[Playstation 3] Just Cause 2

[Lethal_NFS]

Release date: March 23, 2010
Price: $24.99 (Used)
Rated: Mature

Just Cause first released on September 27, 2006 on the Xbox 360 and PS2 with mediocre reviews. Some glitches plagued the first game but it still had the open world/Grand Theft Auto experience. This time Rico Rodriguez returns to Just Cause 2 for some more open world, do what you want sandbox fun. Will the sequel prove to better than the first? Read on to find out what I think of Just Cause 2...

Graphics - 8/10


I will start with the good and end with the bad. The actual gameplay graphics are actually pretty good. Really nice looking explosions and beautiful jungles really remind me of the first Far Cry. Just Cause 2 shows off both night and day cycles along with some really good weather cycles. You can watch the sun rise or set. You can see a thunderstorm start to appear with flashes of lighting followed by light to heavy rains. Maybe you will even see a snow storm. Now with all of this good also comes the bad. The character models look like something that came straight out of Just Cause 1 from 2006. In other words, they are not very good. I would have liked to see the same effort put in to the character models as I seen in the entire world of this game.

Sound - 6/10


The sound is completely broken. To start, the voice-overs are terrible. Some of the worst acting I have ever heard. The acting is so bad that I can not stand to even watch the cutscenes. Sometimes the voices will repeat themselves or they will just completely stop talking in the middle of the sentence. The music is not terrible and the explosions and gunfire sound great. There really is no ambient sounds in the backround. For example while in the jungle surrounded by trees you would think you would be hearing some animals. Monkeys, birds, something! In the towns you will hear the other cars driving and people yelling. It just would have been nice to make the sound in the game a bit more realistic to real life.

Gameplay - 9.5/10


Despite some graphic flaws and some terrible sounds, the gameplay is where this game shines over everything else. Just Cause 2 is a game that you can pick up and any time and just play. No need to worry about your story or where you left off last. Here you can go anywhere you desire. Steal a plane or helicoptor and start cruising the skies. Fly as high as you can and jump out for some sweet sky diving. Parachute in to the ocean and do some underwater exploring. There is almost no limit as to what you can do in Just Cause 2.
The main weapon is your grappling hook. With this you can escape a dangerous situation by grappling to a point on a building or vehicle and in a split second you are out of harms way. Shoot your grapple to an enemy and you can attatch him to a vehicle, wall, or even a propane tank. Shoot the propane tank and watch your enemy get yanked all over the place till he dies. Or maybe you want to drag him behind you car. There are sooooooo many ways to eliminate your enemies with the grappling hook.

Some more examples:
Hang him like a pinata
Drag him behind a vehicle
Pull down a statue or large structure to smash multiple enemies
Grapple him to a propane tank

If you do not want to use the grapple then you can use one of the many weapons in the game. Machine guns, sniper guns, shotguns, pistols, and much more. There loads of vehicles to find like a Monster truck, tank, Jeep, motorcycle, sports car, planes, jets, helicoptors, boats, and more.
There are many high points in the game that allow you to jump off the side of a cliff and parachute to another location. This comes in handy when you can not locate a vehicle quickly.
There is a HEAT mode which is used to determine whether you are a danger to the community. Your crosshair will turn red when you can destroy an object or structure. Doing this will make your HEAT gauge fill and you will eventually get the local authorities coming after you. Sometimes calling in air support, you will need to grapple on the helicoptor or plane and take them out.

Overall - 8/10

Just Cause 2 is not a perfect game but it does offer 50+ hours of gameplay. The game is extremely fun and you get to pick and choose what to do, when to do it, and how you want to do it. This game has turned out to be one of the most fun games I have played this year and no sandbox lover should miss this game. Almost 3 years after it released, and I am still rocking out this gem of a game. And this is why Just Cause 2 gets Lethal's Stamp of Approval.

