Five Favorite Open Worlds #4: Just Cause 2

When it comes to sequels in the game industry, there are normally two types: The ones that slightly improve on the first one and the ones that go big and do everything they can to blow the first game out of the water. Today’s game definitely falls into the latter with one of the most bombastic sequels to a game.

An Explosive Getaway:

Just Cause 2 on the surface had the same basic principle as the first game: As Rico Rodriguez, you had to take down a corrupt government in the Pacific. The developers basically went into Just Cause 2 wanting to do everything they could to make the sequel bigger.

The gamespace was one of the biggest we’ve seen in a game outside of the Elder Scrolls series with over 400 square miles to explore. The player could get around via car, bike, boat, and plane or even by parachute. Apparently Rico was sporting an infinitely reusable parachute that could be used to glide around or float with use of his grappling hook.

The world of Just Cause 2 was full of collectible and side quests to do, with everything used to accumulate chaos which unlocked new content. Most missions in the game allowed the player to approach them in a variety of vehicles.

In the first post I talked about how important the moment to moment gameplay is important to me in an open world title and Just Cause 2 was great in this regard. Every battle at a moment’s notice could turn into a scene from an action movie. From jumping off of mountains, car chases and hijacking helicopters to turn it against the base it was defending.

Unlike Batman: Arkham City, the story took a backseat almost immediately to the gameplay, although people remember Bola Santosa. Of the five games we’re going to talk about in this series, Just Cause 2 is the one that I’ve spent the most time with. Now, you would think that it would be higher on my list, but I do have some problems with it.

The reason why I’ve spent so much time playing through the game is that I can’t play it for more than about an hour at a time without getting bored. Just Cause 2’s gameplay is vast, but shallow. Every mission involves blowing something up, while it can be done in a variety of ways, always ends with the same result.

While the game does motivate you to cause chaos via unlocks, you’ll run out of unlockables way before you run out of things to destroy. The enemies never escalate to the point of being challenging other than just mass numbers of them.

The upgrade system of finding crates for more health or stronger weapons is a great motivator, but eventually you’ll reach a point where they aren’t needed anymore due to having everything you wanted.

To me, Just Cause 2 is like eating cake: A great treat, but something that you can’t eat everyday without getting tired of it. Our next game however was one of the first open world games to feature meaningful progression and one of the most addictive collectible hunts ever.

Up Next: Skills for Kills

Click here for the previous entry