Just Cause 2 [360, PS3] [Archive] - Forums @ The Digital Fix

TonyG

09-06-2009, 23:25

The original had many flaws but the game engine environment looked fantastic & it was fun to play.

The sequel is not out until 2010, but this gameplay footage looks superb, especially the parachute & the new grappling-hook moves. I particulary love when he attachs one of the bad-guys to a gas-cannister & later on, shooting from cover on the front-grill of a fast-moving car. :notworthy

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SIMON ADEBISI

09-06-2009, 23:26

Man, seriously, do you do anything but play games?? :lol: I dont know how you do it.

CraigKORE

09-06-2009, 23:54

Oooooh loving that parachute! Will keep an eye on this.

Oh Yeh, and you do have too much gaming time on yer hands Tony, i'm jealous... :D

TheDot

10-06-2009, 00:06

Never played the first after hearing mixed reviews but that looks damn impressive and a lot of fun.

Visually it looked almost as impressive as the Uncharted 2 footage shown at E3

JohnMac

10-06-2009, 06:01

I liked the first Just Cause even with its flaws. There are three factions this time not two and I think the side missions have changed and they are now based on how much damage you can do to a rival faction. So instead of doing the same side missions over and over again you will have more freedom to take on the side missions however you want.

TonyG

10-06-2009, 07:52

Man, seriously, do you do anything but play games?? :lol: I dont know how you do it.
I'm not that bad, there's certainly plenty of gamers on my friends-list that play many more hours than me.

I try to stick to a couple of hours max per evening, through the week & maybe an hour or two more at the weekend. Certainly no more than 20hrs/week max. :p

mr_woo

10-06-2009, 07:56

I'm not that bad, there's certainly plenty of gamers on my friends-list that play many more hours than me.

I try to stick to a couple of hours max per evening, through the week & maybe an hour or two more at the weekend. Certainly no more than 20hrs/week max. :p

Yea, no idea who they would be :suspect:

anephric

10-06-2009, 08:53

The engine for this looks amazing, but they need to have added more variety to the gameplay and more things to do in the world, cos it got dullll fast.

TonyG

10-06-2009, 09:01

The combat was the poorest element of the first game for me. Enemy AI was dreadful & the game mechanic for taking over camps was incredibly repetitive.

GAmbrose

10-06-2009, 10:51

That looks immensely fun.

Like Mercenaries 2...albeit much better.

Gary A

TonyG

13-09-2009, 22:09

More vertical gameplaying fun....
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Royle

14-09-2009, 13:57

Looking good!

TonyG

30-10-2009, 08:43

More yummy footage....

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rustybin

30-10-2009, 08:47

That looks impressive - very similar to Mercs 2 but with far superior graphics. Hope it's got Battlefield / Mercs style destructible scenery.

TonyG

30-10-2009, 08:52

rustybin

30-10-2009, 08:53

Would be great if you can take down those massive glass skyscrapers. Gotta love the grapple-hook game-mechanic. I can't decide what's funnier, attaching someone to a jumbo-jet or a gas cannister. :lol:

Attaching someone to a jumbo-jet AND a gas cannister, then running to a safe distance to watch it all unfold.

JohnMac

30-10-2009, 09:24

I was watching some Just Cause 2 vids on the 360 last night. If you haven't already seen the Coastal walkthrough gameplay on a big screen TV yet, it is worth checking out even at 700MB download. :)

GAmbrose

30-10-2009, 10:10

This game looks ridiculously fun.

TonyG

07-12-2009, 13:47

This game just gets better & better looking.....

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SIMON ADEBISI

07-12-2009, 14:13

That plane bit :nuts:

lettuce

07-12-2009, 17:39

Wow!!!, this is 1 to add to my list then, yet again 2010's looking good, on my list now then...

AvP
Dead Rising 2
Just Cause 2

TonyG

18-01-2010, 13:05

More cool footage. This still remains my most anticipated game of 2010.

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TonyG

26-01-2010, 11:22

Video highlighting the extra equipment you get if you pre-order the game....

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Worth it alone for that cool hovercraft. :thumbs:

JohnMac

26-01-2010, 11:54

I know I'm going to have a great time with Just Cause 2. Just don't expect anything compelling or even good in the way of storytelling because Just Cause just isn't that kind of game.

Avalanche Studios have a great game engine that can build and immerse you in an incredibly vast world. They have obviously built on the cool free roaming gameplay of the original with a lot of freedom in the way you can approach your missions. I hope they have added enough variety this time.

