Just Cause 2

spider-man on shutter island

Just Cause 2 is not about overthrowing dictatorships or causing disorder or saving anyone, but is instead about the velocity of grappling hooks, the aerodynamics of parachutes, and the peculiar bliss of combining the two. It is about following the contours and open expanses of this fictional archipelago, gliding and cutting shapes like you were the wind.

Just Cause 2 is one of the finest world-as-playground videogames because it is never clear whether you are playing the game as it should be played or haphazardly combining various broken mechanics. And it is stupid throughout but only as seriously stupid as an arcade shooter cutscene. Unlike the followups it doesn't need you to know that it's in on the joke because the joke is just for you. Same with the broken mechanics. It is sincerely stupid and for that it is beautiful.

The world of Panau is lovingly crafted to be as anonymous as possible. It is assembled from Google Earth, travel ads, and shitty travel photos, all of which erase human specificity for a passive tropical emptiness. It's not even really a fantasy, it's too abstract for that. I almost feel bad because Just Cause 2 is so wasteful. It's huge, and filled with all these beautiful little townships and hideaways that could each sustain an entire game. Every now and then you might stop at one and walk around on foot and try take in the architecture and the views, and see where the people go to shop and eat, but then you feel like a fake.

You're so used to seeing the world blur past that actually appreciating Panau as something concrete and liveable is impossible. It's only ever as real as Google Earth, Expedia ads, and travel photos. Rico's role in The Company means he is defined only by his transience, his anonymity, and the world around him hollows itself out into an expansive non-place: a motorway/airport/mall decorated to look like some place else. Some place far far away.

This is the limit of Just Cause 2 and also the best thing about it. When you are in the playground you might find it difficult to leave, but enough time away from it and it dawns on you that it was only ever a playground. Unlike Grand Theft Auto and Far Cry, Just Cause 2's open chaos is always completely weightless. It's meditative, more meditative than any game that's ever been. Because again in Just Cause 2 you are the wind.

the damn grapple hook bro, grapple + parachute. all you gotta know, its just satisfying and makes you feel COOL. i enjoyed playing through the campaign even if most of it was cliche and dull, but just giving me something to do with the mechanics was all I needed. FUCK getting 100% though, LOL.

7/10

For a sequel that no one asked for, Just Cause 2 stands out among free-roaming action games in a way that the original didn’t.

As you jump from a helicopter at the start of the game, free-falling into an enemy base, the first thing that stands out is the scope of the game’s world. It is enormous. You will often fly a jet from continent to continent as you travel to your next mission; these trips offer both an amazing spectacle and a sense of boredom as a result of the prolonged lack of action (although there is a “warp” system introduced early on).

The missions themselves are woefully outdated: The escort mission with brain-dead A.I. rears its ugly head from 2003, along with amusing yet frustrating-to-control air races that recall Pilotwings [パイロットウイングス].

The strengths of the game are the scope of the world and the ways you traverse it with a grappling hook and parachute, allowing you to become your own makeshift parasail. Better yet is the grappling hook’s ability to tie any two objects together. This opens the combat up to all sorts of hilarious antics. Link an enemy to a gas canister, shoot it and watch it fly off along with its victim. Unfortunately, it’s only a matter of time until you exhaust the possibilities and wish there were a better game to embody such impressive settings and clever ideas.

Single player this game is enjoyable, but thanks to the community the multiplayer mod is what makes this game.