You'd have better control of pancake batter on a hot summer day
Speaking of controls. The controls of Just Cause 2 are terrible. While the gamer may be in control of his/her life, they certainly not in control of the controls of Just Cause 2. Sure, there's a bit of learning cure going. Eventually you might be 85% satisfied and possibly could say to yourself that you "got the hang of it."
To me, good controls are one of the essentials of any great video game. This aspect should be hammered down and perfected in the early stages of a game's development. If a game's story, graphics, dialogue, etc... turn out to be nothing more than soggy turd stains, knowing that the gamer has some great control over the dude they're controlling goes a long way. Seriously, there's nothing better than this. Play any Mario game and tell me what you think of the controls. Like butter, I'll bet you say. Like butter and jam. Like some butts farting in a jar of jam.
Honestly, controls are enough to put the lid on Just Cause 2. But I would be lying if I said there weren't more pieces to this stank puzzle.
Recently Phil Fish quit the industry. Jim Sterling suggested that it wasn't just one thing that threw him over the edge, but so many things that had added up and eventually he just snapped. The little things: Drop a lit cigratte on your crotch while driving, a cyclist flicks you off, you're late on a credit card payment, your girlfriend blows another dude, you burned your thumb on the stove, then BAM. You jump off the Golden Gate bridge.
Maybe with Just Cause 2 it's a timing thing. Too much machismo in the gaming industry. Guns, explosions, big muscles, crappy dialogue, violence. Sony and Microsoft have so many of these types of games it's ridiculous. Open world and linear. They all look the same and for the most part are not any fun at all. You pick up the sticks, then you're tasked with shooting some folks for whatever reason, then shooting some more. The fact that this hasn't become played out yet is just scary.
Let's just call Just Cause 2 another one of "those" games. A game that you could miss and you'd be better off for it.