I think helicopters play a pretty big role in Just Cause 2
Some of the sites I follow have been saying a lot of good things about Just Cause 2, so when the demo was released on Xbox Live I figured I’d give it a shot. It’s an open world sandbox game (where have I heard that before) tasking you with taking down an evil dictator on some remote island. I played the 30 minutes the demo allowed, but left it asking one question: WHAT!?
I guess it’s partially my fault – I went into the demo having no idea what the premise was or anything. Playing the demo, I was struck by how…open the game was. It’s a sandbox game, but I dropped into the game having no idea what my objective was or anything. What I figured out was that the premise of the game is pretty simple: blow up everything you can.
By blowing stuff up, you create “chaos” in the fictional country of Panau, which weakens the dictator’s grip on the country. Yes, you can basically boil down the premise of the entire game: blow up everything you can and win. To do this, you have a lot of tools at your disposal: guns, rocket launchers, helicopters, cars, etc. It’s a super open game, and I can see how people could enjoy the game.
Unfortunately, there’s not enough story to get me excited. I’m just supposed to run around and blow up whatever I want? That type of gameplay just doesn’t appeal to me. The game almost reminds me of a 3rd person version of Far Cry 2 (which I loved), but perhaps without the realistic gameplay.
The most interesting thing Just Cause 2 has going for it is its use of elevation. Usually, when you see a mountain, it’s a barrier for travel, but in Just Cause 2, nothing seems to stop you from traveling wherever you want to. You can use your grappling hook to climb mountains, and if you fall off, you can deploy a parachute to take a relaxing ride down. I’ll have to admit, that’s pretty cool and nothing I’ve seen before – but it’s not enough to get me interested in the game. I can think of no just cause to buy it. Oh yea, I went there.
I could understand how you feel that way about the story, and maybe when official release comes the “lack” of a story will be more of an issue for me, but for demo purposes I thought it was excellent. I played on PC and not Xbox so I can’t speak for your experience, but my impression was very good. I thought the graphics were fantastic along with the physics. Of course, nothing about this game is realistic. It’s all about exaggerated action. However I was really impressed how easy it is to pull off consecutive stunts that make you feel like a hardened badass. It’s strange because usually I dislike action games, but there’s something about Just Cause 2 that feels good.