Just Cause 2 Preview
We get the full tour as Avalanche preps its sun, sea and stunt sequel.
UK, March 30, 2009 - If there's one critical distinction between Just Cause 2 and its free-roaming action predecessor, it's that this one is secretly a superhero game. Okay, lead character Rico Rodridguez can't outrun speeding bullets or do whatever a spider can per se, but he's a one-man engine of absolute destruction. What's more, thanks to his ever-present parachute and grappling hook, nothing is inaccessible to him. Rico can level whole buildings, surf atop jet planes in flight, air-lift cars... It's the silliest '80s action movie you can imagine, then pushed further still. There's not a scrap of logic here. Why? Just 'cause.
"A key element in the freedom that Just Cause 2 gives you is that there are no artificial barriers", explains lead designer Peter Johnasson. "You're free to go anywhere and you're free to try out any tactic in any given situation. Whatever tactic you choose, you can be sure that the only constant is action." Clearly, this sequel aims to offer respite from something we generally take for granted in other sandbox games: restrictions. Whether it's conveniently closed-off bridges or murderous cops who pop out of nowhere if you wander into the wrong region, we've become accustomed to such titles telling us what we can and can't do. This one, it seems, thinks different.
![[IMG]](http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/967/967578/just-cause-2-20090330044136492-000.jpg)
"That doesn't mean your chosen approach will prove successful in all situations," Johnasson continues. "Approaching a military base in a helicopter may not be the best idea if the base is heavily guarded by surface-to-air missiles. If you get shot down, maybe it's more effective to continue on foot rather than paying for a black market heavy drop." It all hints at the breathtaking scale of Just Cause 2. As with its precursor, it's all wide-open vistas and no loading pauses, but this goes even further - and not simply in terms of its GTA-rivalling list of cars (over 100), missions (over 50) and dual-wielded weaponry.
Approaching that aforementioned military base, for instance, might see you progress from lush forestry, over wide-open desert and finally up into ice-covered mountain tops. It's a David Attenborough series in 40 seconds. Throughout, the view distances are incredible: it's a huge and beautiful game world. As you get close to the base, you can either careen in close with your chopper, gracefully pirouette in with Rico's trademark parachute or do the Spider-Man thing with his almighty grappling hook. "Rico's move set enables you to do things that you can't do in any other game," reckons Johansson.
![[IMG]](http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/967/967578/just-cause-2-20090330044221632-000.jpg)
"The grappling hook can, for example, be used to quickly move around, pull enemies down from guard towers, suspend enemies under a bridge - or from a lamppost - or lift a car with a helicopter and use it as a wrecking ball. In combination with the parachute, the grappling hook enables you to do stunts you've never done before and you can experiment, finding your own tactics and play style. What happens if you tether two helicopters together, for instance, or try to pull down a presidential monument by dragging it behind a jeep?"
Rico's ultimate purpose for all this epic posturing is to bring down the crazed dictator Baby Panay (not actually a baby, which is kind of a shame), holed up on Just Cause 2's South East Asian island of Panau. To do so, he largely needs to create chaos, in the broadest possible sense. In fact, many of the missions require you to demolish a specific amount of stuff – whether that's by razing buildings, detonating petrol stations, toppling gigantic statues of Panay or even felling pylons... Again, Rico's a superhero in all but name. He can cheerfully fire a rocket launcher from atop a speeding fighter jet, go nose-to-nose with an atomic submarine, battle vanishing ninjas in the snow and survive airborne explosions by casually parachuting to safety. Despite such apparent invulnerability, he's an entertainingly selfish bugger - prone to saving himself before he does a damsel in distress.
Of course, the key question is whether this can truly go beyond the agreeably silly but somewhat crude original. "Our main inspiration for Just Cause 2 has actually come from the lessons we learned from Just Cause and we started the work on this by identifying the key areas we wanted to improve," says Johansson. "First and foremost, we've worked very hard on making sure our huge game world is filled to the brim with content. The chaos system gives you an unprecedented freedom to find your own path through the game. Regardless of if you're playing a mission, traveling to an employer, exploring the beautiful environment or simply playing around, there're always activities and opportunities for chaos all around you.
![[IMG]](http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/967/967578/just-cause-2-20090330044218210-000.jpg)
"Then we have the stunts, which we've taken several steps further and integrated them into pretty much everything you do. We've also improved combat and made it more challenging and tactical. At the heart of this are a completely new aiming system and AI that's been redone from scratch. Enemies now take cover behind objects in a dynamic environment, flank you, guard specific important areas or objects and they can also call for backup."
This new aiming system should hopefully reassure anyone who found JC1's simple auto-lock shooting a little deflating – you can target specific body parts for quicker, cleaner or more 'orrible kills. A headshot will take 'em out, but a knee-shot will cause all kinds of trouble, so there's plenty of scope to play to your more sadistic urges. There's a similar principle behind the cars – they're not much of a muchness, but rather specific tools for specific jobs. You wouldn't, after all, drive a sports car across a sandy desert, no matter how slick it looks, so find something with better traction.
![[IMG]](http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/967/967578/just-cause-2-20090330044224772-000.jpg)
With its fast cars, death-defying stunts, exaggerated locations, comic-book villains and just a pinch of sadism – Just Cause 2 is shaping up to be even more like a Roger Moore-era James Bond film than its predecessor. Of course, JC2's ultimate success depends on this sky-high silliness and carnage feeling satisfying as well as looking spectacular. With a list of obvious influences as long as Rico's extendable grappling hook – GTA IV, Far Cry 2, Saints Row 2, Mercenaries, Crackdown, Spider-Man – it's hopefully got the right freeform pedigrees to pull it off.
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