TonyG

05-02-2010, 11:36

More awesome footage, and more evidence that this will be the most fun game to play in 2010.....

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Also a demo is arriving soon! :thumbs:

TonyG

17-02-2010, 12:57

Fun with gravity....

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TonyG

22-02-2010, 13:06

Car stunt + explosives = FUN! :D

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Royle

22-02-2010, 14:00

hairdo :lol:

philbw

22-02-2010, 14:21

I had a chance to play a 30 minute timed demo of Just Cause 2 earlier this month, here's my initial thoughts (taken from my blog):

"OK so the graphics are a joy to look at , and the gameplay is great, but here’s the catch – it felt like I was playing a souped up version of Mercenaries 2… And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I for one enjoyed that game, but after reading all the reports on the game, for some reason I was expecting a little… more? But what we do have is brilliant: you can run, jump, drive – and parachute, yes parachute – anywhere in the sandbox and when you manage to combine these things that where you realise that Just Cause 2 has more depth to it than Mercenaries 2.

Admittedly these are first play thoughts, and only of 30 minutes of play time, but I actually found myself smiling at how cool (for want of a better word) the game was. At one stage in the demo I jumped off a cliff, opened my parachute, landed near a water tower – blew it up, had a running gunfight with Panau military, stole a sports car, climbed all over said car (hanging off the front grill at shooting at one point), used the car to run said military over. Then I drove the sports car off another cliff, leapt out and parachuted to safety… Like I said, COOL."

daboy3000

22-02-2010, 15:26

The game does look good, just wish it was co-op.

mclh

22-02-2010, 15:34

Great potential here, though there are a few good games around this time - Red Dead Redemption for one...

Edit - do the mods know that the prices in the header for this thread are for the original, and not Just Cause 2?! Nearly got excited there...

TonyG

24-02-2010, 12:11

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lettuce

24-02-2010, 13:08

TonyG

24-02-2010, 13:14

Yeah, it's not the most exciting of clips. I was expecting he would grapple hook the fire-engine to the jumbo as it passed overhead, but alas, not to be. :|

lettuce

24-02-2010, 13:19

Yeah, it's not the most exciting of clips. I was expecting he would grapple hook the fire-engine to the jumbo as it passed overhead, but alas, not to be. :|

Haha, that would be quality!

I bet that plane is just scripted to take off aswell, its probably not even aware the firetruck is racing towards it

Royle

24-02-2010, 15:32

it felt like I was playing a souped up version of Mercenaries 2… And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Good good. I've come to realise my favourite games all tend to be similar to Mercs 2 and Saints Row 2 in that sandbox slightly cartoony style of design.

It's made me think that The Saboteur is probably worth a bash too.

lentini

26-02-2010, 08:56

yayy, demo is on Live and PSN on the 4th March

TonyG

26-02-2010, 08:58

yayy, demo is on Live and PSN on the 4th March
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet! :thumbs:

Demo includes a whole multi-stage Faction mission, a race challenge & 35 square miles of yummy sandbox to play in. :)

Matt KB

26-02-2010, 09:22

I don't think you should get this Tony as it's made you use the word "yummy".

lentini

26-02-2010, 09:24

:lol:

TonyG

26-02-2010, 09:38

I don't think you should get this Tony as it's made you use the word "yummy".
:p I knew I shouldn't have used my Mr Kipling Thesaurus. Should have gone with my first instinct & used "delicious". ;)

JohnMac

26-02-2010, 09:59

I'm looking forward to Just Cause 2 as well but keep your expectations in check a bit Tony. As already said Avalanche Studios have a great engine capable of creating large game worlds with some impressive draw distances. The original Just Cause also had some good gameplay possibilities which this adds to. But ultimately they didn't fill that world with anywhere approaching enough variety of side missions so I hope they have addressed that this time. Characters and storytelling are not their strong points either. I feel a bit responsible for hyping the first game because I was so impressed with the game engine.

I still almost got 1000 achievement points for the game just one or two races drove me up the wall and I couldn't be bothered with them. It was one hell of a grind though. The side missions did get very repetitive.

I loved all the flying, sky diving, parachuting etc. I thought they could have added many more challenges like that and play to the engine's strenghts even if it would be like Pilotwings. I hope the ground vehicles are better to drive this time as I thought they were functional at best.

