User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1108 Ratings

User score distribution:
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  1. Nov 13, 2011
    7
    Utterly enjoyable. Gameplay is so much fun, when you get the hang of it. Jumping around with your grapplehook and parachuting from tree to tree to avoid gunfire is just one of the many aspects of this game that makes it awesome. Here's the catch: Storyline is thin, and can be finished TOO quickly. Once you've completed the campaign, you get stuck in "Mercenary Mode" where you then attemptUtterly enjoyable. Gameplay is so much fun, when you get the hang of it. Jumping around with your grapplehook and parachuting from tree to tree to avoid gunfire is just one of the many aspects of this game that makes it awesome. Here's the catch: Storyline is thin, and can be finished TOO quickly. Once you've completed the campaign, you get stuck in "Mercenary Mode" where you then attempt to complete the rest of the game (blowing stuff up, driving every vehicle available, etc.). Unfortunately, once you've gotten to that point, it just loses it's fun-value (unless you're comfortable running around and blowing stuff up for hours on end). Good enough game to buy if you can get it on sale. 7/10. Expand
  2. Sep 14, 2011
    7
    Good times initially, the open world is so impressive. Nothing like it on the market. Controls better than GTA, looks good, but it's just boring after a while. I found myself rushing to complete the game so I could mark it off my list.
  3. Oct 11, 2010
    7
    A really good game for all action fans. I am also a fan of it. But there is only one thing. At least I miss a little bit the alternation in this game. Thats why I evalueted it only with 7 points. Have fun with it.
  4. Feb 15, 2011
    7
    First and foremost, if you're a completionist, you will absolutely love this game; but I'll get to that later. Instead, I'll start out by saying that the graphics in this game are close to stunning. Between the setting sun and the motion blur while on top of a car, the great visuals make experiences vary from beautiful to intense (but epic). Not to mention the explosions, they're the bestFirst and foremost, if you're a completionist, you will absolutely love this game; but I'll get to that later. Instead, I'll start out by saying that the graphics in this game are close to stunning. Between the setting sun and the motion blur while on top of a car, the great visuals make experiences vary from beautiful to intense (but epic). Not to mention the explosions, they're the best explosions I've seen in a game (so far). However, the water whitewash looks 2D and like clip art at times (same with smoke when it passes through buildings), but water has always been an extremely difficult thing to design and program in all games. Also, the vision haze that comes with going underwater was not applied to some objects. So, you would see a rock as clearly as if you were out of the water, but this only happened rarely. The soundtrack was, unfortunately, unoriginal and, even though the setting was a southeast Asian island, the oriental accents and touches in the soundtrack didn't quite work. For some reason, also, they decided to make some ambient tracks hispanic/spanish themed and (even though Rico Rodriguez, the protagonist, is clearly hispanic or hispanic-american) that didn't seem to match the other James Bond/oriental tracks of the score. This takes us to voice acting..........which was atrocious. The Asian accents were over exaggerated and I never felt like I was actually listening to someone have a conversation. The writing was pretty bad, too, although some of Rico's one-liners (excluding the ones heard during actual gameplay, those were just blunt and lacked any clever input) were nice. Many times, the dialogue felt like they were simply trying to put in a cutscene for the sake of it and the cutscenes that were shown before each Stronghold Mission were just strange and random proclamations of the faction leader's hatred of Panay or appraisal of Rico's skill. The only part of writing that was okay was the gist of the main story, not the actual dialogue of the main story, but the ideas behind it. Panay's plan for global dominance wasn't something like mind control or something ridiculous, it was an actual economic advantage that would have allowed Panay to control trillions in the world's economy. This takes us to mission variation, which is also not so there. Although the action is usually great, the 42 missions that are available are either go destroy, go kill, go retrieve/steal, or go kidnap a guy. Now, for the completionist. There are 362 locations with a percent completion score for each location, allowing you to be sure you've done everything possible within that town/base/village. It'll even mark the location as "complete" which allows you to systematically complete all the locations, this will take much more of your time than you expected, and much more time than it felt like. Similar to locations are collectibles and races which are marked as completed (or collected) just as locations are. The only downside to this is how overwhelmed you can get until the world is divided into faction territories and you will also never reach 100% completion as they made it impossible to find every little crate in the 50 sq miles of land and sea. Just by the by, the world is enormous in a good way, but sometimes a bad way. Distance between locations can be a bit annoyingly large. But, the way the world varies from tropical islands, cities, deserts, mountains, snowscapes, grass planes, jungles, and forests is astonishing. It feels like a living, breathing world instead of a boring plane that the designers called "land." Especially when it comes to explosions and destruction, the world reacts smoothly and beautifully. The grappling hook makes for an amazingly useful tool to traverse the world and the ability to ride on top of vehicles (including airplanes) makes the action even more intense. To the action: explosions look terrific, this may be a little specific but when cars crash, roll, and flip, it is extremely awesomely cool. Needless to say, you will have extreme action experiences throughout the game. Downsides, however, the police system is completely unscaled. There really is no level of how pissed off they get. If you have level 1 "heat," the will send a helicopter and every police vehicle and person within 5 miles will converge on your location. This level of intensity doesn't change until level 6, where it isn't even a challenge but just a whipping. Trying to fend of 3 helicopters at once and the entire government army is not possible, my friends. Hijacking a vehicle is also completely unexciting: as you watch the pilot and Rico sit in place, you push a button and one single punch is executed, then another, and another, then your done. Also, you will get extremely frustrated with your health, as the same weapon will inflict radically different amounts of damage under the same conditions. It's frustratingly unpredictable. But if you're a completionist, buy this game, no question. Expand
  5. Jun 19, 2011
    7
    THE GOOD: Unbelievably huge game world. Fantastic graphics. Lots of vehicles and weapons. Blowing stuff up is fun. THE BAD: Blowing stuff up is repetitive. Missions are boring. THE UGLY: Racial stereotypes and bad accents.
  6. Mar 3, 2012
    7
    If Ubisoft ever make an assassin's creed game with a grappling hook, civilisation as we know it will be over. People will lock themselves in their houses and refuse to leave because the combination of close-quarters contextual combat with the ability to pin enemies to the environment and turn them into viscera-filled pinatas will be like cartharsis on a stick to anyone who loves to playIf Ubisoft ever make an assassin's creed game with a grappling hook, civilisation as we know it will be over. People will lock themselves in their houses and refuse to leave because the combination of close-quarters contextual combat with the ability to pin enemies to the environment and turn them into viscera-filled pinatas will be like cartharsis on a stick to anyone who loves to play sandbox games.

