Imagine all of your favourite action films rolled into one, and you will start to get close to the over the top carnage that is possible in this game. Wherever you go on the paradise island of Panau, you leave behind a trail of exploding buildings, crumbling towers and flaming car wrecks. You’re basically an insurance company’s worst nightmare.
The reason for all this destruction is because, as a soldier of fortune, you are doing your utmost to overthrow the dictatorship that currently rules the country. By teaming up with the various local criminal factions, you are set on missions to cause the maximum carnage possible and slowly turn the balance of power to your side.
If you are familiar with the Grand Theft Auto series, you’ll feel instantly at home in this sandbox environment. You can go where you like on the vast, sprawling island, and pretty much blow up what you like as well. And blowing things up is what Just Cause 2 does best – each village, oil rig or military base you come across is given a percentage of buildings and objects that you either have to destroy, and by calling upon your vast arsenal of weapons you set about throwing grenades at buildings or shooting down installations with your assault rifle. By collecting the power ups that are scattered throughout the game world you can spend them on upgrading or purchasing new equipment to cause as much havoc as possible or vehicles to travel around in. Or both at the same time if you happen to lay your hands on a tank or army helicopter and want to show off.
Admittedly, as the game begins you have a hard job picking up ammo and finding weapons to use – you just start off with a grappling hook and… err, that about it – but as you slowly play through and collect the power ups, you get the chance to lay your hands on some serious bit of kit. Just wait until you are flying around in a Harrier Jump Jet and firing off rockets to all and sundry – then you’ll see some real action!
The list of weapons and vehicles to try out in this game is almost endless, and there are a multitude of different types of car, speedboat, airplane, helicopter and quad bike to try out. Each of these obviously handles differently, and you can have hours of fun trying them all out and performing stunts. Again, when it comes to weapons, there are all types of rifles, pistols, shotguns, rocket launchers and explosives to set to work with.
As much fun as all this destruction is, just travelling from place to place is a joy unto itself, thanks to the stunning scenery that zooms past. Be it high up in the snow-clad mountains or deep in the jungle, there are a whole host of interesting places to explore and admire. The island of Panau is an impressive place to live.
Of course it is not all good news for this game though; for example, some of the vehicle controls are a little on the ropey side to say the least. The lip synch in the cut scenes is laughable, and talking of voices the speech acting throughout the game is of a shoddy nature. The annoying American in the helicopter has a particularly tiresome voice. Also, the lack of ammunition to begin with can be frustrating. On the whole though, if you are looking for a solid action game with plenty of things to blow up, then this delivers exactly what you are looking for.
If you have fond memories of the Grand Theft Auto series of games, you are going to love this. Mindless destruction has never been so much fun.