TonyG

26-02-2010, 10:21

I've dipped my high expectations a little after reading several previews, especially the one in this month's Edge magazine that raised worries regarding the sandbox gameplay inbetween the main missions. Apparently you have to raise/create some kind of "Chaos" score to a specific level before it unlocks the next story missions & they didn't seem that excited with the options available outwith these missions.

JohnMac

26-02-2010, 11:01

In the first game you just had the faction side missions which just ended up being the same three missions again and again. At least you will be free to cause chaos however you like.

JohnMac

03-03-2010, 09:59

Faction mission walkthrough (http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/862520/just-cause-2/videos/JustCauseWalkthru.html;jsessionid=1luux9q4vm2cv?show=hi)

I read earlier that the 360 version looks crisper and has a better framerate but the PS3 version lets you save clips and upload them to Youtube.

Looking forward to the demo tomorrow. I believe the location of the demo is mostly in the desert region.

JohnMac

04-03-2010, 09:40

Just Cause 2 demo is now available for download... :)

lentini

04-03-2010, 09:41

Just Cause 2 demo is now available for download... :)

already getting it, sonny :D

DrVenkman

04-03-2010, 11:53

Goddamit! Where's the PS3 demo

the_daddy

04-03-2010, 11:56

Patience young man, won't be up until at least 4.

Out for Justice

04-03-2010, 12:00

So . . . ?

Is it good?

Better than AvP?

lentini

04-03-2010, 12:03

So . . . ?

so....

Is it good?

yes

Better than AvP?

yes

JohnMac

04-03-2010, 12:15

I've played the demo a couple of times without really getting to the main demo mission. I started off just getting used to the controls, base jumping off the side of the mountain you start on, driving around that sort of thing.

I walked up the hill from my starting base and eventually reached a communications base so I stole a helicopter that didn't have guns or rockets and used the rotor blades to cut the wires holding up this huge communications antenna which caused the structure to collapse and then an attack helicopter showed up so I jumped out of the helicopter just as it was about to explode, grappled to the attack helicopter, shot the guy trying to shoot me who then fell to his death, took control of the helicopter with a QTE sequence and started shooting the place up.

I then decided to just see what the rest of the map was like so I held the RT and the helicopter climbed through the clouds and you can see the whole game map and not just the demo area. There was the desert below, what looked like a city, snow capped mountains on the far side of the map. The map is huge. The demo area is obviously only a small part of it but it is reasonably big on it's own with maybe a dozen settlements or more. But it is the scale of the environment and the freedom you have to explore it that is the real draw of Just Cause 2, just like the original.

On another play of the demo I parachuted into an enemy based, stole another helicopter and fired rockets at fuel storage tanks, took out some SAM launchers and generally caused chaos it was good fun. Then I got shot down and continued the fight on foot. Not sure about the on-foot part of the game, it's OK just not as good as when you are parachuting, freefalling or flying. Usig the grappling hook to get about whilst on the ground can get you around an enemy base quickly not to mention out of harm's way when needed. I then noticed somebody was trying to target me with a sniper rifle so I tried to grapple to their location but purely by accident grappled them off a roof, ran over and picked up their sniper rifle. When I eventually died I did respawn with the sniper rifle and all damage to the base remained so there doesn't seem that much of a penalty for dying which is probably a good thing.

Is it perfect - No. Even when I was driving off-road on a dusty track there were loads of vehicles when there shouldn't have been that many at all. There is still the infinite respawning enemy which means you can never really hang around at an enemy base, unless perfhaps you get the 100% destroyed stat which I didn't for the two bases I attacked. The characters and voice acting are as expected awful but I knew they would be and I'm not bothered about that. What I am a bit more concerned about is that the icons on the map and in-game are quite hard to see let alone distinguish what they represent. The game itself looks great but the map/mini-map almost looks low-res. Perhaps this is down to my poor eyesight.

So far so good but I want to go back to the demo later and visit all the settlements and find out exactly what is in the demo area.

Out for Justice

04-03-2010, 12:53

yes

I preferred john's review :p

lentini

04-03-2010, 13:02

I preferred john's review :p

Well I answered the questions you asked, so ner

clarkyboy100

04-03-2010, 13:08

Lentini's was more to the point I thought! :)

Got mine pre-ordered, can't wait!

