The original Just Cause was a bit of a surprise to a lot of us. Since it released during the time where almost every major publisher was working on a sandbox style game to replicate the success of Grand Theft Auto, the Just Cause franchise looked to be just another rip-off or copycat as you will, of the Rockstar franchise.
At least to this reviewer, Just Cause showed much potential after completing it. It certainly had its shortcomings. Once you completed the game’s story, there was little reason to keep going. I found myself bored because most of the side missions consisted of the same thing. Sure, if you didn’t explore the full map it was worth doing so and also having some fun just causing chaos but after awhile it became too repetitive. Though we must understand it was only the first entry and it was also being developed during the time when the next generation was just beginning. A decent game with lots of potential.
It came to no surprise for me that I was anticipating the sequel, especially since I was in dire need of a new sandbox style game. There is only so much Grand Theft Auto IV I could play. Speaking of which, I just wasn’t as addicted/devoted to GTA IV as I was previous entries, mostly because (at the time) the expansion packs were 360-exclusive and I owned a PS3 copy.
I will admit though, from early impressions of Just Cause 2 I wasn’t fully impressed. The game looked a lot better, the island of Panau looked to be massive, but the gameplay seemed to be the same. This is why demos can make or break a title. As soon as I played the demo I realized why I originally anticipated the title. Avalanche Studios really went all out on the demo -> making available only a smidgen of Panau but enough to make us realize the scope of the full game. Restrictions were present but not to the extent of us only being teased rather than being able to give the game a try.
The developers wanted to make sure the demo wasn’t just some rushed together piece of poo to simply satisfy the publishers demand – they went as far as patching the demo of any bugs to allow gamers to know that they are there to support this title as much as possible.
Let me dig into the actual game. I want to start off with this review by saying this -> Just Cause 2 is not a game for those seeking a story; this game is all about chaos and fun. I am one to buy games for storytelling but I also must realize what games are appealing towards a story to tell and what games simply appeal for fun. Just Cause 2 is the latter – and it does not disappoint. The story to the game is quite simple – you resume the role of Rico Rodriguez and you set forth to Panau to find an old buddy of yours to…well kill if you will. Turns out the buddy you want dead is a reliable ally who pursues you to do something far bigger – free the people of Panau from it’s dictatorship.
If you simply play the game to complete the “Agency” missions, which are the main story missions, you will be disappointed in the game’s length as completing just the basics will only take up maybe seven hours of your time. As of this review’s posting, I am currently 60+ hours into the game with the main story complete, but I didn’t achieve that until about the 40 hour mark. In order to unlock the Agency missions you must achieve “chaos points.” To earn these you must complete side missions, these consist of faction missions (explained in a bit), a whole bunch of racing varieties, collecting faction items and completing areas.
The game features three different factions that you will work with, all of which are out to become the “leaders” of Panau but are considered enemies to one another. Each faction has their own set of missions for you to complete – and they vary between taking over strongholds, assassinating individuals, retrieving data, saving faction individuals, amongst a few other varieties. Each faction will also have dispensed across the giant map 100 faction items for you to collect (300 total). Unlike Grand Theft Auto, the map identifies where each faction item as you beat more faction missions and increase each of their influences. It may sound like they are easy to retrieve but if you dedicate the time into collecting them you will be shocked on how long it takes to collect them all.
Racing consists of on foot, vehicle, and air varieties. The on-foot racing missions I found to be the most difficult as you normally don’t see these types in other sandbox games. For these you will utilize running, parachuting, and of course Rico’s trademark grappling hook to beat them.
Where the game shines as I previously mentioned is simply causing chaos. There is plenty to do on the island of Panau, and numerous tools to use. Your arsenal consists of all the typical weaponry, from handguns, submachine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, explosives, and of course rocket launchers. Avalanche has also released two DLC packs that have added even more weapons to your arsenal, including more variants of rocket launchers and the pleasantly surprising and most welcome air propulsion gun.
You can drive, fly, or be escorted around the island. Vehicles consist of bikes, compact vehicles, trucks, and sports cars. Flying can be achieved with a wealthy selection of helicopters, civilian aircraft like props and learjets, military aircraft, and you can even fly commercial airliners. Certain vehicles, aircraft and choppers can be equipped with machine guns, auto-cannons, and/or rockets. You want to know the best part? Unlimited ammo. Unlike in games like Mercenaries, your ammo is not limited in vehicles/aircraft so the term “playground of destruction” truly applies to Just Cause 2.
The hardest task you will have is achieving the full 100%, which consists of you completing the entire map, upgrading every weapon, finding every single item, driving every vehicle, completing every location, earning every trophy/achievement, amongst other tasks. As mentioned I am 60+ hours into the game and I stand at just under 60% fully complete. Obviously you can accomplish this in less time than I will but it is all about exploring and having fun in the game, not just completing tasks. Shootouts with your enemies can last anywhere from a few seconds to almost an hour, depending on what area you are in, if you evade, etc…
There is no multiplayer component in the game, it is strictly single player and that’s fine with me. We have seen multiplayer work in sandbox games as GTA IV has shown us, but I still feel it is not a necessity yet for a game to be worthy of your dollars. The only interaction you have with other players is leaderboards both in-game and on the Just Cause website.
