Just Cause 2: A sleeper hit?

[King of the Sandbox]

According to Wikipedia, a sleeper hit is something that gains "unexpected success or recognition". By which standards, this probably is a sleeper hit, in that it's currently selling a lot better than people expected it might (topping sales charts yada yada yada). I admit it took me by surprise. I'd never heard anything about it until it was already released, and then it turned out to be massively popular and also really good. I keep an eye on the gaming press, where it didn't seem to be making a ripple. Apparently there were ads on TV but I don't watch TV. It seemed to come out of nowhere to me, to be honest. And it's obviously pretty popular among the people on this site. It's been coming out on top in a load of "What game should I get?" polls and the sheer number of threads about or including it should tell you something.

And it is fucking awesome, just so you know. One of its main problems is that it takes a good deal of experimentation to fully appreciate it. But I've racked up 40 hours so far and I ain't bored yet.

That was pretty much my deal.

And as for the LOST island? I found some logs spelling out SEARCH and an arrow on the beach, and a passenger plane, broken in half.

Pretty cool nod.

 

[GodsAndFishes]

It could be, I wasn't persuaded to buy it right away by the demo but I probably will get it when I see it going fairly cheap.

 

[happy_turtle]

One thing I'm going to be annoyed by is the slow leak of DLC for this game, I don't mind paying for it but from the looks of it it's going to be released in very small chunks (a new vehicle, a new parachute or a new weapon). I think it'll be better if they released a big one in a couple of months so that the game is refreshed with new things.

 

[wooty]

I quite enjoyed the first one, so I got rid of MW2 to get this and couldnt be happier. Apprantly I'm 18 hours in but only 9% complete, so it seems like theres plenty to go around for the money. Also open world mayhem is my kind of thing, gives a refreshing change to the narrow corridors of my previously completed game which was FF13

 

[Scobie]

DELETED

 

[Mr.Squishy]

I got the trial, and I just found it dull. I couldn't get any decent explosions going, killing people was pointlessly awkward, and the buildings weren't destructible. For a sandbox game that is sold on having explosions and destruction, there was surprisingly little destruction.

Playing it generally felt awkward. Also, the way barrels and gas canisters fly away instead of exploding is just annoying.

I keep saying this, I know, but don't judge it on the demo.

Not all buildings are destructible, but almost all the epic ones are, and there's still plenty to blow up. Gas stations, sat arrays, huge fuel reserves, guard towers, giant cranes, oil platforms, etc, etc. Trust me, in the full game, there's PLENTY of destruction.

And only the slender propane tanks fly away, regular barrels explode as normal. But even with those, there's so much more to do than just shoot them and blow them up.

Try latching on to one of those propane tanks, shooting it, then viola! Instant emergency escape rocket. Just be sure to jump off before, well, y'know.

As for the barrels, (And I CANNOT stress this enough) get creative. Tether and enemy to one, shoot the barrel, and watch in hideous glee as he franticly screams and panics, trying to remove the tether.

I just don't think the demo gives you enough time to get the feel for the game or really experiment.

About the demo time: DAMN STRAIGHT!

OT: I played the demo and LOVED it, so I too wonder why not many people have paid attention to it

 

[Wolf-AUS]

According to Wikipedia, a sleeper hit is something that gains "unexpected success or recognition". By which standards, this probably is a sleeper hit, in that it's currently selling a lot better than people expected it might (topping sales charts yada yada yada). I admit it took me by surprise. I'd never heard anything about it until it was already released, and then it turned out to be massively popular and also really good. I keep an eye on the gaming press, where it didn't seem to be making a ripple. Apparently there were ads on TV but I don't watch TV. It seemed to come out of nowhere to me, to be honest. And it's obviously pretty popular among the people on this site. It's been coming out on top in a load of "What game should I get?" polls and the sheer number of threads about or including it should tell you something.