JohnMac

04-03-2010, 13:56

OK played the demo again. Once you leave the starting area the demo timer begins but you get a good 30 minutes so there's no problem there. This time I went south east and used the waypoint marker to set one of the unexplored settllements as my destination. After base jumping and getting within 1 KM of the target I got a motorcycle and headed for the settlement. With the checkpoint still active arrows appeared on the roads to tell me which direction I needed to go to reach my destination and these were very useful.

Once I got to the settlement it turned out to be a huge base so after riding right through the road block I parachuted off the back of the bike and got to a high vantage point. I quickly got to grips with identifying targets which is simply a matter of aiming at them until the government star icon appears.

After a lot of killing and destroying targets I unlocked a faction mission and a race mission. So I decided to base jump and head across the desert to the race mission. This was a checkpoint race in a stunt plane which I totally failed because I wasn't paying attention to the arrows on the checkpoint rings. However, during this checkpoint race the graphics looked awesome. It puts most flight sims to shame. Once the race was lost I got some altitude and did a bit of sky diving and parachuted into a completely different base and the half hour timer ran out while I was grappled to a crane.

Getting much better with the controls and I enjoyed my third play of the demo even more than the first two. Just Cause 2 - the demo that just keeps on giving...

S_K_N

04-03-2010, 14:24

Goddamit! Where's the PS3 demo

its on psn now, you'll need to search for it though its not hit the mainpage yet.

DrVenkman

04-03-2010, 16:15

its on psn now, you'll need to search for it though its not hit the mainpage yet.

And only 380 minutes remaining! Fantastic.

Royle

04-03-2010, 17:49

Had two good goes on the demo so far and thoroughly enjoyed it. Highlights were removing a mounted minigun and riddling stuff with it and riding an ignited gas tank with my grapple. Also drove a jeep head on into a truck and did a lovely 720 degree spin end over end - very nice over the top physics and car destruction.

The gun and explosion sound effects are superb and all in all I'm more impressed than I expected. Shame not all the building can be destroyed.

The question still remains though......why no co-op :(

Harsin

04-03-2010, 18:44

Matt KB

04-03-2010, 18:50

I can't say I'm very impressed, tying stuff together and marvelling at the draw distance is good for about 20 minutes and then all you're left with is a pretty shoddy sandbox game that doesn't feel like a huge leap from it's predecessor to me.

Agreed. So far all I done is run up to Generic Settlement #1, shoot everything up then move on to #2. I appreciate it's really early in the game though so maybe it will pick up but other than change the green grass for mucky dirt it feels a bit like a general tart up.

lentini

04-03-2010, 19:24

Yeah, the more I play it the more 'meh' it seems

Harsin

04-03-2010, 19:29

I suspect we'll see a lot of that, looked in the NeoGAF thread and there are about 500 "lol I just ties a man to a gas canister and made him fly posts" and about 5 actually talking about the base gameplay.

mr_woo

04-03-2010, 19:32

Put about 2 hours into this and loving every minute of it. Great messing around and experimenting with things. Looks like there's only one actual mission in the demo though and they've said that they've concentrated particularly on mission design this time so we'll see if that's true soon enough. Love the way it's incredibly freeform though, moving around the world itself is a joy. Only game that I can think of that did it faster recently was Prototype.

JohnMac

04-03-2010, 19:58

I'm definitely still getting Just Cause 2 because I can see me spending many hours having fun in the massive game world. While I have no doubt it will get old long before I complete everything (if I ever do complete everything) I know I'll get my money's worth from it. The island just looks like a great place to hang out.

But I also think that you have to bring something of yourself to the game, almost giving it some self-imposed structure and variety. For example, I will definitely mix it up by setting a waypoint to some locations and just driving on the roads to get more of a connection to the place.

They have supposedly added loads of content to the game compared to the first one. I think there were something like a dozen races in the first game, Just Cause 2 has 100 (at least). I really hope that some of them involve sky diving/parachuting. I know some of them involve checkpoints where you can't pass through the checkpoint in a vehicle. I'm hoping that will mean some freestyle, outside of the box traversal/vehicle switching gameplay and that sounds like an interesting challenge.

I can see why this won't be for everyone. I know what the game's flaws are and predicted most of them before the demo. But I know I'll still have a great time with it.

MetalGearAl

04-03-2010, 21:13

I guess I should really play my copy of Just Cause 1. But why play that if I haven't finished Mercs 2 yet?

