Just Cause 2 Review

By Simon Parkin Published 23 March, 2010

Jump for joy.

Version tested: PlayStation 3

Rico Rodriguez stands, head in the clouds, 1200 feet above sea level. The Southeast Asian island of Panau shimmers far below, a colourful patchwork quilt of diverse terrain, all couched within a Sonic-blue ocean upon whose surface ten thousand pricks of sunlight wink lazy. There's no time to fully take in this National Geographic photo spread of a vista, however. In twenty seconds a helicopter gunship will tear bullet holes through the cirrus wisp and silence - a problem when your feet are planted on two giant zeppelins' worth of compressed gas.

The twin 40-foot balloons are arranged side-by-side to look, from the ground, every bit like a gigantic pair of floating breasts. Beneath them hangs Just Cause 2's most recognisable skymark and seedy dance venue, the Mile High Club, a heaving celebration of juvenility and business ventures birthed on the strength of a pun.

Ten minutes earlier, Rodriguez leaped from a stolen jet at 1400 feet before falling 200 and latching a grappling hook into the airship's side and swinging overboard, the only way to gain entry to this most exclusive of videogaming's erotic venues. Five minutes earlier, Rodriguez skulked through its neon-lit belly, taking a moment to enjoy the dancers gyrating on tabletops, and to scout out the position of every barman polishing a hidden shotgun in between serving daiquiris.

Two minutes earlier, the bars now closed indefinitely and the dancers frozen in blood-flecked terror, Rodriguez pelted each of the airship's generators with a hail of Uzi fire, delivering with each resulting explosion a blow to the Panau government's ailing tourism industry. Now Rico Rodriguez stands, head in the clouds, 1200 feet above sea level, straddling a wounded airship, and listens.

'Just Cause 2' Screenshot 1

The world is filled with collectibles from skulls to drug drops to powerful commanding officers.

The unmistakable thwap of a chopper approaches. Rodriguez exhales long and leans his muscles with the easing of an analogue stick. He falls forward into the emptiness, swan diving into a base jump. 100 feet. 150 feet. 200 feet. An on-screen ticker charts his trajectory in rigid increments. 50 seconds later, Rodriguez pulls the ripcord and one of his limitless supply of parachutes snatches him out of the death fall. Rodriguez splashes into the islands shallows, windswept but otherwise without mark. Achievement unlocked.

Crackdown may have started the trend of rewarding players for leaping from a game's highest point, but never has the thrill been so keen as in Just Cause 2. In reaching Panau's summit, you must call upon your full range of abilities: hijacking or chartering a plane to climb the required distance before ejecting into the stratosphere and frantically firing your grappling hook in search of a latch point before you fall out of range. By the end of the exploit you will have enjoyed the game's two most enjoyable activities: admiring the picturesque island from afar, before plunging at breakneck speed through it. Achievement unlocked, indeed.

'Just Cause 2' Screenshot 2

Crackdown-style races are scattered across the island, divided up by vehicle type: car, plane or base-jump.

A critique of any open-world game has to be done in two halves. In the first, you examine the world itself and the tools you are given to interact with it. This is an assessment of the parameters for fun, feeling out the boundaries of potential play and the likelihood that wonderful, unique experiences will flourish for every player within that framework.

On this count, Just Cause 2 is without equal. The island itself is a lush, diverse playground consisting of every type of terrain and weather imaginable. It is beautiful, a picture-postcard amalgam of Pacific landscapes, every inch the dream holiday destination. Avalanche Studio's skill is not only in realising a coherent vision but also in maintaining its framerate and detail regardless of whether you're viewing the fronds of a palm from 2 feet away or the curve of the coast from a thousand.

What's more, traversing the space is quick, seamless and joyous. The grappling hook, now permanently mapped to a shoulder button, is used to catapult Rodriguez around the world; in conjunction with his endless supply of parachutes, it can gain him instant height and momentum from a standing start. While it's possible to walk up to a car, Nico Bellic-style, and pull the driver out to take his place, now you can also simply hook yourself on to a speeding vehicle, spring onto its bonnet and either enjoy the ride as a surfer, or swing through the side door window to take the wheel.

And what if your destination is measured in long kilometres? A tap of a button will call in a friendly black market dealer, who, for a price, will drop a jet or a helicopter nearby for you to take to the skies in. Sometimes the jet will land on top of a passing car, or will fall awkwardly in front of a wall. But with the grappling hook, you can tether it to another vehicle, pull it free of the obstruction and be off in 30 seconds.