The only nagging flaw I have encountered with the game deals with save files and settings. Built into the PS3 version of the game is video capturing, which is an excellent feature to have in a game like this. Previously we seen this feature in Pixeljunk titles and other retail releases like Tom Clancy’s HAWX. Having “automatic capture” on can cause problems with the game’s settings I have noticed. Automatic capture will record the past 30 seconds when you Pause the game. You can also manually record up to 10 minute blocks to export to your hard drive or upload to YouTube (you can also do this with the 30 second clips). When I had automatic capture on, numerous times (normally after completing a mission or continuing a game after a death) the settings would reset itself to default, if not changing some settings to something completely different. This would include changing your controls, resetting the brightness settings, reducing aim sensitivity to zero, etc…
Thankfully the save file glitches have been rare and seem to only occur if you have multiple save files on your hard drive. The game, like nearly other game, has an autosave feature (and a very generous one at that). When you boot up the game you can either manually load a save file or simply select to load your latest autosave. On occasion the game would boot up an older save file when I selected load last autosave, so be aware if you have more than one save file of your stats in each to know you are in fact loading the latest save file. I never had issues with only one save file. I cannot describe the frustration I had when I completed a half dozen locations only to notice I was on an old save file and all that work was done for nothing.
Overall Just Cause 2 is a sandbox game worth your dollars. There is plenty to do, and a lot of fun to be had. The enemy AI definitely can be challenging at times, especially one you complete the game, and the chaos you can cause leaves a positive sensation in the end. The story is basic, if not bland, but playing for the entertainment is your main purpose here. If you enjoyed the first game you will love the sequel. For those seeking a new sandbox style game, this is at least worth a weekend rental to allow you to get a bigger taste than what the demo already offers.
These are the worst guns in video games. Unlike weapons that are useful and practical, these only take up space in your inventory.
Being a completionist can be fun, but some games are more like chores than fun. Here are the worst games to 100% complete.
The Yakuza Games
Haha, yeah, currently over 100 hours into Yakuza 0. Considering going for 100% and well on the way but may not get there. Cat Fights are a real chore.
I use to be a trophy hunter, was getting around 20 to 30 platinums a year. Had a saying of Play-Beat-Platinum, play and enjoy the game like there wasn't no trophies, beat it and at least get 50% then look at them and see if I'll platinum and platinum it. I think death star was a pain, the servers was ending so i had to rush and play that for awhile none stop. NGs2 was hard because of that online trophy but easy if you had the partner that can do it for you while you grab the enemy attention. Grinding idk, death was grinding last one I had to grind for platinum literally 1 trophy needed was dungeon travler or something vita gave up on it. After that I stop trophy hunting get like a 1 platinum a year or 0.
Yeah, if I enjoy a game I usually go for the platinum unless there are some unreasonable trophies in there.
For Yakuza 0 I've invested too much time in it to give up just yet and most of the content is good fun, apart from Cat Fighting which is broken and dull after a couple of fights.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 was literally the last platinum I got on PS3. After that, I went into PS4 kinda deflated and getting them where it felt appropriate.
I genuinely HATED that platinum, but it was a personal challenge I took upon myself. It was a lot of "get 1,000 kills with [insert weapon]" and it got to be a bit tedious. Master Ninja really pissed me off, but the WORST which you alluded to was that bloody Gold trophy for missions that you needed to do online because the AI was useless and got wrecked in moments. I jumped on the game a bit late so I struggled with finding a partner for at least 1.5 months. After that, I burned out hard with trophy hunting. I still came back for games I really enjoyed (Bloodborne, Dark Souls III, Nier: Automata, and a few others that escape me) and low hanging fruit that was just a bit time consuming and I didn't want to buy new games at the time (Final Fantasy XV). Total, it becomes clear where I taper off since I've only plat'ed 33 games since there inception of trophies which really isn't much.
Screw Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 lol. That game was pure nightmare fuel.
I say never force getting a platinum, its not worth the trouble definitely if it costing you to waste time on chore like grind. Those brainless design trophies.
Dead rising was the worst one I’ve ever tried. I haven’t tried it with the modern console “rest mode” but the 360 didn’t have that.
Was GTa4 the on where you had to collect a shit ton of pigeons around the map and there was no help in finding them?
The saving grace was that there was only on average 50 collectables with the two exceptions being graffiti and oysters from memory horseshoes and photos were capped at 50 each.
But for me it was all the other grind that was way more painful in SA like the car export lists which even with guides took way longer than collecting stuff
There was a guide book that came out with the game that had all the pigeons in it. I actually still have it
One of the more recent games I got a Platinum in was Killzone: Mercenary for Vita. What a crap game, that requires so much terrible grinding.
Awful game, awful experience.
Oh man..wish i could get a vita. I've been trying to get a preowned too(in my country) but no luck.
I can vouch for Just Cause 2. It was the reason I quit achievement hunting. 86 hours in, the game bugged on me during one of the last side quests (it failed no matter what I did) and my save file got corrupted. Wiped it off my drive and never looked back.
I downloaded the ‘complete edition’ or whatever it was called for $2 about 7yrs ago in hopes of trophy hunting it for a platinum. It always sounded fun and I would like to commit time to it but not enough for a platinum trophy
A look back at some of the most iconic moments of horror from non-horror video games.