Edit: Demo seems quite fun, a mini-map would be handy though. It seems quite difficult to tell what you need to blow up to reach 100%? I couldn't find everything in the settlement just below where you start.

Out for Justice

05-03-2010, 07:51

The plane is on a dirt runway a short distance to the east of the starting point. I have not yet managed to land it without turning it and myself into a ball of flames.

As Johnmac said, you, yourself will need to make this interesting otherwise it will end up boring as hell. GTAIV is made interesting due to the multiplayer aspect. You're on your own in this game.

The map is the size of Fern Britton's arse.

JohnMac

05-03-2010, 08:10

Couple of noteworthy things happened on my last play of the demo. Firstly, I unlocked the race and completed it this time and I hope there are lots more like it in the full game. Secondly, the sun set was very realistic. The moon did rise shortly after that but it is obviously a lot darker at night and the desert is dark compared to the lights of the surrounding areas.

Moldiver

05-03-2010, 08:19

Couldn't really get into this, I might give it another go later, but the controls seem a bit fiddly. The only fun moment was in hooking a baddie with the wire and having a car tow him 100 yards down the road :D

The dialogue is awful. It's funny at first, but gets way too repetative - "argh, he got me with his wire thingy"/"Ouch" when you die. Also think the baddies take way too much of a hammering. I must have been using 6 or 7 bullets on some, including head shots, very annoying with multiple enemies, but maybe I need to rethink a strategy in those instances. Would have preferred an aim/zoom function as well.

Out for Justice

05-03-2010, 08:39

The grappling hook wire kept snapping for me. I just it to grapple a canister but it wouldn't lift me off the ground, it just snapped when it reached vertical.

I tried to pull down the statue with the a car but it just wheelied and snapped off.

I attached an old lady to a tooktook and this time the wire disapeared as I got in to drive off.

MetalGearAl

05-03-2010, 11:18

Once you get used to the grappling hook I found it alright. The controls seemed much better than the first game, which I'm sure required 3 hands to play.

Hood

05-03-2010, 11:45

I found this pretty disappointing to be honest. Other than the environment it seemed a bit naff. I'll have a couple of more goes though to see if it improves.

orac

05-03-2010, 13:04

first off it was a wow, but this wore off quite quickly. The grappling hook is better this time around, but you can't actually climb properly up a building, mast etc. The on foot stuff and gunplay is improved over the first one.

Unsure if this is a day 1 purchase for me, I will spend more time on the demo.

The demo gives you a hell of a lot - helicopter, plane, cars, bikes and tuk-tuks. The parachute, the grappling hook. Water is missing - I think you can only access a tiny part on the edge of the demo area.

MetalGearAl

05-03-2010, 13:52

Judging by the demo, I'd be tempted once it comes down in price. Seems like a fun distraction, and the use of the grappling-hook + parachute does mean you're not left many places stranded on foot for long.

orac

05-03-2010, 15:17

TonyG bigged this game up and we haven't heard from him ;)

the_daddy

05-03-2010, 17:07

JohnMac

05-03-2010, 17:31

There is an aircraft just to the east of the settlement which in turn is to the east of your starting location. It is at the same location as the starting point of the race when you unlock it.

There are also plenty of helicopters of varying types scattered around, a grenade launcher in the tower of the settlement I mentioned and I've read there is a tank somewhere but I still haven't done the Faction mission so it might be part of that.

Getting better and better with the grapple hook. If you are in the middle of the desert target the ground as far as you can ahead, tap LB, move down on the left analogue stick and press A and you'll get into the air from standing still. You can also just grapple the ground to keep going indefinitely if you like. One thing that is a bit too unrealistic is if you are in freefall from whatever height you can grapple the ground and it will pull you towards it even faster and you'll land without taking any damage.

GAmbrose

05-03-2010, 17:59

One thing that is a bit too unrealistic is if you are in freefall from whatever height you can grapple the ground and it will pull you towards it even faster and you'll land without taking any damage.

As opposed to the rest of the hard-core simulation gameplay? :D

orac

05-03-2010, 18:13

Most fun I have had from a demo in a long time, have yet to come across any planes, blowing up the huge silo though was great fun. Parachuting/base jumping is cool. Saints Row 2 meets San Andreas, looking forward to having another blast tonight.

agreed - really got into this... reminds me of crackdown, which i loved... teh grapple can be used a bit like the mad jumping that was possible in crackdown

Se7en

05-03-2010, 18:14

Had quite a long go on it this afternoon and seems much like the first one which is good and bad. Obviously the graphics are great but just like the first one its let down by poor cutscenes/voice acting, boring missions and dodgy controls. Im sure I'm not the only one to grapple on a wall and then not be able to jump to grab a ledge 1 metre above me for no apparent reason.