Pros:
Over 50hrs of gameplay
Huge open world
Over 100 vehicles
Freedom to do what you want
Base jumping/Sky diving
In-game video capture. Save to PS3 or upload straight to YouTube.
Click spoiler below to view my video using the video capture feature. (This is not a real spoiler)

Couple years later and I am still playing this game (12/15/2012)

Cons:
Terrible voice acting
Mediocre character models

[XMW]

Nice review man! I really enjoyed the demo, I can't afford to pick it up atm, but I'll deffo grab it when the price lowers. I like the grappling hook and sky-diving, I have had alot of fun with just the demo, the full game must be 10x better!

[SchaffinOSX]

Great review, Lethal. Like I've said in other threads, I'm no doubt going to pick up this game, as I am a sandbox game lover by all means. I was worried that your review would rate it poorly, and therefore discourage me from purchasing the game. Luckily, it only encouraged it once again.

It is a shame that the character models and some of the sounds are bad, but those are thins that are of key importance in a game. So long as the gameplay, and environmental graphics are in check, I feel the game can still be very successful. It simply shows the developers what they're going to need to improve the next time around (if there is one).

Thanks for another great review, Lethal.

[Jules909]

nice review, sounds about right.

got the game yesterday and have been doing loads of flying round in jets and choppers, great fun.

[Lethal_NFS]

Thanks guys! Ya definately do not let the sounds and character models steer anyone away from this great game. There is no other game quite like this one and it should not be missed.

[ahernandez2005]

Great review Lethal. Only put a few hours in so far but loving it, hope they release DLC with lots of new vehicles, parachute skins aand stuff like that.

[neoxthexone]

It would of been nice if it had MP, I'll be still getting it though it just that it would seriously be fun to play online.

Nevertheless great review

[gn09]

nice review.. gameplay wise it does look pretty good.. ill probably get it next month or something.. i like the fact that it offers alot of things to do on it, so it should be playable for a long time..looking forward to getting it

[Gambit]

just bought the game, trying it out in a couple of minutes

[Xelis]

Played the demo twice, first time I thought it sucked, second time I thought it was great because I leant the controls, but I still see it as a £17.99 max game.

[malys]

I agree with the no multiplayer gripe, there are some really cool boats and vehicles that dont get used because you can't drive and shoot at the same time, stunt jumping out and hopping back into a turret while getting drilled with heavy gun fire usually means you're dead.

[Kydosan]

Nice review. You pretty much sum up my feelings - yes there's stuff there to complain about, but if fun's what you're after you can't go wrong with JC2.

Crackdown style multiplayer would be the icing on the cake, but I'm happy with what this is just as a single player game, it's definitely one of the better games to come out so far in a year where we've had some awesome games already.

[DarkVincent07]

Thanks for the review man

After I finish FF i am sooooo gonna pick this up

[SnowHawk]

This game is what GTAIV supposed to be.

[DreDayDetox]

another MAJOR con: no custom soundtrack support

[DarkVincent07]

This game is what GTAIV supposed to be.

I agree 100%

I thought Saints Row 2 did that, but the demo of this game topped everything.
Cant wait to get it

another MAJOR con: no custom soundtrack support

That is a bummer... but ah well

[Bawheidbob]

Not convinced myself about the magic rope idea and also the fact i feel personally i need a bit of focus in a game but a nice write up all the same thanks once again

[Xelis]

another MAJOR con: no custom soundtrack support

I have a nice set of Skullcandy cans and an iPod to deal with that problem .

[RawK_Solid]

Nice review. I'm gonna pick this up when the price drops. Such a fun game and something you can play and just relax. Nothing super intense like COD or GOW.

[sergeriver]

It pretty much sums JC2 up, although I'd give it a 9.

[Lethal_NFS]

I added another cool feature to the Pros section that I just found out. The game offers in-game video capture. You can capture live gameplay and store on your PS3 hdd or upload it straight to YouTube.

[welshfrankie]

Yeah, I heard about that.
I thought the demo blew the first time, played it again and thought it was really good!
Hoping to pick this up soon with BFBC2.

[Hitman_T92]

agreed the sounds suck

[FdMstng99]

Awesome review as usual Lethal. Having a blast with JC2 so far.

Will rep you when it lets me.

[Ghostt]

Nice review man!