The original Just Cause was a fun open world game, but numerous gameplay issues and a few bugs prevented players from really engaging them selves in it. For Just Cause 2, the world has been expanded, the gameplay more streamlined, and the fun has certainly been improved a notch or two.

You’ve probably seen the tricks, trailer and stunts you can do on countless YouTube videos, and it’s true enough: the game packs a lot of fun and a huge open game world for you to explore and have fun in. You’ll do everything from races, to jungle fights, to piloting jets and helicopters, to blowing pretty much everything up. It’s a huge, over the top action game that begs to be made into a movie by Michael Bay.

Once again, you play as Rico, and you work for The Agency. They give you some missions, and you carry them out. This is where Just Cause 2 falls a bit short. Despite the vast world and its possibilities, the missions are pretty much the same, and the story is as B-move as you can expect. Thankfully, the game doesn’t take itself too seriously about it. For the most part, the story only serves as a delivery mechanism from one action scene to the next. The gameplay is the selling point of the Just Cause 2, and it pretty much delivers across the board. It’s fun to play, fun to blow stuff up, and when you’re done with the fairly tame missions, you can wreck havoc across the island. And for good measures, the more you destroy, the better your reputation gets, and the more unlocks you get. One thing that annoyed us throughout the game, was the check-point save system, where you pretty much have one life during a mission, and if you die, you have to start at the beginning of the mission, without any of the items and weapons you collected. And getting back to the start of the missions means you’ll have to do a lot of travel at times.

Technically, the game looks stunning. In particular, the huge draw distance and the vast island is impressive, and you can visit every part of it, from the beaches, to jungles, to snow covered mountain tops. The audio and soundtrack are decent, however, a common glitch occurs when the characters’ lips aren’t properly synced to the voice over. In all, Just Cause 2 is a wonderful action game that should satisfy gamers for a long, long time.

The Good:
Huge open world
Lots of missions and gameplay
Fun and exciting gameplay

The Bad:
Mission structure
Save system

Overall score: 8/10

If you’re into Lost Planet then you’re definitely going to want to download the Lost Planet 2 demo, which will be available soon. Why, you ask? Well, other than being able to play the game it will feature the MG SP, an exclusive weapon that you’ll be able to use in the actual game.

According to Joystiq, the MG SP will stagger opponents on the first shot, and then further disable them with additional shots.

Anyone excited? I know I am.

Just yesterady we let you know that GeoHot, the iPhone hacker, was hard at work on a firmware that would combat the new PS3 update that will remove Linux. If, however, if you aren’t big on the whole Linux thing you’ll be happy to hear that the PS3 firmware version 3.21 has just been released to the Playstation Network.

Of course, if you are into Linux and don’t want to give up the Other OS features, you’re going to be disappointed to hear that in order to log into the Playstation Network, you’re going to need to update your console to version 3.21. Bummer.

Everyone knows that with Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and all of the other games Activision has under their belt, they are a force to be reckoned with. Well, it seems that the company is splitting up internally into 4 different entities presumably in an effort to better focus the different divisions.

The entities that they will be splitting up will be one that focuses on Call of Duty, one that focuses on games like Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero, one for licensed titles, and then Blizzard.

I’m sure this means Activision will be pinching your wallets even more now than they did before.

via tvgb

Due to some disputes between EA and UFC, the president of UFC actually said that he would blacklist any fighter who agreed to appear in EA Sports MMA. Luckily, he recently released a statement to Kotaku that he would not be banning fighters who signed up for the game but that he would not give up the fight.

He insists that UFC Undisputed remains the premiere UFC game. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

While companies like Activision find it necessary to charge $15 for Modern Warfare 2 maps, DICE is taking a bit of a different approach with Bad Company 2. With the recent release of the VIP Map Pack for BC2 free of cost many have wondered if they will ever charge for a pack.

Well, if it’s up to DICE, and not EA, no they will never be charging a pack as they feel it is “crucial” to the game. However, EA assures us that there will be some premium content for the game sometime soon.

In an industry that is so money hungry, I really admire DICE’s decision to keep maps for Bad Company 2 free and to continue giving the community what they want.

via thatvideogameblog

For quite some time now Epic Games has been focusing their efforts pretty much exclusively on the Gears of War franchise. While a new game has yet to be released many have speculated that it will be Gears of War 3, which would obviously make sense.

Well, the mystery will be revealed soon as Jimmy Fallon has revelaed that Epic Game’ss Cliff Bleszinski will appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to reveal his new game.

While it would be cool to see some Gears 3 media, I think it would be even cooler to see a brand new Epic IP. However, something tells me that probably won’t happen.

If you weren’t already excited enough for NBA Jam perhaps the fact that both Larry Bird and Magic Johnson will be featured in the game. According to Joystiq players will play through a team ladder with the final match being against Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

What’s a bummer to me is that when the game drops in Fall of this year it will only be for the Wii. I would have loved to see an NBA Jam Xbox Live Arcade title or something similar.

Are you looking to pick up BioShock 2 but are a bit iffy because you haven’t run through the first game? No worries, Amazon has a deal for you — If you act fast, you’ll be able to get both BioShock 1 and 2 for just $48.99.

There’s no telling how long Amazon will be holding this promotion so, like I said above, you better act fast.

via amazon

When you think of a PC game with ridiculous graphics, what game comes to mind? For the majority of you, it’s probably Crysis. However, Crytek isn’t looking to stop their with their forthcoming release of Crysis 2 they are looking to set the graphical benchkmark.

Below is what executive producer Nathan Camarillo had to say:

“We’re aiming to set the graphical benchmark. Why would anyone not want to play a game with the best graphics they have ever seen, great gameplay, some engaging fiction, challenging AI, killer weaponry and a complete gaming experience like no other?”

Well, now that they said the game will have the best graphics we’ve ever seen, it really better have the best graphics we’ve ever seen or Crytek is going to get some heat.

via cvg