The one mission I played was truly painful, first running out of ammo trying to take out the convoy which makes it impossible to complete and secondly trying to get the AI controlled VIP into a jeep whilst the tyres get blown out.

Its really frustrating to play because there's clearly genius behind the fantastic visuals and world created, and theres some great ideas. But is let down once again by poor narrative and boring missions. GTA 4 worked because you had the free form gameplay but also a great liner story to play.

Obviously all their views are based on the demo but it feels like a good indicator of the full game. Got 7/10 written all over it.

A 2.5 month £17.99 purchase for me.

JohnMac

06-03-2010, 10:34

I did the faction mission for the first time. It was OK but nothing special. I also managed to do the race in the same demo playthrough but I had extended the play time to over 37 minutes.

ggrant

06-03-2010, 11:31

I'm in the same camp as a lot of others, played it last night and thought it was pretty good compared to the first one..

JohnMac

06-03-2010, 14:04

fivebyfive

06-03-2010, 15:44

I agree with Matt's and Harsin posts about the game, I think it suffers problems as the 1st game

lettuce

06-03-2010, 20:47

anephric

06-03-2010, 20:59

I played the first game to DEATH and got massive deja vu as soon as I booted this up. From the demo, it looks like they've jazzed up the visuals a notch but the mission grinding looks exactly the same.

JohnMac

06-03-2010, 21:09

I could get this to work :shrug:
I've only managed it a couple of times. One of them was the first time I tried so it is obviously harder to do than it looked at first.

MetalGearAl

06-03-2010, 23:39

One thing that is a bit too unrealistic is if you are in freefall from whatever height you can grapple the ground and it will pull you towards it even faster and you'll land without taking any damage.
Ha, good spot!

I've found the demo quite fun to play, but I can imagine the full game will get very repetitive fast.

DrVenkman

07-03-2010, 01:06

Yeah I did the 'prolong the demo' trick. It seemed to work first time with me, I just waited til the counter got to 2 seconds and then tapped the hell out of the select button on the PS3.

I went into the out of bounds area. There's no enemies there but it still generates traffic, eventually though the road ends and you end up in the water with graphical glitches ahoy. Also quite amusing to see a mass of cars in there with you as they all just reach the end of the road and drive in.

Blowing up the crane and finding the tank was a lot of fun though. Also fun, taking the chopper up, leaping out of it and trying to enter it again.

MetalGearAl

07-03-2010, 06:24

It's a shame chaining the structures you have to destroy such as the statues and water-towers to vehicles with the grappling hook doesn't seem to work. They connect but as soon as you drive the vehicle the cable breaks.

Out for Justice

07-03-2010, 10:42

Attaching the cable to the head of the statue seems to work although my car flipped into the air and I was thrown out.

Try attaching a scooter to the plane and taking off for some dangerous flying experience. I challenge someone to stay airborne.

JohnMac

07-03-2010, 11:48

The big surprise of the demo for me is how much fun the motorcycles are and I just enjoy setting a waypoint at a far off settlement and following the arrows on the roads. For the more powerful motorcycles it is better not to go at full speed and they become easier to control. While I'm not saying they are perfect they are a big improvement over the handling of the first game and it is easier to avoid traffic.

The more I play the demo and the more familiar I become with the controls/the best way to do things, the more I'm enjoying it. The only problem is I've got to wait nearly 3 weeks to play the full game and I want to play it now! At least when the full game arrives I'll be able to hit the ground running...

lettuce

07-03-2010, 12:00

TonyG

07-03-2010, 17:50

Demo does enough to confirm that i'll have fun playing this. Visuals are gorgeous, vehicle-handling felt good & the grappling/parachuting is cool, although a bit fiddly to begin with. Of course it all boils down to whether the main missions are varied enough & fun enough to sustain you through the game. The demo mission was fine, lots more like that will keep me more than happy. My only main grumbles are i'm not a fan of the autolock shooting aspect, dumbs it down too much for my liking. Also the "Chaos" game-mechanic could grow into a tiresome grind.

TonyG

08-03-2010, 16:45

The normally overscoring OXM magazine scored this a 7 ... Eeeeek!

