Prepare yourself for the biggest sandbox environment you’ll ever experience, in thefictional Panau Island (south Asia orientated) of Just Cause 2. Avalanche Studios returns for a sequel, this time introducing some new tech. Avalanche 2.0 is the name of the new game engine, used to develop Just Cause 2. 

Rico Rodriguez returns as the protagonist deployed in Panau, to ultimately track down dictator Pandak Panay and annihilate his army. Never mind the story though, its cheesy B movie stuff. Don’t even get me started on the voice acting and dialogues.

The real star of the show is Panau itself and Rico’s arsenal. He’s got a badass grapple hook attached to his arm, which allows you to zip anywhere from roughly 100 meters. Also attached to Rico at all times is a reusable parachute.

The grappling hook can be use to join anything together in your view. Whether that being cars to buildings or enemies to aeroplanes is entirely up to you.

You’ve got access to a black market supplier who can deliver you anything from aeroplanes, jets, boats, weapons and transport to a destination of your desire.  

Then you’ve got Panau itself, which is over 1,000 square kilometers of playground. It took me half an hour to get from one side of the map, to another by aeroplane and even longer by boat.

The game has a day and night cycle which varies and has implications on Rico. In tropical areas it rains and gets Rico drenched and in the mountains Rico’s clothes gather snow etc. 

Just Cause 2 offers a lot of freedom giving you to choice to carry out missions at your own leisure. You’ve got the main storyline and the faction missions, which basically involve you killing the military.

Other activities include races and collecting upgrades that speed or strengthen your vehicles and weapons. Obliterating military outposts and anything with the Panaun star gains you chaos points.

The more chaos you cause the more points you gain and unlockables you acquire, such as new weapons, vehicles and missions to complete. 

A general day in the life of Rico would be to blaze up a military base and steal a military helicopter. On his escape route he encounters a helicopter shooting at him, so he parachutes out of his ride before it explodes. Dives into the sea and grapple hooks onto a speed boat. Crashes it on land and rides a motor bike into the sunset.

There are so many ways that predicament could be played out, that haven’t even scratched the surface. Grappling your way up a mountain never gets old. Reaching a high peak is rewarding, gazing down at the beautiful landscape. The tech behind the game is brilliant; the draw distance is impressive and surpasses any other developers attempt at Avalanche’s achievement.

On the downside the games shooting mechanics are pretty standard, missing that oomph in shootouts. After a while the overwhelming sense of Panau’s sheer size becomes over blown. Driving around the environment for a while things becomes familiar, from the formation of rocks to the road layouts. 

Eventually you realize that much of the games environment is duplicated quite a lot. Even the vehicles seem repetitive and limited; there must be roughly 20 or 30 vehicles in total.

If you love blowing up environments and escaping James Bond style, parachuting off a cliff and grappling on to a plane on the way down, then you’ll do just fine with Just Cause 2.

Avalanche Studio created the sandbox world of Panau with you in mind. It’s such an inviting world you’ll loose all sense of your surroundings. Despite the minor setbacks, Just Cause 2 provides an experience unparallel to other action games. You’d be crazy not to purchase a game that allows you dive down, from hundreds of feet into a playground full of timeless shenanigans.

8/10