Everything is designed to propel you forward through the game world as effortlessly as possible. Aim your grappling target at the top of a plane tree and, as you catapult towards it, the game will shift your position slightly to the left or the right so you don't snag annoyingly in the branches.

A cross between Spider-man and Bionic Commando, Rico Rodriguez provides, via this one tool, the most versatile avatar for a player yet seen. The throb of an antagonistic military helicopter is no longer a trigger to seek out cover. Rather, you angle your view to the skies, take aim, and haul yourself towards its cockpit for a mid-air hijacking that even an awkward QTE can't spoil.

'Just Cause 2' Screenshot 3

The story isn't helped by what is comfortably the worst voice acting in a contemporary videogame - the fictional Panauan accent lies somewhere between Thai and Dick Van Dyke.

As a playground for the imagination, too, the island of Panau and the systems that inhabit it are near-unrivalled. You'll lose hours to messing about with your hook and parachutes, roping enemy soldiers to passing vehicles and watching them puppet dance along the tarmac, or simply putting single bullets in gas canisters and admiring their spasmodic pin-balling around the scenery. The personal stories that emerge, especially through the first few hours of play - which are when you're most likely to ignore the structured missions and simply explore - will fill playgrounds and forum threads in weeks to come, not to mention YouTube channels if the community embraces the PlayStation 3 version's video capture capability.

Panau is caught in the formative stages of a tussle between nature and civilisation. Rodriguez's mission (in systematic terms, if not narrative terms) is to destroy almost all trace of man's involvement on the island. Anything marked with the Panau government's bold logo - from radio masts to generators to anti-aircraft guns - is cannon fodder, and as a result violence is the interactive hallmark of the experience. Indeed, every explosion you set off is measured in "chaos", a quantifier for the destruction you wreak upon the island that fills a gauge, unlocking new weapons, vehicles and missions as it passes preset thresholds.

Rodriguez is working for a US agency, initially on a job to confront his boss, who has gone rogue on the island, and later on to overthrow the dictatorial regime that has the island's inhabitants in its grip (although nobody actually bothers to ask the islanders if they're unhappy with the arrangement). The game's titular theme of justice and social redemption sits somewhat awkwardly with the systems it clothes, where even the destruction of giant wind farm turbines - surely an important power source to the local farmers - is rewarded with chaos points regardless.

Nevertheless, the structural conceit of chaos is sound, ensuring that almost every action in the game drives the story along. However, the gauge that unlocks new missions and charts the demise of the country moves along at a painfully slow rate, so that even taking down a sizeable military base has little discernible effect.

Which brings us to the other half of any critique of an open world game: the missions and structured play that inhabit the wider playground. Here Just Cause 2 is a less enthralling proposition. There are just a handful of core story missions for the agency for whom Rodriguez works, unlocked sequentially every few hours as you gain enough chaos points. As a result, the vast majority of your missions are delivered by one of the three factions on the island looking to overthrow the government, all of whom you ally yourself with.

There are moments of brilliance, such as the mission in which you stumble across a smaller island, off the mainland's coast, which is home to 50 or so octogenarian Japanese soldiers, unaware the Second World War ended 60 years ago and as a result hostile to any visitor. However, too often the game falls back onto established mission patterns, especially with regard to taking over new strongholds for each of the factions. These escort missions all take the exact same form, tasking you to guide an NPC through a hostile base, before turning a mounted gun against the base's commanding officer.

'Just Cause 2' Screenshot 4

Blow a tower up and base-jump off and the camera will auto-angle around to take in the visceral kapow.

12 hours in, unlocking new missions becomes something of a grind, a feeling exacerbated by increasingly lacklustre objectives which ramp up the accuracy and potency of enemies without providing quite enough set-piece spectacle to make every assignment unmissable. The island grows over-familiar and you tire of identikit villages filled with the same palette of assets, factors that turn the initial thrill of exploration into a mild chore, with few novelties to look forward to.

Every settlement on the map has its own completion percentage, registering how many of its hidden items you've found and destructible assets you've blown up. As the game progresses, the map markers seem less like pinpricks of potential adventure, and more like a litany of unfinished business, measured in the most exact terms imaginable. Whether the to-do list is compelling or exhausting depends on your disposition and drive, but for most, enthusiasm will peter out long before everything is ticked off.

