Rock, Paper, Shotgun

That gag never gets old. Alternatively, it’s always been unbearably ancient, which is just how I like ‘em. Wait, that sounds wrong.

Anyway: 1.3Gb of Just Cause 2 demo is now available on Steam. Haven’t tried it yet, as it’s only just arrived, but go forth and ascertain whether Walker’s incessant frothing about the trailers has been justified or not. Also, grapple stuff to other stuff. “It’s easily one of the biggest freeroaming demos of all time,” says a man in a suit. He knows the score. Oh yes, and remember you can’t play this if you run Windows XP, as apparently having the gall to play videogames on a perfectly capable operating system from 2001 is akin to being a single-celled organism.

I know I should probably resist, but I can’t help myself. I have to keep passing on these Just Cause 2 videos. They’ve been amazing in their campaign, and they’ve hit a real high with the Anatomy Of A Stunt series. So below is the latest, and one from last week that I had resisted posting since the previous lot had gone up the day before. The latest isn’t so great, but for the final caption punchline. The other is one hell of a tease. The game’s out later this month, and I know I’m chasing my own tail in anticipation. As I say every time: so long as the game doesn’t get in the way of the fun these trailers have shown, it’s going to be a playground of madness. So long as the game doesn’t get in the way. Because I love you I’ve included GameTrailers’ interview about this very subject as well. Which is well worth watching.

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As a sad coda to the happy-party we all had about the Just Cause 2 trailers a few hours back, word’s out that the unhinged free-roamer won’t work on Windows XP. It’s a DirectX10-only game, so even if you have a relatively recently 3D card you’ll need Vista or Windows 7 if you want to fire grappling hooks at planes. Probably, anyway – there’ve been several DirectX-10-on-XP projects, and though I confess I’ve not followed them closely, I’d be surprised if no-one comes up with a way to make this work. Anyone know where that stuff’s at now? Incidentally, before anyone takes the “get with the times, granddad” line and suggests most people have Vista or 7 now, take another look at January’s Steam PC survey. At 42.15%, Windows XP is still by far the most common operating system. That’s a crazy amount of potential customers to leave in the cold. I’d have more sympathy if it was specifically a PC game, but the 360/PS3 versions that will surely be the lead foot for JC2 won’t be DX10, so it seems odd that this should be. If it’s super-pretty and genuinely DX10ed to the hilt it’s good news, potentially, for those of us who are fully upgraded, but it’s an odd decision nonetheless.

Full system specs below – do you have the right hardware hats but the wrong OS trousers?
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Can Just Cause 2 really be as good as the expectations being raised by the trailers? Oh sweet hairless Moby on a tricycle, I hope so. But perhaps I’ve just stumbled upon the real reason behind BioWare’s marketing campaign for Dragon Age! They could have released it as a Disney movie tie-in third-person platformer and it would have felt like a better game than we were expecting. Avalanche haven’t thought this through at all well. And as further proof, below the jump are two more trailers for the game that radomaj demanded we post. Both made me laugh at loud and anticipate like a beast.

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As we all agree, the most important thing in gaming is realism. It’s the only thing I want in a game, the only thing I care about. Just so long as the experience is as close to replicating reality as is possible, then I’m happy. For instance, just now I’m playing this game where I update a website with a video of a game. Oh no, wait! That’s actually happening! And demanding realism is idiotic! Phew. Which is why Just Cause 2 makes me want to hug everyone nearby and say, “Look! Just look!” If this game is crap, I’m going to find everyone responsible and kick them right in the knee. So, yes, new trailer.

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I don’t think the initials “DLC” quite fill us with the thrill that they were once intended to. Instead this promise of extra content for our games – something that you’d immediately assume would render us happy – now carries with it that little tone of dread: how will it go wrong this time? But how strong is that feeling? What happens when you combine it with a game that’s receiving so much positive attention? A game like Just Cause 2. We’ve not seen a single thing to dampen our spirits for Avalanche’s hyperbolic action crazyfest, so let’s see if we can get through a trailer for the DLC planned to come free with pre-orders for the game without this changing.

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There’s a lot of games to look forward to this year. Jim’s been writing about some of them today, in fact. (Parts one and two.) Amongst them is Just Cause 2, which has to be up there with Mafia 2 and The Old Republic in peak levels on my crazed antic-o-meter. Every video of the game makes it look like the most awesome fun toy (with that constant caveat: just so long as they don’t let the game get in the way). Their latest video(s) is a cute idea to show off how many different approaches you can take to a mission, with a choose-your-own YouTube adventure. The first part of it is below.

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Below is the first part of our intricate guide for PC gaming in 2010. There’s a horde of muscular-looking titles on the horizon, many of them likely to stop you and demand your money, like ludological bandits. Meanwhile, others that we expected to land, such The Old Republic, have already fled to 2011. Read on as the clouds in our crystal ball roll back…
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Don’t get too frightened by the latest Just Cause 2 trailer. It tries to upset and confuse us by talking about the plot for the first half. Evil despotic ruler, agent gone rogue, take over the world, blah blah blah. But then halfway through everything’s okay again. Shit. Blows. Up. So don’t worry.

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“It’s not realistic. We don’t want it to be realistic.” See, this is why I’m so looking forward to Just Cause 2. Fi-i-i-inally a game that isn’t trying to boast realism. But rather boast lunacy. The latest trailer shows off the vehicular stunts you can do, from tethering cars to statues, destroying sports cars off road, and just nonchalantly included in there, jumping from a private yet to a fullsize airliner. I might explode before this comes out.

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