And it is fucking awesome, just so you know. One of its main problems is that it takes a good deal of experimentation to fully appreciate it. But I've racked up 40 hours so far and I ain't bored yet.

That was pretty much my deal.

And as for the LOST island? I found some logs spelling out SEARCH and an arrow on the beach, and a passenger plane, broken in half.

Pretty cool nod.

Yeah, I found that too, I haven't done any mission on that island yet, only play 8/9 hours so far

Because it's punishingly similar to Mercenaries 2

I have played both of these games extensively and, while I can see why people would say that, I really don't agree. Apart from anything else, Just Cause 2 is much better.

Yeah, I agree with that, although can't say it wouldn't be nice to be able to call in air strike and the like down on some Panau villages. I would really like a game to be a Merc/JC2 mix, I reckon that be awesome the combo of grappling hook/airstrike

 

[Veldt Falsetto]

It's definitely not overlooked, there are alot of really big games out that recently that appeal to different people. Final Fantasy, Heavy Rain, God of War mostly but because Just Cause 2 isn't one of those genres it's gonna sell fine. I'm more worried about sales of Yakuza or Resonance of Fate

 

[Dr. UBAR]

The environments are massive, granted but often only the towns are worth exploring. They basically use a jungle/desert wilderness stamp otherwise. That said it was incredibly sweet when i flew a fighter jet into a taking off space shuttle. And that wasn't even an important mission.

Basically very badly controlled sandbox affair with some very awesome moments. I would consider it a renter.

Why do you say badly controlled, just out of interest?

It can be a bit finnicky at times with several different buttons used for dropping in different situations. Also the character feels really light which I don't like. I was one of the few who liked how Niko controlled in GTA IV.

 

[FactualSquirrel]

The environments are massive, granted but often only the towns are worth exploring. They basically use a jungle/desert wilderness stamp otherwise. That said it was incredibly sweet when i flew a fighter jet into a taking off space shuttle. And that wasn't even an important mission.

Basically very badly controlled sandbox affair with some very awesome moments. I would consider it a renter.

May I ask what platform you are using?

Anyway, I think this is one of the better games I've gotten, so much to do, so mental.

 

[lacktheknack]

Just Cause (the original) was a sleeper hit in itself, of sorts. I don't remember any major advertising (except on the Eidos website), but its focus on impossible, even laughable stunts made it fun to play, albeit with a few annoyances. They fixed the annoyances in JC2, at least as far as the demo shows, so I'll be buying.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

Maybe it's just really not a great game?

I thought it was decent but nothing special... It was a blast for the first half, then the repetition set in and by the last few hours I was using cheats in an effort to make things more interesting and really just waiting for it to hurry up and end.

At first it seems to have a lot of variety, but the problem is a lot of the missions are carbon copies of each other. All the stronghold missions are exactly the same plans in slightly different areas; they all start with you landing from a helicopter with a group of people and one guy shouting at you to keep him alive, then you go into the enemy territory.. Kill a few people, then you're faced with a blocked gate and you have to climb over and unlock it from the inside to let your allies through. Kill more people. Then the dude who shouted at you gets onto a control panel and tells you to watch his back. You hold off more enemies, and finally, blow up a helecopter. Then everyone cheers, and mission complete.

This exact thing happens about 4 or 5 bloody times through the game. o_o I just felt like I was replaying the same section I've already done. I wouldn't mind if they were optional side-missions but I was forced to do this over and over.

And there are a bunch of other missions that are all very much the same too. There's the standard "kill this guy in a car" mission blueprint which I must have done at least 6 times, where there's 3 cars in a convoy and you have to blow them all up... and It was an awesome laugh-out-loud moment when you blow off the statue's head and grapple it to your car and then drive to base with the head trailing along behind you bumping into stuff. However it really drove home the notion that the developers had a very small number of ideas when I was asked to do EXACTLY THE SAME THING "but in a helecopter" for one of the last missions.