But to dwell for too long on the long-term niggles would be to do Just Cause 2 an injustice. Treat its story and delivery as a low-rent thriller and you'll give yourself the freedom to enjoy the world, and your freedom within that world, unfettered. One of the most technically accomplished games around, Just Cause 2 succeeds in delivering both the best-looking and most pleasant open world to explore and some of the most thrilling and diverse ways of moving through it. Its thrills are intense and, for the first few hours, come fast and dizzying, dulling only when you start to see the dry order that lies behind the chaos.

8 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Simon.

About Simon Parkin

Simon Parkin is an author and journalist on video games. A regular contributor to Eurogamer since 2005, his work has also appeared in Edge, The Telegraph, Gamasutra and Boing Boing.

Read more articles from Simon by visiting the Simon Parkin archive page.

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Comments (85) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • matrim83 #1 2 years ago

    I am so glad this turned out good. Was really looking forward to it. :D

  • jonocarr1983 #2 2 years ago

    was expecting a good score, can't stop playing the demo. Great stuff.

  • caligari #3 2 years ago

    I'm still dissapointed by the fact that you don't actually 'splat' into a pulpy red mess when you don't feel like opening your parachute. ;_;

  • rosshuts #4 2 years ago

    Blimey, this was a shock - was expecting a bad review really. Should pull my finger out and download the demo and look to buy it!

  • woodnotes #5 2 years ago

    The engine for this is really impressive from a technical standpoint. But I just can't get in to sandbox games unfortunately :/

  • IJ #6 2 years ago

    The first time I tried the demo I found the controls a bit of a nightmare and didn't enoy it that much. If you play it a few times though the controls click and it becomes a huge amount of fun. My advice would be to give the demo a few goes before dismissing it.

  • Shrike #7 2 years ago

    Co-op would elevate this to instabuy for me. As it is, I'm going to wait until it comes down closer to the £25 mark.

  • NewbieZilla #8 2 years ago

    The first was absolutely dismal in regards to missions. Improvement in this one a bit, but I see it still is pretty damn weak.

    Pass.

  • crazyhorse174 #9 2 years ago

    The lack of the infinite-ammo pistols from the original is a bit of a pain in the arse! Running out ammo at the wrong moment is not good!

  • danathjo #10 2 years ago

    bit of a weird one, it seems almost everyone has been loving the demo quite a bit but also waiting for a cheaper price...bad timing maybe?

  • metalangel #11 2 years ago

    The demo amused me but sadly the grappling hook is not nearly as much fun as it could be. Aiming is fiddly and fussy, the range is too short and the cable snaps too readily. I'm sure I'll enjoy the full game when I eventually get it, but I am also sure that in years to come I'll look back more fondly on The Saboteur which has similar gimmicks but tied into a much more interesting setting...

  • Haloboy #12 2 years ago

    Just Bought.

  • glaeken #13 2 years ago

    @NewbieZilla I don't think the missons were that bad. I am not saying they were exactly inspired but they seemed to be no worse to me than a lot of the missions in GTA. There was a hell of a lot of drive here, kill this person or steal car deliver to certain location type missions which is also what GTA happens to do a lot of as well.

  • el_pollo_diablo #14 2 years ago

    Can someone let me know if the borked controls have been fixed when running the game on an imported PS3 please? I emailed the developers and they didn't bother replying to me (cue violins etc).

    Thanks.

  • dsmx #15 2 years ago

    Just cause 2 goes in the same book as far cry 2 and assassins creed for me, great ideas let down by flawed implementation. They've created a massive game world but then filled it with uninteresting missions but every now and then you get the odd flash of brilliance which kind of shows up how boring the rest of the game is.

    Just because you make massive game worlds it doesn't mean you should, stop doing it devs.

  • PlugMonkey #16 2 years ago

    Loved the demo. It seems to be the game I wanted Mercenaries 2 to be, but wasn't.

  • PlugMonkey #17 2 years ago

    Can someone let me know if the borked controls have been fixed when running the game on an imported PS3 please?

    Borked how?

  • glaeken #18 2 years ago

    borked controls normally translates as I could not figure out the controls.

