Just Cause 2

I am not one to give “detailed” reviews, instead, I give an opinion based on my experience. I have enjoyed this game off and on for the last two years. The scenery is amazing, I mean amazing! When you’re at the equivalent of 25,000 feet altitude, the scenery is similar to real life and gorgeous! You can go anywhere you want and pick up any mission you choose. Some of the vehicles you can command are tanks, cars, jeeps, Fighter Jets, Commercial Airliners, Helicopters, Attack Helicopters and more. Avalanche Studios did a decent job trying to mesh this Grand Theft Auto meets the Islands type game together.

The story is about the typical abusive tyrant who controls the island and kills people like it’s going out of style. It’s almost like a North Korean-type government that runs this island you have infiltrated. You are there to topple this government and free the innocent people in the process. The story could do better with hooks pulling you into the drama. Drama is the keyword here! It doesn’t exist. Listen, we all have had family who love soap operas and it’s because of the drama. We humans get pulled into drama rather quickly and always go back for more. This drama is good for making the story gripping for the player. If I could measure the grip of drama in my experience then it would be at 50%. It is a humdrum plot that we are all too familiar with in games. a.k.a the Far Cry Series.

It’s almost like a North Korean type government that runs this island you have infiltrated. You are there to topple this government and free the innocent people in the process.

But where does it end? All this wonderful talk about this game? Right here. Yes, despite my playing  74 hours of this game, there are issues. You know some people are graphic junkies and others are sound. Being a VO in real life, I’m going to critique the sound. The voiceovers in this game are downright TERRIBLE! Now I feel better by getting that out in the open. I kid you not some of the NPCs “non-player characters, for you non-gamers” sound terrible and do not make sense with the words they speak. I listened to one NPC constantly repeat about “flanking my character” while he stood in a corner. Seriously, did the developers hire 3-year-olds to do the voiceovers? Please! Contact me for the voiceover if you want a serious-sounding character and not a 3-year-old!

I listened to one npc constantly repeat about “flanking my character” while he stood in a corner.

The animations in this could do better. For example, A tank shot with a machine gun will show the bullet holes and a car hit in the side will show the dent. But, when you kill a bad guy it looks like the NPC jumps backward and is always the same animation. That is annoying!

Pathfinding issues? Oh, yes! The issue with NPC pathfinding is not as bad as in some games. There are some situations where the NPC will just get stuck in a corner and stand there until you move past them.

For those who ask if Farcry is better? I would not compare them because they are both different in the way they present themselves. In this game blowing stuff up is a blast! I’m talking sky-high cranes with the right bombs will be coming down. That alone is what draws me to Just Cause more than anything else. I like blowing up all the bad guy’s buildings, cars, and more. The more stuff you blow up then the higher up your chaos meter goes in the game which gives you points!

The game shines with a variety of missions, vehicles, and blowing stuff up. The last time I checked the game is for sale on Steam for $14.99 and honestly, that is more than I would pay. G2A has the game for less than $5.

The missions, the challenges, and overall gameplay, however, make up for the other gripes I have about the game. *Cough* “74 hours” If you can overlook my complaints then you will have a lot of fun in this game.

Go pick up Just Cause 2 and give it a try!