Just Cause 2 Review (§єǫuєᴋʜaɴ ⚶)
At almost 1000 sq km, the map for this game is MASSIVE
If you're a fan of open-world exploration, explosions, or both, chances are you already have this game. It's kind of like a B-movie, but the story is very short and is gated by a Chaos mechanic.
Story isn't the reason you play a game like this.
Rather, I play it for the satisfying explosions, funny physics, and the freedom to explore via parachute and grappling hook, or car, bike, boat, plane or even helicopter. I've played it 3 times now. Hard mode on PSN and PC, and more recently on casual on PC, and I love coming back to blow things the hell up.
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A note on performance. I started out my casual run at 2560 resolution and most settings maxxed, but after a few hot weather days I found the game was crashing pretty regularly so I had to dumb things down. In hindsight, I think the game had similar problems the last time I played on PC, and it had crashing problems on PSN too. After a few tries at dumbing down various settings, I ended up with a semi-stable game that would run for a long time - but everything was on low, and most checks were off. I also ended up running 1920 in a window. All this after a re-installation as I had a problem with most buildings and enemies only loading as transparencies, and the grapple would not connect to them.
So when you start playing don't be fooled by how well it all seems to be going - it's worth dumbing everything down from the get go.
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As fun as the game can be when things are going well and you find your rhythm, it isn't perfect. If you're in a helicopter and shoot and destroy one tiny object, you INSTANTLY get an attack chopper teleport in and start hammering your own aircraft with enemy fire. Regardless of difficulty, enemy numbers never seem to end in any sort of firefight either. As you progress, enemy alarm levels gradually upgrade to a maximum of 5, and you'll be surprised how fast it can fill up just by running around a military base picking up collectables.
Races are a personal favourite of mine, and there are plane, boat, car, and even falling races scattered all over the map. Some of them are awesome fun, but sliding around on ice was a bit wimpy. Also, plane controls for banking (better turning by tilting the whole plane's rotation) seemed sluggish - but I didn't fuss over the controls and just went with my PS4 controller, even though the game thought I had an Xbox controller.
Physics are fun to mess with - especially with the grapple. One of the earliest missions has you trying to escape pursuers - you almost don't even have to fire any guns, thanks to the ability to tether two objects together. Enemy cars would suddenly flip out when they found they were attached to the road.
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100% completion is almost impossible, seeing as how not every item is tracked on the map, but some completionists may jump on the task - with so many different collectables and things to destroy, the time you'll invest into the game makes every dollar worth it.