    Funny way to start off a review about Just Cause 2, but I feel that this is the major misstep that the game makes. As a sandbox game it follows in the footsteps of GTA, the trigger-happy titan among sandboxes. Just cause 2 does everything I've seen done in the GTA franchise and it does it smoothly and cleanly. But as a sandbox game trying to do something different it should've cast a wider net in looking for inspiration. Because while it is a sandbox, it is NOT a GTA game. The grappling hook changes all the rules, but I don't think the folks at Avalanche really cottoned onto that because the hook feels underused, and under-developed. Some more combo/contextual moves coupled with the ability to upgrade it and streamlining of certain manoeuvres (like dragging enemies behind your car, or holding a grappled enemy so you can fling them OFF of things etc.) would elevate this game beyond simply being a 'more interesting GTA clone' to something truly exceptional.

    That is not to say that Just Cause 2 is not fun. It is, and more fun than the last GTA game I played in fact (San Andreas for those of you keeping score). The vehicles while nowhere close to real-world accurate in terms of handling are massive fun to drive, skipper, and fly. The slingshot mechanic which turns your parachute into a paraglider is a stroke of brilliance, and the gunplay, while not stellar still manages to perform better than other sandbox titles. I just find myself wishing that the developers hadn't stopped on the threshold of greatness.
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  7. May 10, 2012
    7
    The game is graphically pleasing - you can just stand and admire the beautiful island landscape. Good job. The gameplay however, did not keep me involved - i played only for about 6 hours until i got bored. What's the motive? Why should i continue playing? Everything is the same - you come to a village, start shooting, soldiers come in never-ending waves, you shoot them, etc. PerhapsThe game is graphically pleasing - you can just stand and admire the beautiful island landscape. Good job. The gameplay however, did not keep me involved - i played only for about 6 hours until i got bored. What's the motive? Why should i continue playing? Everything is the same - you come to a village, start shooting, soldiers come in never-ending waves, you shoot them, etc. Perhaps for kids this is a fun way to spend time - for me unfortunately the gameplay is extremely monotone and boring. Expand
  8. Oct 23, 2011
    7
    Just Cause 2 has A LOT of destruction, a lot of guns and an absolutely stupid story, but overall I found this game a lot of fun. The grapple system is great, the graphics are descent and the vehicles are great as well. I didn't really like the idea of having to cause destruction to progress in the story, but the destruction was extremely fun. Tethering someone to a rocket and then settingJust Cause 2 has A LOT of destruction, a lot of guns and an absolutely stupid story, but overall I found this game a lot of fun. The grapple system is great, the graphics are descent and the vehicles are great as well. I didn't really like the idea of having to cause destruction to progress in the story, but the destruction was extremely fun. Tethering someone to a rocket and then setting the rocket off never gets old. =D Expand
  9. Oct 26, 2011
    7
    This is clearly a game designed around a sandbox, instead of a sandbox around a story. It is pure, unadulterated fun meant to entertain those who seek to down their foes in the most creative ways possible. Played as a standard third-person shooter it will feel tedious and unimaginative, so only buy this if you are out to explore the various extremely entertaining ways to do things. TheThis is clearly a game designed around a sandbox, instead of a sandbox around a story. It is pure, unadulterated fun meant to entertain those who seek to down their foes in the most creative ways possible. Played as a standard third-person shooter it will feel tedious and unimaginative, so only buy this if you are out to explore the various extremely entertaining ways to do things. The graphics are amazing and performance very, very good for what you get and the physics..WOW. All in all, a great FUN experience meant only for the creative gamer, I would not recommend this game to anyone looking for a deep story and fleshed out characters. Expand
  10. Mar 29, 2012
    7
