RSS Feeds NGN on Facebook NGN on Twitter NGN on YouTube
Tuesday March 19, 2024
Header logo
  1. Index
  2. » Articles
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2 Review

The game offers open-world fun, but unfortunately cannot sustain it long enough to keep the player's attention

Posted by on
Just Cause 2 is a sandbox-style action game. That might make some people run for the hills, but bear with me. The title comes our way courtesy of Swedish developer Avalanche Studios and Eidos Interactive labels, which were published by Square Enix. It is the sequel to the 2006 game Just Cause. The original had some glaring faults, and it actually took some players quite a while to warm up to the title, but once they did, it turned out to be an interesting and goofy open-world game. But alas, Just Cause 2 set out to be much more serious – at least in theory – as some modern “next-gen” titles do. This time around, the focus is on stunts and performing gravity-defying tricks, which is both a blessing and a curse for this title. Simply put, the game offers much of what most players will expect. But once that aspect has worn its welcome – granted, some players will last longer than others – many will discover that Just Cause 2 doesn’t have much to offer in regards to any kind of actual structured and involving gameplay.
 
screenshot
 
This is your playground. Now go entertain yourself.
 
In the sequel, the players once again take on the role of Rico Rodruguez. The free-roaming mercenary gets a contract with the “Agency” to infiltrate the South-east Asian island nation of Panau. Formerly a US ally, Panau is taken over by a dictator who decides to cut off all ties to the US. Rico's mission is to oust Panay from office, as well as track down and assassinate Tom Sheldon, who the Agency fears has gone rogue after disappearing during the regime change. However, in order to get to the top of the food chain, Rico has to team up with three island factions and gain their trust, so that he may get close to the president for the kill. The setup is rather simple, the faction missions act as side quests, and the “Agency” missions progress the story. There is little tying the three factions together, and no moral choices to be made in regards of who you should help.
 
The faction leaders make for forgettable characters, and even Rico himself comes off as a generic tough guy with little emotion. While this is not exactly different in the original, modern day titles should have higher levels of presentation then that. The story is actually not very long, and missions start to become quite repetitive towards the end of the game, leaving it up to the players to entertain themselves. Some would argue that in an open world game such as this, the focus is on action, crazy stunts and exploring the world. Well folks, similar titles such as GTA4 and even Prototype had all that but still contained a story worth following.

Comments
Post Comment
You may not post comments as a guest. Please register or login to your account.
Username:
Password:
Create a new account?
Forgot your password?
#4 Apr 19, 2010 20:23:48 (Apr 19, 2010 20:23)

with_teeth26
 @Phatcat1987 - yea Saints Row 2 does, but it is a better game overall than GTA IV in my opinion. It embraces its silly sandbox nature much more that GTA IV, and is simply more fun to play. It doesn't look that good, but its a total blast to play and very well designed, unlike GTA IV (again, in my opinion). Volition is currently one of my favorite companies because they design their games to be fun and challenging, but never frustrating, something i wish more developers would do. 
#3 Apr 19, 2010 19:26:16 (Apr 19, 2010 19:26)

SpectralShock
As I mentioned a few times in the review, it completely depends on the type of experience you are looking for. If you're happy with endless open-ended chaos that you have to design and execute, then have a blast!
#2 Apr 19, 2010 19:06:06 (Apr 19, 2010 19:06)

Phatcat1987
 I appreciate an honest review, but none the less I will still give this a shot.  Maybe I'll invest in Gamefly to see how it is.
 
with_teeth26,
 
In all fairness, didn't Saints Row rip a lot of their content from GTA?  I've never played one of their games, but I've always read that the game was somewhat notorious for that.
#1 Apr 19, 2010 12:55:03 (Apr 19, 2010 12:55)

with_teeth26
 i've only played for 5 hours and already i'm beginning to tire of either doing races or missions. Some of the missions are fun, and i like how they ripped the mission design straight out of Saints Row 2, it just needs more side missions/mini games to keep the player focused, since as you said random destruction becomes pretty dull after a point. 
Just Cause 2
Just Cause 2 box art Platform:
PC
Our Review of Just Cause 2
76%
Good
The Verdict:
Game Ranking
Just Cause 2 is ranked #726 out of 1953 total reviewed games. It is ranked #57 out of 103 games reviewed in 2010.
725. Tunic
PC
726. Just Cause 2
727. Dead Rising 2
PC
Related Games
Contraband Contraband
Platform: Xbox Series X
Coming: December 2024
Developer: Avalanche Studios
Rage 2 Rage 2
Platform: Xbox One
Released: May 2019
Developer: Avalanche Studios
Just Cause 4 Just Cause 4
Platform: PC
Released: December 2018
Developer: Avalanche Studios
Just Cause 3 Just Cause 3
Platform: PC
Released: December 2015
Developer: Avalanche Studios
Mad Max Mad Max
Platform: PC
Released: September 2015
Developer: Avalanche Studios
Renegade Ops Renegade Ops
Platform: Xbox 360
Released: September 2011
Developer: Avalanche Studios
Screenshots

Just Cause 2
16 images added Apr 19, 2010 01:28
Videos
Just Cause 2 trailer
Posted: Sep 12, 2009 19:48
Just Cause 2 Vertical gameplay
Posted: Sep 12, 2009 19:50
Just Cause 2 - Freedom and Chaos Trailer
Posted: Feb 10, 2010 02:08
Advertisement ▼
New Game Network NGN Facebook NGN Twitter NGN Youtube NGN RSS