By Alec Meer on June 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am.
I uttered “oh come on” at least four times during this footage of the sequel to Avalanches’ gloriously stupid GTA-with-a-parachute sandbox actioner. But they were, I assure you, happy “oh come ons”. Just Cause 2 clearly intends to push plausibility far past breaking point, turning hero Rico into a fully-fledged superhero who can do whatever a spider can, but without the fruity suit and restrictive moral code. Take a gander at his absurd parachute and grappling hook skills below. Grappling a moving plane while in free-fall! He’s some guy, that Rico. Some guy.
That’ll do. That’ll do. There is a genuine sense of escalation to a lot of this year’s E3 games. Of course, we’re all pretty well guarded against the hype vampires these days, but given we’re several years into the lifespan of the current console generation – which, for better or worse, does dictate an awful lot of what we get on PC – these promises have to be based at least partly on reality, not on wishful thinking about the power of future-consoles. If Just Cause 2 really can pull off the spectacular free-form carnage it’s suggesting, it could be a surprise action classic.
02/06/2009 at 11:54 waste_manager says:
I can’t wait for this. It’s just stupid fun.
02/06/2009 at 11:55 Bear says:
Spy vs his teacher? Sounds a bit…cliche……right?
02/06/2009 at 11:56 phuzz says:
Provided you think of it as a superhero game without the back story, this looks like a real laugh.
Mind you, I said pretty much the same thing about Mercenaries 2…
02/06/2009 at 12:01 Bananaphone says:
Looks fun. Hopefully there will be more to do this time round (and no more wonky driving mechanics).
02/06/2009 at 12:02 Bongo says:
Looks rather funny. The prodecural generation stuff they have in this game is pretty cool.
02/06/2009 at 12:05 Ian says:
The original was an absolute joy. If they can make the quests fun this time around and the sandbox tomfoolery is as good then this could be a game that makes me very happy in my special place.
02/06/2009 at 12:13 Debaser says:
Anyone else look at the title and think Just Coz? It gives the whole game a far more anarchic tone.
02/06/2009 at 12:18 PC Monster says:
Despite the problems with gameplay, graphics etc, I really enjoyed Just Cause. It had a great sense of presence, and the scale of the islands was fantastic. Sequel looks just as mad, just as fun – here’s hoping they’ve ironed out the kinks.
02/06/2009 at 12:27 MonkeyMonster says:
Holy Physics Anomaly Batman. Surely this should be called Mass(dowhateveryouwantwiththe)Effect2?
02/06/2009 at 12:31 MacBeth says:
Indeed. Momentum/inertia/gravity appears to be entirely optional, which just seems a bit old-fashioned these days. By all means have crazy action, but temper it with at least a little bit of physics?
02/06/2009 at 12:50 Richard says:
Using the parachute on the ground is very MDK2.
Similar plot to Far Cry 2 but looks like a lot more fun!
02/06/2009 at 12:56 M_the_C says:
I’ve really been looking forward to this. The first was great in its ‘do whatever you want’ attitude, and I don’t know of any other game that lives up to the parachuting.
I was slightly concerned when I saw this video, there are a lot of nice additions (no longer just one position on a vehicle) but the grappling all seemed a bit too quick. It seemed more like he was jumping from section to section rather than free-form.
I’m sure it’ll be good though.
02/06/2009 at 13:06 CakeAddict says:
I enjoyed the first one although that included more just toying around then actually playing the game itself.
Overall the game wasn’t really that good but I just loved the reusable parachute and that.. hookshot.. thingy.
02/06/2009 at 13:11 Dead Fish says:
This game features one of the greatest I-need-this-IRL inventions ever: A backpack with infinite parachutes!
02/06/2009 at 13:12 James T says:
Hmm! Must try the original. I think I confused it with Boiling Point and didn’t want the bother…
02/06/2009 at 13:39 Legionary says:
There’s a lot to suggest that the game’ll be done well. The previous one is still a lot of fun and is still gorgeous. It suffered by being a bit buggy but I think it’s an overlooked gem.
If they can add enough polish, there might just be cause for celebration ahead. (Groan.)
02/06/2009 at 13:46 Pemptus says:
So, it’s kinda like Mercaneries 2 but not shit? Plus the cool parachute and a Bionic Commando grappling hook? Yeah, should be fun for a while.
02/06/2009 at 13:54 RacerX says:
Uhhh, is this the sequel to Bionic Commando?
02/06/2009 at 13:57 SirKicksalot says:
Inb4 Johnny Rico
02/06/2009 at 14:50 Rei Onryou says:
Free-fall, grapple jet, surf said jet, free-fall again, deploy parachute, pull rocket launcher out of back pocket, blow up radar in mid-air, land safely on vehicle, hijack said vehicle, drive off cliff.
DO WANT!
02/06/2009 at 15:18 Baris says:
@Debaser: Just Coz actually works brilliant!
02/06/2009 at 15:45 nakke says:
ENDS
JUSTIFY MEANS
02/06/2009 at 15:47 Ian says:
“Why did you hijack that plane, jump out, grapple to a helicopter, climb in, fly it around, aim it at a bridge before diving out, paraglide behind a car, take the wheel, run another car off the road, drive the car off a cliff and then jump out and parachute onto that beach before stealing a motorcycle and riding off into the sunset?”
“Just ’cause.”
