2010 in my book.
Rating: 8.5
-Peter Jovanchevic,
GameNTrade.