  • TonyHarrison #19 2 years ago

    I'm surprised by this, the demo seemed like a structureless mess, and there are further comments about a lack of structure in the review, which leads me to wonder if it scores so well simply because you get to go around blowing things up and jumping off buildings... It might sound fun, but it doesn't make a game on it's own.

  • RedSparrows #20 2 years ago

    Sounds like the core of the game is still somewhat stilted: I'm someone who, no matter how fun the sandbox is, needs that compelling spine to the game. Blowing up shit endlessly does get old.

  • lucky_jim #21 2 years ago

    /skips to score and last paragraph

    Sounds nice. Like a lot of others, I thought this had been looking promising for a while. I'm off to read the rest of the review now.

  • MrCarrot #22 2 years ago

    Can someone let me know if the borked controls have been fixed when running the game on an imported PS3 please?

    Borked how?

    IIRC the X button only registered as a button press if you pressed it at the same time as Circle, or some such weirdness. It was only on Asian machines though.

  • el_pollo_diablo #23 2 years ago

    @ PlugMonkey

    Borked as in something bizarre going on whereby the X and O buttons only worked when both were pushed down together at the same time. It made the demo a trifle tricksy to play!

  • Miths #24 2 years ago

    This sounds pretty much exactly what I was expecting - a huge, gorgeous world that should provide a fair few hours of mindless, destructive fun, but with a story/mission line I'm extremely unlikely to ever get more than half way through at best.
    Fortunately I'm quite happy with just getting the first part of that equation :), so I'll be picking this up as soon as it hits the shops.

  • Chufty #25 2 years ago

    This doesn't really sound like a game.

    I'll give it a miss, I think.

  • Vortex808 #26 2 years ago

    Excellent. Been anticipating the review - first play of the demo was going to cancel the order, but a couple more and everything seemed more fun. It may get boring and a grind later, but so did the first. This improves on that and will be so much fun to just mess around in. Whether i play it too much once crackdown 2 arrives remains to be seen...

  • AphoticCosmos #27 2 years ago

    Read like a 9 to be honest.

  • Gunzberg #28 2 years ago

    I found the demo a bit meh..won't be buying

  • PlugMonkey #29 2 years ago

    MrCarrot & el_pollo_diablo : Thanks! I have a US PS3, and was leaning towards the PS3 version. Borked controls doesn't sound much fun. Sounds like I should be OK, but will double check on the demo tonight.

    (And what's everyone else's beef? Ask a perfectly reasonable question, get two perfectly reasonable answers, and everyone gets negged for it...)

  • dsmx #30 2 years ago

    If you have the demo on the PC you can mod it so you get unlimited time, removes the borders of the demo and everything is free from the black market. Makes the demo a lot more interesting.

  • Zerobob #31 2 years ago

    Considering how fantastic the sandbox environment is, as well as the physics engine, coupled with how much fun the game is to play I was honestly expecting a higher score.

    I knew from the cut scene in the demo that the story was going to let it down, but I feel the story is no more relevent to this game than it is to Trials HD, for example. This game is just a blast to play!

  • Maus0r #32 2 years ago

    Chufty Said: This doesn't really sound like a game.

    Really. So let me get this right, it's developed by people who make games. It's a sequel to a game. It's releasing on consoles that are designed to play games. It's released on PC that is also known to play games. It's reviewed on a website primarily dealing with games. Not to be pedantic, but am I missing something?


    Jus' pulling your leg :D

  • mizcicz #33 2 years ago

    didn´t enjoy the demo much. the opening cutscene was...i don´t know...either very weird or just very bad - can´t decide. the game looks good, no question. but i don´t like the overall presentation. also the charakter design and voice acting is just not my taste. i don´t want to play as a latin lover in cowboy boots talking to himself in a pseudocool dark voice...

  • patchbox360 #34 2 years ago

    as good as Gears of War

  • Nylz #35 2 years ago

    You had me at "floating breasts".

  • Pulsar_t #36 2 years ago

    unlocking new missions becomes something of a grind

    Thanks for mentioning that. I was worried it's going to be the "working gamer's" game and this confirmed my suspicions.

  • tiny_Eggy #37 2 years ago

    "One of the most technically accomplished games around, Just Cause 2 succeeds in delivering both the best-looking and most pleasant open world to explore and some of the most thrilling and diverse ways of moving through it."