02/06/2009 at 15:59 cullnean says:
first one is free to play on gametap
http://www.gametap.com/ go play and then smile
nothing beats parachuting on to a beach killing some bads till they die of it and then ignoring the story and stealing a small plane, helicopter, milatary transporter and a gun ship one after the other without touching the ground.
then freefall into a volacno only to find a strip club filled with facist’s, kill them all base jump off said volcano and glide away to saftey
all in the first 15 mins of play.
ps, NAZI IN A GYROSCOPE!
02/06/2009 at 16:17 Fede says:
With “ends justify means” they seem to be really saying that to obtain the most funny game possible they completely ignored physics. Which, I think, in this case seems to be a good decision :D
02/06/2009 at 16:21 Ian says:
Oh, and I loved them for letting us get vehicles airdropped in.
02/06/2009 at 16:43 Jad says:
Well, cullnean kind of beat me to this, but nonetheless, for your edification, my thoughts while playing the beginning of the first game:
Okay, so I’m some kind of secret agent, sent to destabilize and overthrow this island government. So, presumably I’ll be covertly inserted in: smuggled aboard some freighter, fake passports, all that, right? Hmmm, apparently I’m parachuting in. Seems sort of obvious, but okay, maybe I’ll be landing in some remote jung– nope a beach. With guys on it, shooting at me! Has my cover been blown?! Doesn’t matter, must shoot them, maybe I can get away and hide. Okay, now I’m getting away, but I’m stationed behind a machine gun, mounted on the back of a truck, blowing up cars following me. Does the CIA usually enter a country this way? Oh man now the army is after me! Die, die, you bastards! Ha ha! Uh-oh, a helicopter — yes! I shot it down! Explosions, whee! Holy crap, American F-16s just saved my secret agent ass by swooping down and blowing up a bridge. This game is awesome.
Later on, I got a little annoyed at the awkward controls and the general clunkiness, but man, that intro was the perfect example of a videogame knowing exactly what kind of game it wanted to be, and letting you know it upfront.
02/06/2009 at 17:04 superking208 says:
I was accidentally listening to some early Job For A Cowboy and found that deathcore makes parachutey, grapple-happy Hollywood shenanigans just ball-quakingly awesome.
02/06/2009 at 17:32 Moonracer says:
Only played the demo for this a while ago, but am looking forward to this one. I think a lot of sandbox games pass on adding lots of fun/random things to do for polishing up a linear storyline and scripted missions.
02/06/2009 at 18:37 Funky Badger says:
Mercenaries 2 was great, and this looks just like it (plus a grappling hook and parachute, but possibly with less chicken-suits)
02/06/2009 at 19:14 psyk says:
I hope they fixed the graphic glitch when you reached top speed even though it was fun driving in to another dimension.
02/06/2009 at 20:13 ferret825 says:
Scorpion Wins! Loving the grapple action.
02/06/2009 at 20:28 hrmf says:
!!11
I fell in love with that game after watching the trailer.
(The number one reason I disliked GTA 4 was the lack of parachuting)
02/06/2009 at 21:12 negativedge says:
This looks fucking grand. Game of the show so far.
02/06/2009 at 22:30 Tim says:
“But my target… is the man… I love.”
That’s what he should have said, I was convinced he was about to.
This game looks ridiculous, maybe it’ll be wonderful if it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
02/06/2009 at 23:04 Meatloaf says:
Hm. It does rather look inspired by Bionic Commando.
Hope this turns out as good as it looks.
03/06/2009 at 00:43 unique_identifier says:
c’mon! c’mon! c’mon! let’s go jet surfin’ !
edit: @tim, hahahaha
03/06/2009 at 00:46 Marcin says:
Loved the original. Still the only game I ever 100%-ed (360). It was just that compelling to fly/drive/freefall over this ridiculously huge amount of terrain.
Even if the combat and story were all over the place. Hopefully if they can fix the combat a little bit and leave everything else alone … I’ll probably buy 2 copies just like the first one.
03/06/2009 at 03:42 Jonathan says:
I can’t think of a game I more wanted to like but just couldn’t besides Just Cause. I’m rooting for them to get 2 Just Right, and accomplish whatever the heck they were trying to do with the first game. I really tried to love it, I swear.
03/06/2009 at 04:24 Johnny Go-Time says:
I’d sure be embarrassed if I were the Bionic Commando guys…This just beat them at their own game x10!!!!
03/06/2009 at 05:13 Tunips says:
I played the demo of the first one. Didn’t like the controls, got lost and never touched it again. May have to revise that decision.
Also, this engine is on display in TheHunter, the best going-for-a-walk-in-the-woods sim I’ve come across.
03/06/2009 at 08:17 me says:
This games needs more brighter/over saturated colors.
The present ones don’t hurt my eyes enough…
03/06/2009 at 09:25 Grey_Ghost says:
I assume there was a Just Cause 1?
EDIT: Just watched a trailer for the first one, looks just as over-the-top as this one.
03/06/2009 at 13:55 Jochen Scheisse says:
I hated Just Cause 1. The concept leaves room for a glorious game, somewhere between Gothic 2, Tropico and GTA. The execution was a mediocre GTA clone. Soooo…no thanks.
03/06/2009 at 15:09 Tomble says:
I loved Just Cause, it was wonderful to look at, and a big open sandbox of a game. Scouting around for base jumping locations, racing about in cars and all the other over the top fun was more interesting to me than most of the missions.
03/06/2009 at 17:56 Snuffy (the Evil) says:
Huh. Looks like what we hoped the Mercenaries 2 grappling hook would be like.
I wonder if we can use it to scale buildings… and swing between them, of course.
04/06/2009 at 08:18 Hmm-Hmm. says:
This could be great fun, indeed, but I’m not expecting it to be. Then again, maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.