Story
Taking place a few years after the first Just Cause, we find that game’s main character, Rico Rodriguez (cheesy name, I know) being dropped into Panau, a fictional nation that’s part of the Malay Archipelago of Southeast Asia. In recent times, a brutal dictator has taken over, killing the previous leader (who was US friendly), and severing all ties to the United States. His first mission is to oust the new leader, as well as tracking down his old mentor, whom his handlers believe has gone rogue. After finding his handler, it’s revealed that he was deep under cover, enough so that he appeared to be a rogue agent. Rico’s mentor also reveals that something is amiss on the island, and the three groups on the Island (Roaches, Reapers, Ular Boys) are being backed by foreign entities. From here, the player travels all over Panau, expanding the territories of the 3 groups, and causing as much chaos as possible, leading up to the obviously expected encounter with Panau’s new ruler.
To me, this story just oozes 80s cheese. While the story makes sense, it’s just so lame, it’s hard not to laugh at even the less pathetic moments. This 80s cheese vibe also extends to the setting (see below), but overall I like the cheese coming off it all, but there are a few weak moments. They do slightly damage things that go on, but aren’t too detrimental to the overall experience.
Setting
Let me just come out & say that Just Cause 2's setting is huge. The entire nation of Panau is laid out for the player to traverse & interact with, and everything feels very alive. You have various terrains to move through, including deserts, snowy mountains, and tropical forests. There’s also plenty of coastline for the player to travel to as well, where there’s a lot of fishing villages & military fuel facilities. Another aspect that makes the whole game alive is the people. Although they populate the game, you don’t get to interact with any of them. To make the situation worse, they feel rather bland, as they don’t really have anything interesting to say, and even killing a few won’t necessarily cause any impact, save for when you’re near any military post.
Characters
Here’s where Just Cause 2 weakens. Simply put, there is little personality within any of the characters, whether minor or major. Even the main character, Rico, seems far to bland & superficial. What makes the situation worse is the god awful voice acting, but I’ll save that for when the time comes. As I played the game, I felt no sympathy or drive for any of the character, save for the leaders of the Roaches, Reapers, & Ular Boys, but even then it’s very brief (much like Alexis Sinclaire from Sin the Movie).
Gameplay
As I played through the game, the other that came to mind was Grand Theft Auto. That’s actually a good description, as both games have a massive world in which the player moves around very freely. In the beginning, the player has to acquire a few weapons, and cause chaos in order to get notice & move things along. Once the player has gained enough power & influence, the military presence increases when the Chaos level is raised (Chaos is what allows the player to gain newer weapons & vehicles, as well as gain more missions from the 3 groups, and to advance the game’s story).
Speaking of Chaos, the way to raise the level is very simple...blow up anything with the government symbol on it! From fuel tanks to radio towers, anything with the government symbol is fair game for destruction. Although raising the level of Chaos does advance the player & story, it also causes the military to become more active, bringing in stronger weapons & tougher vehicles.
During the game, there exists a wide variety of vehicle for Rico to use. Cars & trucks, helicopters, planes & jets, tanks, and armored vehicles are all available for the taking. The vehicle you order from the black market dealer are ungradable up to 6 times, increases that vehicle’s stats. All of the vehicles perform well, even when they aren’t ungradable, but if I did have one complaint, it would be the planes & jets. The controls for them are horrible, and even when you’re successful at getting one up in the air, any accidental movement changes may totally screw-up the pace you’ve created.
Speaking of upgrading, the black market dealer is a godsend. He can do three important tasks: bring in & upgrade weapons, bring in & upgrade vehicles, and extract Rico to any previously discovered area. All of these tasks are needed for the player to keep himself alive, and to reach any mission that’s too far away for him to walk, drive, or fly to.
One final thing I’ll talk about before I move to the next section is the mission. Much like the size of Panau, there’s a wide variety of things to do. From driving a hooker away from a general, to running down a paparazzi that’s taken embarrassing photos, to shooting down military satellites about to be launched, there’s a lot of things to accomplish. So much in fact, that despite beating the game, I’ve only completed about 25% of the things in the game. I still have about 75% more missions & secrets to find.
Graphics & Sound
Remember when I said that the voice acting makes the character more bland than they already are? I wasn’t kidding.
This has to have some of the laziest, half-assed, pathetic voice acting I’ve ever heard! None of the voice actors sound like they wanted to do this game, and for those very few who do put in some effort, it doesn’t last long (again, much like Sin the Movie).
Luckily, the graphics massively make up for the shitty voice acting. If the setting creates the body of the game, and the towns & active npcs form the blood, then the graphics are the organs & skin. There’s a lot of colors & textures used, and they don’t often clash with one another, except when the player is moving between two different terrains, but even then it’s relatively minor. The cities seem covered with colors, while the various rural villages use colors more conservatively. The military complexes definitely use color, but too much would have blemished the drab, bleak environments the complexes emanate.
Overall & Rating
Just Cause 2 is a damn good game. If it wasn’t for the bland npcs, and for the downright terrible voice acting, this would have been a near perfect game. With the 80s cheese coming from the story, a large & believable setting, varied gameplay, and nice graphics, it’s a shame that just two simple yet important aspects tarnish the game’s otherwise good construction. If you don’t believe me, take a look a some of the reviews of this game. Most people that have played say this game was great!
Just Cause 2 gets an 8 out of 10.
See you all later this week, when I’ll review a classic fantasy anime. Until then, stay Otaku!
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