The story non-existant, but you won't care playing Just Cause 2
The first thing you will notice about Just Cause 2 is the world. The game takes place on the island of Panau, which is actually dozens of islands. There are three things that stand out. You can't imagine the size without playing. It is staggering. You could spent so much time in the capital city alone, and that's just a tiny section of the map! GTA San Andreas and Test Drive Unlimited were praised for the size of their worlds. Both were huge worlds (both great games I may add). Well, neither can compare to Just Cause 2. It is multiple times the size of San Andreas (I'm not joking, it really is). You just need to play it to see for yourself. Even more impressive is the visuals and variety. This game is just gorgeous. The jungles are stunning to look at, just like the beaches, city, towns, snow-capped mountains, military bases, oil rigs, deserts, windmills, and more. The technical aspect of Just Cause 2 is astonishing!
The story is almost non-existent. You play an agent from "The Agency" to try to settle down problems with the countries government. It's enjoyably over-the-top, if not that memorable. If nothing else, it gives you reason for doing what you're doing.
The gameplay is not too different from many other third-person shooters/sandbox games. The shooting is pretty much exactly the same as Red Faction Guerrilla (which is a good thing). You have a ton of locations on the map to wreck havoc. You have collectable weapon and vehicle parts in addition to fuel tanks, silos, and radio towers to destroy to complete those locations. Success is measured in chaos. The more chaos you do, the more missions and upgrades for vehicles/weapons become available.
Just Cause 2 is just fun. The best, unique aspect is the grappling hook and parachute. You grapple to anything to shorten travel time, you can be creative with it, like pulling an enemy off a watch tower, or tethering two explosive tanks together. Yes, the game is all about fun.
The game has issues though. Just like any other sandbox game, frustration will rear its head at the most annoying times, Driving/flying may frustrate due to loose controls (although it sure is fun to watch you launch your vehicle in the air) and actual missions, while fun and pretty crazy, were'nt that compelling to complete. This may speak to the crazy sandbox nature of the game though, as I just wanted to go nuts.
And that's what Just Cause 2 is all about. Just having a great ol time. Don't come expecting a deep storyline and multiplayer. Do come expecting a crazy fun time and a massive world, full of crazy activities and fun times.
Verdict- Buy
An ambitious open world game with an awesome gimmick- the grappling hook. Any fans of fun should purchase this game.
Visuals- 9.5
Audio- 8
Controls- 8
Gameplay- 8.5
Replay- 7.5
Multiplayer-N/A
Downloadable Content-N/A
Overall- 8.5/10