    Couldn't disagree more. Of course the demo area was a bit limited but as a PC gamer I was completely underwhelmed by it. Too much use of bloom and the texture quality of objects like rocks and trees was incredibly low res.

  • beastmaster #38 2 years ago

    Loved the demo. This is an insta-buy for me.

  • Haloboy #39 2 years ago

    The amount of hours I've poured into just playing the demo tell me that buying the final is no bad thing. I just get to see and do more.

  • Caspar_Esq. #40 2 years ago

    Full of spoilers....

  • bad09 #41 2 years ago

    I'm lowly DX9 for now. Should up to 11 in a month or 2 but this will have to wait conveniently until the Christmas sales :)
    Edited by 1 at 23/03/10 @ 21:51

  • Shikasama #42 2 years ago

    It might be technically accomplished but it looks awful on the screen.

    BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

  • Spekingur #43 2 years ago

    This must mean that there'll be Just Cause 3! :D

    Edit: Also, PC owners of this game are going to get nice mods for the full game, just like for the demo. Unlimited money, all blackmarket items free, etc.
    Edited by 1 at 23/03/10 @ 22:56

  • bdaggers #44 2 years ago

    Are all of the islands open to explore from the word go, or do you have to unlock each section a la San Andreas ?

    Anyone ?

  • 3william56 #45 2 years ago

    Naughty Dog has a lot to answer for. Technical brilliance just isn't enough now after Drake - that horrific opening cut scene with the Monty Python accents was a massive turn off. Some sort of sense and involvement is necessary to get past the bit where the joy of grappling and blowing sh*t up in insane ways fades into grind after a few hours. Bl**dy impressive though.

  • Deucalion #46 2 years ago

    C'mon. Take the game for what it is - a massive playground. Dig out your inner child and have fun :)

  • Shwing #47 2 years ago

    What he said ^^^^^^^^^

  • Big-Swiss #48 2 years ago

    hmm, seems to be more a 6/10, reads more like a 6/10.
    The same shit happened to Just Cause 1, it was simply overrated.
    I bought JC1 and I wanted it to be good, I was excited, it was shit!
    this could be exactly the same thing again!

  • Allen1uk #49 2 years ago

    TBH people need to take this with a pinch of salt, its a playground with guns :)

  • onezeonx #50 2 years ago

    @big Swiss

    "reads like a 6/10" ?
    Can you read!!??

    It reads like an 8 or a 9 and get a very good score of 8!

    This is ALOT better than JC1 and yeah it won't win loads of awards but for sheer fun/destruction and scale it's worth a buy IMO.

  • muscleblade #51 2 years ago

    Very temted to buy this but i need to finish a couple of other games. By then SSFIV will be out so i think i pass.
    If it wasnt for all the great releases lately i would have definently bought this.

  • peteb #52 2 years ago

    @bdaggers

    It's all open from the start. \o/

  • muttler #53 2 years ago

    Sounds like great fun, but if the missions become repetitive then I can see why he marked it down to an 8, after the initial gushing on the graphics and gameplay read like a 9 at least.

    Gonna pass for now, get it cheap later this year.

  • Ranger101 #54 2 years ago

    If ever there was an argument for "padi-for-demos" this would be it. I would gladly pay 800 MS points for the "demo version" of this game, without the time restriction and with saves and achievements. I dont have the time to play the full release of this game, but I liked the demo as a playground. And they could release episodic islands/cities, so you get places like new york, rome etc.

  • jambo74 #55 2 years ago

    8 - can wait

  • Big-Swiss #56 2 years ago

    I never said the game was shit or anything like that. As said, I wouldn't mind it being good. But after what happened to me with JC1, it is normal that I will wait until a few weeks after release before I jump that gun.

    In the end it would not surprise me, if this was "the most overrated game of the year 2010"

    And it isn't my fault, I feel or think like that, if they would have done the job right with JC1, I would also be hyped right now.
    Edited by 2 at 24/03/10 @ 10:43

  • Tyranix #57 2 years ago

    Excellent review, I think 8 is the right score and I absolutely love the demo. I haven't had so much fun or giggles playing a game for years. Day 1 purchase, all mine.

    Oh and i'm an mmo player so the grind to get missions later really won't bother me.

  • Zebula77 #58 2 years ago

    Demo was definitely lots of fun. I kinda feel this is one of those games you'll spend more time actually just messing around, as opposed to completing missions. Like Prototype for example - big non-serious fun potential.

