Just Cause 2 game review

Just Cause 2 is ridiculous, but it's silly in a charming way that makes it hard to put down. The player takes the shoes of one Rico Rodriguez, who will be familiar to players of the first Just Cause game, which was very much flawed.

This time around, you start out in a helicopter above an east Asian island called Panau. When one of your comrades is dragged out of the chopper to his death it's time to leap down and take revenge.

The politics of Just Cause 2 are suspect, to say the least. Rico is nominally employed by a shadowy American government organisation called The Agency but it's not clear who's really benefitting from all the carnage.

The gameplay is the usual point-and-click action we've come to expect from shooters, with the interesting twist that Rico is equipped with a grappling hook and a parachute. The former can be used to tackle the bad guys, and nothing beats using it to take down an enemy gunner in a tower. It's also a quick way to travel, and Rico does a good Spider-man impersonation when it comes to climbing to impossible heights using the hook.

It can also grapple onto vehicles, including aircraft, which you can then take control of. Alternatively, hook onto one of the large statues of Panau's dictators and then onto a truck and drive away to see him collapse.

The open game world in Just Cause 2 gives the player plenty of freedom. After the initial training missions you're left to explore the island and perform tasks for the various factions.

'Chaos' is a measurable currency in Just Cause 2. The more of it you cause by blowing things up, the quicker you unlock weapons and Agency missions, which are needed to progress in the game. But you can simply gad about the island as a gun for hire if you wish.

It's by no means perfect. Despite all the Agency and dictator references there is no real plot to speak of, and the acting is awful. Voices don't fit their characters, the Asian accents sound more European, and the attempts at topicality are laughable.

But Just Cause 2 is still enormously entertaining, and the sheer variety of vehicles to steal and terrain to explore make it worth the money.