    Excellent game. It excells in freedom, destruction, and entertainment. It is not the perfect game, however. After a while the game gets slightly repetative and replayability dims. This does not mean it is a bad game, rather not worthy of the 8-9 score due to the lack of significant motives for replayability, as I do not find myself coming back to it terribly often. However, it does provideExcellent game. It excells in freedom, destruction, and entertainment. It is not the perfect game, however. After a while the game gets slightly repetative and replayability dims. This does not mean it is a bad game, rather not worthy of the 8-9 score due to the lack of significant motives for replayability, as I do not find myself coming back to it terribly often. However, it does provide fun on a scale of the huge map that expands from many different seaons. It looks beautiful. Sunsets are astounding and the dynamic weather is well executed. The gunplay, on the other hand, is not so strong. Point and click mechanics are, however, balanced by the opportunities provided by the grapple - which provides a new dimension to shootouts. Definately worth a buy on a Steam sale, although not full retail. A solid 7. Expand
  11. May 24, 2012
    7
    well .. i liked game's gorgeousness ... but still its not worth .. game is having weak driving controls ... weak shooting mechanics and Worst Voice Acting ever i seen in my life .. but still the good thing is the open sandbox gameplay .. with Grapple Hook getting me feel like a true stunt guy ... still give it 7/10 .. not any best game .. but just fine
  12. Jul 14, 2013
    7
    This game has so much potential, but one thing that ruins the game a lot is the negative mouse acceleration. I cant believe why anyone would do that. Makes NO sense to me. Another this that grinds my balls to dust is the saving system. If u make your way really far and then die, you´ll start over from the last checkpoint. So why even include a savingsystem if it dosent work as it should? IThis game has so much potential, but one thing that ruins the game a lot is the negative mouse acceleration. I cant believe why anyone would do that. Makes NO sense to me. Another this that grinds my balls to dust is the saving system. If u make your way really far and then die, you´ll start over from the last checkpoint. So why even include a savingsystem if it dosent work as it should? I googled a way to fix this but i bought this game on steam so it dosnt work. Expand
  13. Dec 13, 2012
    7
    Open world GTA clone where you play as a hispanic terrorist spiderman flying around some unnamed indonesian islands. Absolutely gigantic world with a ridiculous "action movie" plot filled with ninjas, Michael Bay explosions, air-dropped rocket launchers, and just about every vehicle you can imagine. I spent over 100 hours on this game to 100% it and it's one of the few games I have feltOpen world GTA clone where you play as a hispanic terrorist spiderman flying around some unnamed indonesian islands. Absolutely gigantic world with a ridiculous "action movie" plot filled with ninjas, Michael Bay explosions, air-dropped rocket launchers, and just about every vehicle you can imagine. I spent over 100 hours on this game to 100% it and it's one of the few games I have felt compelled to max out. Even without the multiplayer mod this is worth picking up considering how cheap it is now. Expand
  14. Jan 28, 2013
    7
    The underlying theme is Just Cause 2 is fun.
    The open world aspect is amazing, the amount of vehicles you can drive, and the grapple hook steals the show. However, beyond the stunning graphics and fun game play, unfortunately, Just Cause 2 has multiple faults. Here a couple.
    1. Repetition, throughout the whole game, there is lots of repeating yourself. Every mission is very similar,
    The underlying theme is Just Cause 2 is fun.
    The open world aspect is amazing, the amount of vehicles you can drive, and the grapple hook steals the show. However, beyond the stunning graphics and fun game play, unfortunately, Just Cause 2 has multiple faults. Here a couple.
    1. Repetition, throughout the whole game, there is lots of repeating yourself. Every mission is very similar, and finding the pieces to the base is SO ANNOYING, because there is always ONE that you can't find.
    2. Story line: Horrible Voice Acting: Worse
    Ok, now it was too short, too boring, too pointless . . . Overall it was bad, very bad, in fact, bad doesn't even begin to describe it.
    That is, if you are looking for a good story. but I was looking for fun, and thought it was hilarious.
    Now, what's more fun than killing a bunch of villagers, then hijacking a military helicopter as it shoots bullets at you, and then flying it up as high as you can and skydiving out of it? Or how about tying a jeep to a helicopter and using it as a wrecking ball? These features alone make the game great, but it could have been SO much better if Square Enix put some story into it, and maybe some online multiplayer. This is what gave it a 7. But hey, the game definitely had a lasting appeal, now when I'm playing GTA IV I think, where's that grapple hook when I need it? I loved and hated the game, but overall, the fun gameplay shone through the crap story line. For me at least.
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  15. May 1, 2013
    7
    Overall it's definitely worth giving this game a shot.

