Review: Just Cause 2

zauxz

New member
Mar 8, 2009
1,403
0
0
3 seconds. Really. That's about how long it takes to die.

And I also think that the game mechanics are really well done. It's like a good version of mercenaries 2.

Also, It's like the only sandbox game where I actually had fun just dicking around. And yes, I have played saints row 2.
 

Void(null)

New member
Dec 10, 2008
1,069
0
0
Therumancer said:
Hmmm, decent review except for the crack on "WASP Heroes". Let's keep the racism or implied racism (in either direciton) out of things please.
Such as the "I guess that's why they call it the black market and not the white market."

I am a fan of off color humor, I rebel in the face of political correctness but that was just immature, childish, unfunny and lame.
 

GonzoGamer

New member
Apr 9, 2008
7,063
0
0
DoW Lowen said:
GonzoGamer said:
DoW Lowen said:
Greg Tito would like to apologize to all of the innocent citizens of Panau for jumping onto their cars and tossing them out.
Yeah but you don't mean it.

OT: I just recently played Saint's Row 2 for the first time. Based on what I'm reading it looks like SR2 still holds the championship belt for best sand box game.
Actually, I thought Fallout 3 took the throne but that was more of an rpg.
I loved Saints Row 2 (it was the perfect thing at the time to wash the stale after-taste of gta4) and I think you got your perspective a little off.

They are very different games. Imagine if they guys who made Saints Row 2 said, "hey, we ripped off gta and made it better in the process. Let's do the same with Mercenaries." This would be the result.

It's not a perfect game but it's just fun and it gives you a hell of a lot of possibilities.
Saint's Row 2 was the most ridiculously fun game I ever played. I really found it hilarious that certain reviews bashed it for being "immature" and "unable to grow up". It's like bashing The Waterboy for being unable to make you cry.

There's something about Just Cause 2 that I don't like.

It takes the best aspect of all the good sandbox games and tries to incorporate it together. Prototype, Saint's Row, Crack Down, Mercenaries - it's all in there.

But it looks like it's spreading itself too thin. It all seems to be bones and no flesh.

Don't think I'm going to play it.
Don't get me wrong, the game has it's problems and you're kind of right; it does seem to spread itself too thin. You can see that their layoffs affected how the game turned out and there's so much more they could've easily done with it; like having rewards for the collectable skulls and drug cases; you need not bother looking for them. It could've also used some more customization.

So while the story missions are few and not that great they seem to only be there to illustrate and force you to try what you thought might be impossible.

But I never get too involved in stories and characters in these games. With a game like SR2 or Prototype, I want to tour the environment and wreak havoc in all the different locations and that's what this game delivers on. Tons of locations and tools to cause chaos in and with. It's what my friends and I call "When Keepin it Real goes wrong," named after the Dave Chappelle skit.
If you speed through the story to have fun with that portion of the game, then this is the game for you.
However, it would probably be thrifty of you to hold off and pick up the goty edition in another year as there's plenty of space for dlc.
 
Jan 23, 2010
316
0
0
I really didn't like this review, I would call this a rant on annoying things in Just Cause 2 instead. While I do agree that they could have you just press down once instead of down -> aim on ground -> Y, it takes 2 seconds to figure out and 0 seconds to do each time.

As many people have pointed out, use extract to get to any found settlement fast. Or use the parachute + grapple since you can get insane speed and fly over mountains in minutes. Or buy a jetplane...

There was also no mention of the other features like using the grapple like attaching objects and people to other objects and people or climbing out of and standing on your car while in motion. And jump to other cars. Or helicopters. Or freaking jets! Yes you can jump from a jet to another while they are in flight. Learning how to use the grapple to wreak havoc is a major part of the gameplay and one of the few things you won't find in every other sandbox third person shooter.

I died the first 10 times I jumped because I couldn't figure out how to pilot parachuting Rico onto the landing spot on top of a mountain. This was incredibly frustrating, which is not the emotion you want to give your player during the first minute of the game.
It does say press A to open parachute. That's it. Did you turn 180° and fly the opposite way or something? Don't be frustrated and blame the game if you can't follow simple instructions.

I might come across as a bit of a fanboy here. While I most certainly don't think that JC2 is TEH BEST GAEM EVAR, I think this review is way to negative and exaggerates on every little minuscule detail the writer did not approve.

If you have any interest in sandbox games, buy or rent JC2 for one single reason.
It's just really fun to play. I mean really!
 