They had the same problem that Edge mentioned, building up Chaos points to unlock main missions apparently gets dull & repetitive waaay too quickly. :|

I'll still be getting it as I love Sandbox games & pretty explosions, but it's a shame that the creators still seem to be too caught up in producing a gorgeous game world & once again, forgot about the all important gameplay.

JohnMac

08-03-2010, 17:39

I honestly don't mind that aspect of the game and they have packed the world with lots more content this time around. I would take the freedom of Just Cause 2 over a FPS where all you do is shoot things in the same way all the time. Yes some people have clocked up 100-150 hours playing Just Cause 2 but you can play it as a 15 hour game if you want.

orac

09-03-2010, 08:19

When the demo clock runs down to 3 to 4 seconds left just keep tapping the back button (map screen). You can get the demo countdown to stay on 0 and continue playing as long as you want. You can then go into settings and change the HUD settings to make the demo timer disappear if you want. I've tested this and it works. If you die the demo will end.

I've read that you can even travel anywhere on the map this way. However, because the rest of the world is only there at a certain level of detail expect a lot of visual glitches such as land disappearing.

got this working first go on ps3. Was fun going out of the demo area, some incomplete textures, but much of it fine. Found a road with the bridge missing at either end, so cars just kept falling into the sea - was well funny. I will try it again and take a helicopter round the island to see if any more built up areas exist in this incomplete version of the full map.

Out for Justice

11-03-2010, 15:11

daboy3000

11-03-2010, 15:34

can you do the leave the demo area glitch at any point or only in conjunction with the end of demo timer glitch?

Can use use it at the beginning on the leaving demo area timer and tapping back on the last few second of that?

I think so, try it and let us know, be our guinea pig bitch!

orac

11-03-2010, 16:43

can you do the leave the demo area glitch at any point or only in conjunction with the end of demo timer glitch?

Can use use it at the beginning on the leaving demo area timer and tapping back on the last few second of that?

only did it when the 30 mins was down to 2 secs, by hammering the select button. Once the timer was staying on 0.00 then I could leave the demo area.

Out for Justice

11-03-2010, 17:36

Cheers old bean.

Ben Martin

16-03-2010, 20:51

finally tried this out at the weekend, and have to admit that i was pretty blown away by it. i know that's asking for scorn given the tepid response on here but i can't help it.

the one thing that impressed above all else was the sense of scale. i'm not sure exactly how they've done it, but it looked and felt like i was high up when i looked over the edge at the starting point. the other mountains looked far away and massive. the settlement far below looked real and far away and not like a toy town a few feet below me.

as great as Fallout 3 was, the sense of scale just wasn't really there a lot of the time and compared to this it's chalk and cheese. never played the first one, and i can forgive pretty much anything given how awesome it looks (and thus feels) so looking forward to next friday.

JohnMac

17-03-2010, 12:56

Has anybody seen the tuk-tuk guided missile stunt video. :eek: Visit Justcause.com and go to the media page to see it.

Here is another cool stunt video.
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/anatomy-of-just-cause-2/62822

the_daddy

17-03-2010, 17:55

8/10 in this month's OPM...

JohnMac

17-03-2010, 19:36

I found a direct link to the Tuk Tuk Guided Missile (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9isFRgaU-8) stunt video. It isn't just the stunt that is cool it is the scale of the environment and how good it looks.

JohnMac

21-03-2010, 14:55

I watched the review of this on Playr and it scored an 8 out of 10. There do seem to be some glitches like a pursuing helicopter getting stuck in a building and dissppearing vehicles (not a new thing in a sandbox game). But criticisms like not being able to get over a 5 foot high wall without the grapple hook was stupid and some of the footage made it look like they didn't know how to use it and the parachute properly to get around.