    The gameplay can become tedious- especially if you aren't into constantly similar ways to earn "chaos" or over-the-top action. If you fall in love with the over the top action though (reminds me of the movie shoot em up really) then you will probably love this game. There are some awesome mods available for it which is nice and
    Overall it's definitely worth giving this game a shot.

    The gameplay can become tedious- especially if you aren't into constantly similar ways to earn "chaos" or over-the-top action. If you fall in love with the over the top action though (reminds me of the movie shoot em up really) then you will probably love this game.

    There are some awesome mods available for it which is nice and the graphics are pretty good... however at the same time the cheesy story and voice acting really detracted from the experience. Some people loved that aspect but I just couldn't stand it.

    Definitely worth a play through.
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  16. Oct 22, 2013
    7
    Great is great, repetitive is repetitive nice graphics, AI sufficient and a huge map that forces you to make some real trips to carry out missions almost too big!

    Not bad
  17. Dec 27, 2013
    7
    As an indian man just cause 2 very dissapointed me... My friend from Alaska told me it was an indian simulator but it really doesn't looks like it... I think my blub fish would hate it too... The voice actors sound like my shaved dog! 7 out of ten! because 7 in india means
  18. Mar 10, 2015
    7
    I kind of hated and found the game frustrating at first, especially the annoying 2nd mission with the car surfing, but once you get past that it starts to get a little better and becomes quite fun and addicitive, can't stop playing even though it gets repetitive and sometimes feels tedious with terrible voice acting, terrible story, no depth.

    Game would crash often until I turned off
    I kind of hated and found the game frustrating at first, especially the annoying 2nd mission with the car surfing, but once you get past that it starts to get a little better and becomes quite fun and addicitive, can't stop playing even though it gets repetitive and sometimes feels tedious with terrible voice acting, terrible story, no depth.

    Game would crash often until I turned off decals and blur. But still game crashes at least once or twice a play session.

    Sure you can purchase vehicles, but it seems like a waste of money, I bought a plane having never flown one yet and not even being sure of the controls, ended up crashing it into the ocean, so goodbye to 60k and if you die you lose them as well, if they blow up they are gone for good. I hate how you can't store purchased vehicles anywhere. I've played other games where you can save your vehicles in a garage even if they blow up. I just don't bother buying vehicles.

    The environment is beautiful and detailed, I love exploring it and diving underwater just because the water looks so nice.