BurroDiablo

New member
Mar 5, 2009
19
0
0
I didn't like this game much, found it more frustrating than entertaining. I had the PC version, I found the controls quite annoying... you want to go an inch forward and the guy runs a mile, the combat was laughable with the compensatory auto lock-on, driving was beyond crap... slightest tap in any direction and your car/bike would do a full 90 degree turn, and above all the game was glitchy. Example, I was ordered to take down a Helicopter by getting in an AA gun in one mission, I got in the AA gun and it started jumping all over the place... I got out and the gun stopped jumping around and just started to float away! I never completed the game, I got frustrated with the driving during a Kidnap mission and the NPC's incredible stupidity... I died waiting on the bastard to get in the car with me which he simply refused to do. Rage uninstall.
Only good parts I took from the game was the thousands of uses for the grappling hook and the Helicopter controls/combat, graphics were also very nice. It could have been a much better game imo. I'd give it a generous 5/10.
 

Daveman

has tits and is on fire
Jan 8, 2009
4,202
0
0
sure you probably have a long way to go after you die, but to be fair it is VERY hard to die, especially as they got rid of insta-kill cars from the first game.
 

Snotnarok

New member
Nov 17, 2008
6,310
0
0
I disagree about the Hookshot thing, it's nothing like the hookshot.
Now Bionic Commandos arm, THAT I can see!
 

ChaosGenesis

New member
Mar 11, 2009
97
0
0
Travel solutions:
1. Drop in a Jet.
2. Extract and fast travel.
3. Have some fun on the way. Hijack people's cars and then grapple them to the back of it, or stunt jump on top of a moving car and then grapple other fast moving cars to the ground, or parachute slingshot your way there.

I cannot be bored of this game.
Missions aren't great.... but who cares. I don't even play them.
 

Aptspire

New member
Mar 13, 2008
2,064
0
0
Bolo Santosi of the Reapaaahs!
:p
One fun thing to do in this game, is get a SU-47 and fly around while blowing stuff up :D
...or go to the Mile High Club, and kill everyone there XD
 

Stabby Joe

New member
Jul 30, 2008
1,545
0
0
This is defiantly one of the more negative review, while still being positive to a degree. It's good to know that the developers improved greatly on the first installment since there were definitely good ideas such as the parachute, it was just bland at times, but the hook is a great addition.

BTW congrats for getting on Metacritic.
 

Cousin_IT

New member
Feb 6, 2008
1,822
0
0
review reads not just as though the reviewer was a fan of GTA3, but that they've never played a "sandbox" game since
 

Lamppenkeyboard

New member
Jun 3, 2009
927
0
0
This all seemed to have a healthy dose of hate and venom tossed in for flavor. Judging by the comments and the great demo, I think I will be getting this.

The one thing I noticed from the demo which whas very bad (other than the cutoff point and the time limit, sigh alright I can't complain since it was free) was the voice acting.

I just ignored the briefing and ran around imagination-yelling things about being politically active and loving your children to people as I ran them over with their own late grandmother's golf cart.

And then drove it off of a cliff, just to be sure.
 

SenseOfTumour

New member
Jul 11, 2008
4,514
0
0
I'd like to commend the makers of JC2 for supplying a GOOD demo on 360, it drops you on the island and just gives you 30 mins 'screw around' time, giving a real chance to see if the game grabs you.

*points EA to this as they continue work on their new range of $10 demos*
 

King of the Sandbox

& His Royal +4 Bucket of Doom
Jan 22, 2010
3,268
0
0
BobisOnlyBob said:
Driving? Seriously? I've been watching my friend parachute around at high-speed thanks to the parachute/hookshot combo. Also, no mention of using the grappling hook to attach objects to objects? He's been dispatching generic mooks by attaching them to canisters and explosive barrels and then attacking them instead. Or vehicles.

The extraction system is easy and quick. The only problem I've seen is the lack of explanation; however, they're quick to work out with some experimentation.

It sounds like you've hit hard by journalistic time pressure and coming off the end of PAX. Hopefully you'll have some more time to dabble and either update the review or acknowledge the greater depth of the game here in the comments, because as it stands this review is poorly-researched at best.
Agree. It sounds like the reviewer didn't have enough time to truly experiment and enjoy the game properly.

I only died once during the opening mission, it just took me a second to get used to new parachute controls. (This is mostly my fault, as I'm pre-conditioned by GTA IV's controls.) I think maybe you had a similar problem, Mr. Reviewer?

As for the Black Market issue, it's a non-issue, really. As someone stated before, just skip through the dialogue scenes. And I had no problem using it at all. D-pad down, aim at valid drop point on ground (no boulders, water, steep surfaces), press Y/Triangle/mapped keyboard button. Easy peasy. And buying on thing at a time isn't a huge deal, bearing in mind you can only carry two pistols, one rifle/longbarrel shotgun and two types of explosives, that's a max of 4 items to call him for IF you're completely out of ammo and you want them ALL restocked. 5 calls if you want a vehicle drop. Cut that number by one more if you duel wield the same small arm, like I do with the pistol. (Max upgrade duel pistols ftw!)