And there are lots of little repetitive niggles in the game too. Stealing a helecopter in mid-flight always requires the exact same steps: grapple to it, move up the window, shoot one dude, and finally perform one tedious quick-time event which always unfolds the exact same way to get the other dude out of the seat. I won't keep ranting, but these things are far from my only problems with the gameplay and I really thought that it outstayed its welcome by about 6 hours of playtime, and they could have put so many more ideas into a game that initially seemed surprisingly fresh and varied.

Of course there's also the non-gameplay problems.. Boring story, no DX9 support on PC, horrible voice acting: that woman was the worst.. "Bolo Santosi" I only remember her name because I laughed out loud with the way she pronounced it back when I first met her.

It has it's fun moments but I would not recommend a buy to anyone. It's a rental/pirate job.

 

[Scobie]

DELETED

 

[Dr. UBAR]

The environments are massive, granted but often only the towns are worth exploring. They basically use a jungle/desert wilderness stamp otherwise. That said it was incredibly sweet when i flew a fighter jet into a taking off space shuttle. And that wasn't even an important mission.

Basically very badly controlled sandbox affair with some very awesome moments. I would consider it a renter.

May I ask what platform you are using?

Anyway, I think this is one of the better games I've gotten, so much to do, so mental.

I'm using the PC, which probably has a lot to do with it. It's great fun at times but I keep finding myself going meh.

 

[King of the Sandbox]

Maybe it's just really not a great game?

I thought it was decent but nothing special... It was a blast for the first half, then the repetition set in and by the last few hours I was using cheats in an effort to make things more interesting and really just waiting for it to hurry up and end.

At first it seems to have a lot of variety, but the problem is a lot of the missions are carbon copies of each other. All the stronghold missions are exactly the same plans in slightly different areas; they all start with you landing from a helicopter with a group of people and one guy shouting at you to keep him alive, then you go into the enemy territory.. Kill a few people, then you're faced with a blocked gate and you have to climb over and unlock it from the inside to let your allies through. Kill more people. Then the dude who shouted at you gets onto a control panel and tells you to watch his back. You hold off more enemies, and finally, blow up a helecopter. Then everyone cheers, and mission complete.

This exact thing happens about 4 or 5 bloody times through the game. o_o I just felt like I was replaying the same section I've already done. I wouldn't mind if they were optional side-missions but I was forced to do this over and over.

And there are a bunch of other missions that are all very much the same too. There's the standard "kill this guy in a car" mission blueprint which I must have done at least 6 times, where there's 3 cars in a convoy and you have to blow them all up... and It was an awesome laugh-out-loud moment when you blow off the statue's head and grapple it to your car and then drive to base with the head trailing along behind you bumping into stuff. However it really drove home the notion that the developers had a very small number of ideas when I was asked to do EXACTLY THE SAME THING "but in a helecopter" for one of the last missions.

And there are lots of little repetitive niggles in the game too. Stealing a helecopter in mid-flight always requires the exact same steps: grapple to it, move up the window, shoot one dude, and finally perform one tedious quick-time event which always unfolds the exact same way to get the other dude out of the seat. I won't keep ranting, but these things are far from my only problems with the gameplay and I really thought that it outstayed its welcome by about 6 hours of playtime, and they could have put so many more ideas into a game that initially seemed surprisingly fresh and varied.

Of course there's also the non-gameplay problems.. Boring story, no DX9 support on PC, horrible voice acting: that woman was the worst.. "Bolo Santosi" I only remember her name because I laughed out loud with the way she pronounced it back when I first met her.

It has it's fun moments but I would not recommend a buy to anyone. It's a rental/pirate job.

Here, I'll repost something I said to someone else who was having trouble with the missions becoming repetitive;

I was having that problem, too, until my imagination kicked in.

