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