Also, not just using a menu to order off of keeps me from accidentally buying things I didn't want via a stray button press.

I personally love this game. Sandboxers are my favorite genre of video game and this one does an amazing job at it. Encouraged free exploration, rewards for random violence and destruction, nice variety of vehicles to get around in, huuuuuuuuuuge (approx 400 km, iirc) world area with varying terrain, including snow-covered mountains, jungles, deserts, cities, industrial and military complexes, and even a floating cruise liner-like dance club, supported by two huge dirigibles, which floats in the sky and constantly moves around the game world.

But I really don't think this game gets enough cred for its innovation in creatively exploring and interacting with the environment. I mean, you could just go run and gun for everything, like in countless other shooters, but then you'd be doing yourself and the game a disservice. It's all about exploration and experimentation. One of my personal favorite things to do (which I figured out on my own through experimentation with the grapple), is to find one of the big windmills and tether a baddy to one of the 'wings'. Trust me, it never gets old watching a helpless soldier being spun around violently hundreds of meters off the ground. Then, when you're starting to get bored, click the grapple away, and FLING!

Also, surfing a jet into an enemy colonel, jumping off at the last second, and watching it all explode behind you as you parachute away in action movie fashion, is epic.

As a matter of fact, the only issue I have with the game is the occasional glitches. I'm sure they'll be patched soon enough, and I haven't found any game breakers yet. Sometimes audio from a random military enemy will stutter, but it's more hilarious than irritating, since it's rare.

I was also once in a military base, causing havoc (as you do) and I was parachuting in to land for a one on one, mano y mano, fists vs. violently swung grappling-hook melee fight with a high ranking colonel, having removed all his support staff with sniper rifle fire from a nearby mountaintop. As I neared the clearing where the colonel was, I grappled onto a barracks to speed my decent, only to find myself stuck inside the barracks. I could see out, the colonel couldn't see me (only a few feet away) and I couldn't walk out the invisible-from-the-inside walls.

Luckily, grappling the ground behind the colonel yanked me free (I think it's because you're somewhat intangible while hookshotting), and our bout began as intended.

Again, none of these glitches were game-breaking, but you'll hear about them a lot in a game that has such room for all these physics experiments.

As for the voice acting, yeah, it's terrible, and the characters are hokey and cookie-cutter for the style, but I think it's really tongue-in-cheek as the game is all about the sandboxing, and I'm sure the devs knew it. Plus, it's that so bad, it's funny kind of terrible.

Ok, so, tl;dr,...

This game's awesome.

Pretty sure this review was rushed.

Grappling hooks rule.

9/10 (I would have given a 10 if the tether stretched across a road actually clotheslined people instead of being intangible.)
 

Makszi

New member
Apr 1, 2010
22
0
0
I made an Escapist account just to comment on this video. Just Cause 2 is waaaay more fun than this review says. Have you ever seen pictures of a beautiful place and thought "I really wanna go there" have you ever seen a tall building or mountain and thought "I really wanna climb that and/or dive off with my parachute" have you ever wanted to engage in intense gun battles/car-chases/mid-aid dog fights/sneaky assassinations/massive mother****in explosions? THEN GO BUY JUST CAUSE 2 NOW! Or atleast try the demo/rent it. This game is easily the best looking game I've ever played and the load times (including death load times) are wickedly fast on the PS3, especially for a game so massive as this. Just Cause 2 is the game for everyone who has ever enjoyed an action film, even just one! If ever you have watched an action movie and ever thought "Hey that was kinda cool." THEN YOU NEED TO PLAY THIS GAME. There are bugs for sure but they are not in anyway game breaking or even game-affecting for that matter, the only bugs I've encountered (in 20+ hours of gameplay so far) have been visual or audio bugs, not once have I encountered a technical error.
 

Makszi

New member
Apr 1, 2010
22
0
0
BobisOnlyBob said:
Driving? Seriously? I've been watching my friend parachute around at high-speed thanks to the parachute/hookshot combo. Also, no mention of using the grappling hook to attach objects to objects? He's been dispatching generic mooks by attaching them to canisters and explosive barrels and then attacking them instead. Or vehicles.

The extraction system is easy and quick. The only problem I've seen is the lack of explanation; however, they're quick to work out with some experimentation.

It sounds like you've hit hard by journalistic time pressure and coming off the end of PAX. Hopefully you'll have some more time to dabble and either update the review or acknowledge the greater depth of the game here in the comments, because as it stands this review is poorly-researched at best.
Agreed.