The saying 'Games are for kids' is false, but this game will make you think otherwise. Mature gamers should stay away.
Pros:
-Nice Graphics
-Entertaining Grappling Hook
-Gameplay Freedom
Cons:
-Horrible Story
-Irritating Voice Acting
-Chaos Progression System
-Loose Inaccurate Shooting Mechanics
-Clunky Lifeless Vehicle Mechanics
-Weird Control Layout
-Graphics Lack Next-Gen Detail
-Looks/Feels like a highly polished PS2 game
-Unrewarding Exploration
-Quanity over Quality
-All around Silliness
I usually enjoy anything offered on the market. It may be either the games story right down to the gameplay that keeps me hooked for the time being. Most games I enjoy are mature titles because I consider myself a mature gamer. Now most of the games are not as mature storywise as I want them to be, but the gameplay makes up for the lack of it in most cases (KZ2). I am an adult and games that are just games just don't cut it anymore for more in this day and age. Games need substance and solid gameplay, but sadly enough this game highly lacks both. When it comes the Just Cause 2, I just can't bring myself to find anything I enjoy about this game. It like that annoying dog down the street, its stupid, pointless and I wish somebody would put it out of its misery. I am over exaggerating, but I really did not enjoy this game in long strides. I played Lost Planet last year and I thought it was a horrible game. If felt like a PS2 game made for the PS3. The things I like about next-generation gaming is the fact that games don't play like child things anymore. They may have the same mechanics, but everything now is just so immersive and feels authentic. Lost Planet didn't do it for me and the sequel most likely won't either. I feel Just Cause 2 sits in the same boat and that boat is about to sink.
The only game that I can compare to JC2 is Red Faction Guerilla. I loved RFG because it had an enjoyable story with explosive gameplay. Though the game needed more solid controls and mechanics, I enjoyed the games seriousness. JC2 is just 'stupid' all around in my opinion. From the lunacy of action down to the terrible protagonist Rico, everything in this game screams "Mature gamers stay away". Bayonetta was one ridiculous game, but it definitely had a meaningful narrative with enjoyable gameplay. Just Cause 2 just has a terrible story that is uninteresting. The story is rarely told and when it is, it seems like its either taking itself to serious or it is not taking itself serious enough. None of the writing is funny, nor is any of it award winning. Writers, nowadays, need to be fired because they don't take their jobs serious, just look at the Transformer movies. All I can say is if you are into games like Bioshock and Heavy Rain, you should not 'buy' this game. The action in this game is not as fun as many preach it is. Though there opinions are subjective just like mines, I believe this game just doesn't cut it for the mature and veteran gamer. Shooting anything in a game can be fun, but after some many fabulous games have perfected this mechanic, JC2 just feels light, unimaginative, and boring. I loved grappling onto a helicopter, stealing it, killing and blowing up everything then jumping out to parachute down to still a mounted gun and continue my havoc until everything was dead or on fire. But when all these things aren't happening at the same time, this game becomes extremely boring, repetitive, and tedious. With no true story to drive the gameplay, I just don't care to play. And the gameplay just doesn't cut it for me either.
The control layout on the PS3 is clumsy. The hit detection balance on guns are horrible. Reminds me of the game Scarface. Anyway it takes between 4-10 rounds to take down guards and this truly becomes an issue because I found myself constantly running out of ammo. When it comes open world gaming, I am a exploration whore, but in this game, I became a virgin all over. After playing something like GTAIV, Demon Souls, Fallout 3, etc...JC2 exploration is seriously lacking. You don' find anything except marked upgrades all over this island. On top of this, everywhere looks and feels the same in the game. Now GTA IV and Fallout 3 have the same environments all over the place, but for some reason JC2 just wasn't appealing nor was it enjoyable to explore. Funny thing is JC2 tries to be GTA San Andreas mixed with Uncharted (That should make sense). When it comes to the driving vehicle, this totally killed the game for me. I had to get use to GTA IV's realistic/arcade driving, but with JC2, the driving doesn't fit the games arcade gameplay. Car drive clunky, the steering is unresponsive (understeer/oversteer), and for some reason, if a play lands (not crashes) on the ground...it explodes...stupid. On top of this, if I jump down a hill, as high as a house, Rico will position himself as if he is jumping of the Chrysler building causing the game to thinks I am falling from a deadly height and if I don't release my parachute...Rico dies. This happened multiple times and this caused me to start over many games. I then have to find another way to get to my destination that is clear across the map. These moments bug me as much as the games intolerable ability to throw infinite enemies at me. Now Red Faction Guerilla does the same thing, but the difference is, RFG did it in squirts. JC2 on the otherhand poors the whole 2 liter body over you. Too many enemies, not enough ammo or health. This is not fun in my opinion.
The chaos system is the only way to progress through the games terrible narrative. From the jump, I was confused at how to open missions until I realized blowing up facilities and causing havoc was the only way to do this. Red Faction did the samething, but it was executed better and on top of that, it had a point. In Red Faction, your were destroying enemies facilities to weaken their reign of power. In JC2, you are destroying anything and everything just so faction leaders can help you find an 'American'. Now that would all fine and dandy if the story was executed properly and the game didn't play like a childs toy, but it doesn't. The gameplay is as repetitive as with any game, but usually in mature games, repetitive gameplay had meaning like in Assassin Creed 2. To end this rant, the game has no meaining.
JC2 is all about fun and thats fine for gamers who enjoy nothing, but playing games to waste time all day, but I play games for an experience. I like to play something that plays with my mind. I am a busy person, so when I do get a chance to sit down and play a game, I want it to be an enjoyable experience and for this to occur, the gameplay must be solid and driven by a narrative with meaning. I thought Borderlands was a enjoyable game, but the only thing keeping it from being great was the lack of a good story. JC2 lacks a story and the gameplay feels so last generation. Red Faction Guerilla plays the sameway, but that game has substance at the end of the day and gameplay is far superior than what you get in this clown show.
Just Cause may be fun if you just want to 'F around', but coming from an adult (age 22), I feel this game is best suited for people under the age of 15. Nothing about it can be taken seriously and if I was an outsider watching someone play this, my belief that games are for kids would be strengthened. After playing games like Heavy Rain, Bioshock, Assassin Creed, Uncharted, MGS, GTA, etc, I can't find a reason why developers would create such a lacking product, but then again, maybe JC2 was made for those gamers who have been begging for a game like this since San Andreas. This game may have received some good reviews, but if you look at the big picture, nothing about this game is special and for those who point out the explosions and crazy action as the stand outs, play RFG because it does explosions so much better than JC2. This only thing that makes this game unique is the ridiculous, but fun grappling hook and the ability to do some insane stunts, but that is not enough to enrich the quality of this game. Forget what you hear about value when it come to this game because even though there is alot to do, I believe most mature gamers won't care to waste time even doing most of these things because it lacks substance.
JC2 is not a horrible game, but to me, JC2 is a terrible game because it just doesn't have any of the qualities that make gaming special to me. I do not think this game 'sucks', but the game is seriously lacking in my opinion. I don't have high stuck up standards, but in this case, I feel this game is below average and not worth my time or money. I am glad I rented this game though. And yes I did complete the game and I completed alot of the side missions so my review is not off of a first impressions. Thanks for reading and I hope my review was as accurate as possible.