    Might get this somewhere down the line, when it's cheaper.

  • RESIDENT_nEVILe #59 2 years ago

    Pre-ordered for PC £25.

    I have bought so many great games with intense narratives in the last few months, so I am actually looking forward to a game where I can put my brain on hold and just blow shit up.

  • Petulant_Radish #60 2 years ago

    Just Bought 2

  • Jackface #61 2 years ago

    I had the same issue with controls just not clicking that other people had, and only gave the demo two runs as a result. I should try to give it more time but I found lots of other niggles that aren't mentioned in the review, such as Nico's inability to scale walls that only come up to his shoulders without using the sodding grapple to grab the top of it then jump straight up in the air and land on the other side. It's sloppy - you're clearly supposed to spend the game moving around via stunt moves, which can be limiting at times. Also he won't crouch and shoot at the same time - he has to stand up again to shoot, and the enemy AI can target you with ease once you're out of cover. In fact he can't even move and crouch simultaneously.

    The engine is bloody impressive otherwise. I should try it again.

  • S.J.Rogers #62 2 years ago

    Had this on Pre Order since trying the Demo.

    Great fun and easy to play.

    + you get extra guns, car, bike and hovercraft with a Pre Order... \o/

    Hovercraft People, what more do you want...

    /Zooms off making hovercraft noise...

  • SuperNashwan #63 2 years ago

    Hovercraft you say ?!? not seen that since the days of Hunter on the Amiga, that may have tipped the balance...

  • makeamazing #64 2 years ago

    I really didnt think much of the demo, but i was pretty tired and grumpy that day, and it wouldnt be the first time i've disliked a demo and then played the full game and loved it... might still have to give it a try as i love the concept :)

  • S.J.Rogers #65 2 years ago

    Have a look at the HMV link below, it lists all the extra's you get for the pre order.

    [link url=http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProduct Details.do?ctx=280;0;-1;-1;-1&sku=305715
    ]http://hm v.com/hmvweb/displayProductDeta...[/link]

    This is the one that saold it for me... Pow Pow Pow, Zoom, Slpash...!!!

    Agency Hovercraft
    The ultimate in amphibious transport, the Agency Hovercraft is the most flexible form of transport in the game. Equipped with a turret-mounted grenade launcher, you’re guaranteed to blow your opposition out of the water
    Edited by 1 at 24/03/10 @ 12:55

  • ron_aldo #66 2 years ago

    Having played the demo and found plenty of issues with the game, the fact remains that I really fancy 'dicking' about with all the stunts, flying and driving. I have Borderlands for shooting things and Fallout 3 still to complete for story shananigans

  • cock #67 2 years ago

    Having played a promo copy of this earlier in the month for 12 hours or so, I'd put it somewhere between a 6 and a 7, probably leaning towards 6. It can be a lot of fun but you really have to make much of the entertainment for yourself. The missions are very generic and repetitive and are a total pain in the arse to get to half the time; travelling around is extremely tedious unless you get yourself airborne. It really doesn't feel like they've improved on the first one apart from technically and I probably enjoyed it quite a bit less, after having played so many other better open world games since. Basically they needed to do what Ubisoft did in going from AC to ACII but they just haven't at all unfortunately. I did really want to like it, and thought the demo was ok, but I was quite happy to give it back in the end.

  • CatWeazle #68 2 years ago

    The picture captions don't seem to have any bearing on the pictures. Just saying.

  • Zappa #69 2 years ago

    just skimmed through but did they not mention PS3 has video recording and youtube uploading exclusive?

  • towser #70 2 years ago

    What to get? The 360 or PS3 version?

    Place your bets now!
    Edited by 1 at 24/03/10 @ 14:18

  • jonsaan #71 2 years ago

    PC version looks the best from what I've seen.

  • sharky_ob #72 2 years ago

    Jesus, why are the comments below the screenshots so completely unrelated. For example on page 3:

    'Blow a tower up and base-jump off and the camera will auto-angle around to take in the visceral kapow' - Here's a picture of a man hanging onto the front of a truck.