    I like creating chaos and trying to complete all achievements.

    Though being very repetitive makes it just an ok game, slightly above average.
    Worth getting on special like I did for $5.
    Expand
  19. Sep 27, 2015
    7
    A great game with an enjoyable story and fantastic visuals (especially when blowing s**t up), but gets boring too fast. I know the game has bad voice acting on purpose to make fun of cheesy action films, but sometimes it's just way too much. But to be honest, the only real thing that holds this game back is that it just gets old too quick.
  20. Dec 28, 2015
    7
    Just Cause 2 is unquestionably a game with incredible graphics, unique game play elements, enormously large open-ended map, neat user interface slash heads up display, yada yada yada. EA really took a giant leap from the first title to this one -- every issue and possible improvement that you can think of for Just Cause were all addressed and implemented in Just Cause 2, definitely aJust Cause 2 is unquestionably a game with incredible graphics, unique game play elements, enormously large open-ended map, neat user interface slash heads up display, yada yada yada. EA really took a giant leap from the first title to this one -- every issue and possible improvement that you can think of for Just Cause were all addressed and implemented in Just Cause 2, definitely a recommend for all lovers of open-world games. Expand
  21. Feb 24, 2022
    7
    Prica je ocaj, kraj pogotovo je ocaj, imao sam malo zabavnih trenutaka i to je to nikako vise ne bi igrao, repetativna je do zla boga.
  22. Oct 24, 2018
    7
    Just Cause 2's character is the "cool guys don't look at explosions" character and it gets old real fast.
  23. Sep 18, 2021
    7
    ====================IIIIIIIIII GAME SCORE : 71 IIIIIIIIII====================
  24. Feb 11, 2020
    7
    Suprisingly its so bad ist good. I dont know why but I had so much fun with the gameplay. The ceomplete mission of factions to continue story formula was repetitive and sucks but the game is not that bad.
  25. Mar 21, 2022
    7
    Just Cause 2 is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Avalanche Studios, published by Eidos Interactive and distributed by Square Enix. The sequel to 2006's Just Cause, it was powered by Avalanche Studios' Avalanche 2.0 Engine. It features Rico Rodriguez, a major operative of the fictional Agency who arrives at Panau (a fictional dystopian island nation in Maritime Southeast Asia) toJust Cause 2 is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Avalanche Studios, published by Eidos Interactive and distributed by Square Enix. The sequel to 2006's Just Cause, it was powered by Avalanche Studios' Avalanche 2.0 Engine. It features Rico Rodriguez, a major operative of the fictional Agency who arrives at Panau (a fictional dystopian island nation in Maritime Southeast Asia) to overthrow dictator Pandak "Baby" Panay and confront former mentor Tom Sheldon. The gameplay involves Rico fighting hostile militants with guns and a grappling hook, enabling players to tether objects to each other and slingshot into the air with a parachute. Just Cause 2 introduces the Chaos System, in which players must complete missions and destroy government property on Panau for Chaos points. These points are essential for story progression. Expand
  26. Jun 26, 2020
    7
    entretenido pero algo repetitivo, muy buenos ambientes de acción un juego para pasarla bien en fin de semana.
  27. Mar 30, 2021
    7
    This game is amazing, hasn't aged very well. Still well worth a play in 2021.
  28. Mar 5, 2022
    7
    OMG,That is amazing!But car physics is the worst...I know,its not racing game,but if car get total crashed because on 5 KM/H i ride into the post,it is so weird.
  29. Jul 25, 2022
    7
    good game insane destruction plus what kills him and what you are forced to do very boring side quests before you can go to the main ones, the game's fast travel is also horrible..
  30. Dec 2, 2022
    7
    This game is very lucky that it made blowing things up so fun because everything about the game is mid as ****
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 33
  2. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. One of the most enjoyable sandboxes for players to experiment in this side of Grand Theft Auto. [Issue#204, p.86]
  2. Just Cause 2 can hardly be called an average game. It's a good one undermined by a selection of mediocre elements, and it's all the more frustrating this time around because Avalanche shows us glimpses of just how much fun two weeks on holiday with Rico should be. [Apr 2010, p.96]
  3. Just Cause 2 is a sequel that outdoes the original with gripping gameplay, exquisite visuals and a variety of missions that will keep you playing longer than you might expect. If you're an action fan, you need this.