About the fourth time I noticed this pattern of attack (yeah, I did it the same way as you for a while) repeating itself, I decided to change the game up and started doing things like;

-trying to sneak in and plant bombs on all the targets, then get out to a safe, vista-overlooking distance before lighting them up, without being noticed. It's hard, but fun. Plus, the suspense quickly turns to adrenaline when you're spotted and then you can try to escape without killing or being killed, or you can say eff this and try and mow down the entire base on foot. I call that last one 'Plan B'. I like Plan B.

-Crash random vehicles into the targets from great heights/speeds/angles. A lot of bases have make-shift ramps around them for what I believe is this express purpose. Try launching a boat, off of a boat ramp, into the enemy colonel for Maximum Win.

I guess what I'm trying to get at, and I truly mean no disrespect, is that the game allows you to be as fun as you make it.

You just have to be creative and use your imagination.

With the innovative interaction you have with your physical world around you, it's truly a sandbox game. You can sit there, drone-like, building castles and knocking them down over and over if that's your thing, but I'll be over here building a sand town, where the Giant Shovel Alien has landed and unleashed it's pet Unholy Bucket loose upon the screaming populous, wondering if I can get a water hose over here to simulate the coming flood...

 

[Bat Vader]

I played the demo for Just Cause 2 and I did not care for it that much. The controls feel a bit awkward to me. It reminded me a bit of Mercenaries 2 which is something I do not like to be reminded about.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

I was having that problem, too, until my imagination kicked in.

About the fourth time I noticed this pattern of attack (yeah, I did it the same way as you for a while) repeating itself, I decided to change the game up and started doing things like;

-trying to sneak in and plant bombs on all the targets, then get out to a safe, vista-overlooking distance before lighting them up, without being noticed. It's hard, but fun. Plus, the suspense quickly turns to adrenaline when you're spotted and then you can try to escape without killing or being killed, or you can say eff this and try and mow down the entire base on foot. I call that last one 'Plan B'. I like Plan B.

-Crash random vehicles into the targets from great heights/speeds/angles. A lot of bases have make-shift ramps around them for what I believe is this express purpose. Try launching a boat, off of a boat ramp, into the enemy colonel for Maximum Win.

I guess what I'm trying to get at, and I truly mean no disrespect, is that the game allows you to be as fun as you make it.

You just have to be creative and use your imagination.

With the innovative interaction you have with your physical world around you, it's truly a sandbox game. You can sit there, drone-like, building castles and knocking them down over and over if that's your thing, but I'll be over here building a sand town, where the Giant Shovel Alien has landed and unleashed it's pet Unholy Bucket loose upon the screaming populous, wondering if I can get a water hose over here to simulate the coming flood...

Yeah, but I felt like there was no effort to make the missions themselves interesting, which leads to repetition even if I approach situations in a number of different ways... Because if the basic layout of the missions repeat themselves I still feel like I'm just replaying a mission I did earlier but in a slightly different way, and they pass it off as a new mission; which makes me feel ripped off. I did make an effort to try new things while playing but I still felt the repetition simply due to the structure of everything.

 

[FactualSquirrel]

The environments are massive, granted but often only the towns are worth exploring. They basically use a jungle/desert wilderness stamp otherwise. That said it was incredibly sweet when i flew a fighter jet into a taking off space shuttle. And that wasn't even an important mission.

Basically very badly controlled sandbox affair with some very awesome moments. I would consider it a renter.

May I ask what platform you are using?

Anyway, I think this is one of the better games I've gotten, so much to do, so mental.

I'm using the PC, which probably has a lot to do with it. It's great fun at times but I keep finding myself going meh.

Ahh, that may be to do with it, on the xbox it controls easily, which is specifically why I didn't get it on pc.

 

[NickCooley]

I love the game. Been playing for hours and hours and I'm still not bored but the voice acting! Oh god the voice acting. It's just painful, especially the head of the REEPUHS! Gah... there's a reason I usually stick to the Roaches and Ulars Boys and it's what comes out of her mouth!