    Mongs.
    Edited by 1 at 24/03/10 @ 15:53

  • Darren #73 2 years ago

    I thought the first game was scrappy, unfinished and way too big for its own good but I've loved every second of the demo, so much so that I've literally spent hours messing around in the 360, PS3 and PC versions, the latter of which was the most fun because of a hack that opens up the game world and gives you 24 hours to explore. I've got the PC version coming from GAME tomorrow. Can't wait. Even from the demo I could tell the game is much more polished and fun than its predecessor and, although the voice-acting is beyond atrocious, it just emphasises the fact that this game is not meant to be taken seriously.

  • irrelevanthuman #74 2 years ago

    Will be picking this up sometime,demo was lots of fun,and the lady of the house digs it too- you can't put a price on that rare phenomenon.

  • bdaggers #75 2 years ago

    Thanks peteb

  • Haloboy #76 2 years ago

    I'm surprised there hasn't been much more emphasis on the game engine itself, it's probably the most impressive detail for detail engine I've ever witnessed running on my PC. As in every single time I thought I'd catch it out and find some rock with screwed up texturing or hill with low res stripes running down it the game engine would just grin at me and never falter. Beauty and fun never coupled together this well before. And that's just going off the demo.
    Edited by 1 at 25/03/10 @ 09:36

  • glaeken #77 2 years ago

    It is a fantastic game engine. I really wish Avalanche luck in licensing it because it would be great to have some other devs using this tech as well. It would be nice to see some success for an engine other than the Unreal engine.

  • Haloboy #78 2 years ago

    Given the scale of the demo itself I'm still left somewhat suspicious that they have managed that same level of detail and polish throughout the entire game world. All reports are that they have managed just that which excites me greatly.

  • Bloobat #79 2 years ago

    @ el_pollo_diablo the bug has been fixed with imported ps3's, but you will need online as it is a day one patch to fix it!

    The engine is beautiful, especially on PC, it's stunning!!!! I have this pre-ordered, it's SUCH a good game!!! SOOO BIG!!!!!
    Edited by 1 at 25/03/10 @ 13:12

  • nesta #80 2 years ago

    Check out the High Mile club! http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=gw1V9rE9iUg

  • prettyboytim #81 2 years ago

    The voice acting in the demo was appalling. Is it as bad as the rest of the game?

  • Miths #82 2 years ago

    @prettyboytim

    Pretty much. But it really doesn't matter, because the game is a ton of fun, and cutscenes - and thus dialogue - probably haven't made up for a total of much more than 15-20 minutes anyway of the ~13 hours I've clocked in so far.

  • Miths #83 2 years ago

    Damn this game is huge. I'm 18 hours in now, and my completion percentage is only 14 :). There are large parts of the game world I still haven't seen up close even from the air (chopper, plane, parachute), and if we're talking ground level travel I doubt I have covered much more than a few percent of the land (and water) mass.

    Many of the villages, towns, old temples and military bases certainly do start to look similar after a while, but the landscape is just so beautiful and interesting that I'm not even remotely close to getting bored with it yet.
    I just spent my last hour and a half in the game tonight traveling by motorcycle and later grappling hook and parachute from the base of the largest mountain region up to the tallest, snowy peak in the game - stopping along the way during nighttime to pick up upgrade collectibles in a beautifully lit mountain village.

    I very much expect that Red Dead Redemption will be an all round better game (though going back to traveling at ground level only might take a bit of getting used to after this), but JC2 is really not to be missed for anyone who enjoys open world games.

  • Roland_on_the_Ropes #84 2 years ago

    H0v3rCr4fT!

  • girth #85 2 years ago

    Started playing this over the w/e - only a few hours in.

    Not the best begining to a game tbh. The controls are a little akward and Rico doesn't feel very smooth to move around. Really don't like the fact that there's no cover system and the crouching mechanic is very poor. Combat isn't very satisfying either for me.

    Don't like Rico at all! Is he meant to be unlikeable? The VO's are pretty horrible too - sound very amaturish and the accents all sound so fake.

    The first two missions sound great on paper, but their implimentation is a little awkward - the world tech doesn't seem to handle the character movement very well. They're trying to start out with some big missions (start with a bang), but it doesn't quite come off IMO.

    Despite all that.... I like the grapple hook (grapple hooks are always fun tbf) and this works quite well. The geometry is great looking - as it was in the first game.

    At the moment, everything is very hand holdy and I'm trying to get through these first few levels until it opens up properly allowing me to explore. I'm hopeful once this happens, I'll enjoy it more.