On the whole it looks great fun and I noticed one part of the footage where there was a checkpoint race not in a vehicle but whilst using the parachute which I suspected would be the case but it is good to have it confirmed. One thing they said was that there are no leaderboards, I'm not sure this is the case (but who knows I might be wrong) and there is a game stats section of the Justcause.com website. There are also some additional awards to earn on the website but I doubt I will ever get the one where you have to drive in KM the distance from the earth to the moon. :nuts:

Royle

21-03-2010, 15:45

Just watched the Playr review too and they did pick some really silly inconsequential stuff as 'bugs'. I'm still going to buy it on day 1 because I know it'll be relaxing and fun to play. My speciality is finding stuff to amuse myself in sandbox games rather than plod from A to B to completion and JC2 looks mega in scope in that regards :)

I racked up 120hrs on Saints Row 2 for example :eek:

fivebyfive

21-03-2010, 16:15

bugs are not "silly inconsequential stuff" the 1st game had some really bad ones

JohnMac

22-03-2010, 16:48

This might sound like a bit of an extreme measures to find some new Just Cause content to play before the full game is released but I'm downloading the Just Cause 1 demo. Party because I just want to refresh my memory of what the first game was like by comparison, it has been a long time since I played it. But mostly because I remember it had a couple of tropical islands to mess about on and it will make a change from the desert of the Just Cause 2 demo. Only 632MB so not a big demo to download.

Then I'm going to return to the Just Cause 2 demo tonight or tomorrow.

Watched some cool footage on Youtube of somebody taking off in a jumbo jet and trying to grapple to another one taking off and also another video with Ninjas who could disappear in a puff of smoke and appear elsewhere. :D

Edit: Just played the Just Cause 1 demo for a few minutes. There is just the one island at the top left of the map to play on although I was certain the demo I played originally had the two islands on the top right of the map. Either it is a different demo or I'm just remembering it wrong.

Going back to the world of Just Cause 1 really, and I mean REALLY shows how much things have improved in Just Cause 2. Things do seem rough by comparison. The world itself mostly looks good especially from the air but even here Avalanche have made some significant improvements like the way the water now looks a lot more fluid and the environments look more visually impressive with more detail. But it is on the ground where the sandbox world of Just Cause 1 is a lot worse than the improved Just Cause 2 demo. I'm not saying there isn't room for improvement with Just Cause 2 compared to other extremely well polished sandbox games like GTA, but Just Cause 2 isn't trying to be GTA in my opinion.

In the Just Cause 1 demo getting stuck far from a road without a vehcile is a huge problem but in the Just Cause 2 demo you can grapple the ground ahead and pull the parachute and get into the air from standing still and get around indefinitely by grappling the ground or other objects. It is still very useful to get to a high speed in a vehicle, get into the stunt position and pull the chute. You stay in the air for longer than in Just Cause 2 which was no doubt a compromise with the game design. There are also some really basic animations and collision issues. For example, I got hit by a car and was pushed at the same speed as the car going at full speed while still just standing there in front of it. In short the ground based gameplay is horrible compared to the Just Cause 2 demo. I thought I was going to spend a while here enjoying a new island but hats off to Avalanche it isn't just more of the same in Just Cause 2.

JohnMac

23-03-2010, 16:20

Video Review from Gamespot (http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/justcause2/video/6254028/just-cause-2-video-review?tag=summary;watch-review)

I think they liked it at 1Up as well (http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3178452)

Exactly what I expected and wanted. Massive world, lots of blowing stuff up = Fun gameplay. But like I said in an earlier post I think you've got to bring something of your own to the game and add the variety, the purpose and in some ways play it like you are playing a role in order to make the game your own experience. The moment it becomes I have X number of settlements left to do, or Y number of checkpoint races it might quickly become a chore. Many people might not even complete the game it is said to have 100+ hours of things to do. But if you only played it for 20 great hours that would match or exceed the time spent on most games.

Mr Majestik

23-03-2010, 16:45

Gets a good '8' on Eurogamer.

the_daddy

23-03-2010, 17:39

Pretty good reviews so far, gonna be a good one.

Trophies:

http://www.ps3trophies.org/game/just-cause-2/trophies/

Jedibitch

23-03-2010, 22:41

Shopto shipped and should be here tomorrow!

mr_woo

24-03-2010, 00:59

I'd be tempted to buy this for the PS3 instead of the 360. Love the sound of the video capture mode and for this sort of game it would be great for capturing all sorts of silly, random things.

JohnMac

24-03-2010, 07:51

I've gone for the 360 version. The video capture thing does sound cool but I only have 10GB broadband a month at the moment and I already went over it recently so uploading lots of vidoes to Youtube would eat that up quickly. I've read that the full install on the 360 is only 4.1GB.

clarkyboy100

24-03-2010, 08:08

Should get mine by friday from The Hut. Can't wait!

GAmbrose

24-03-2010, 08:45

Think this will be a Lovefilm rental for me.

I played the demo on the PS3 and Xbox 360 and ultimately my preferance comes down to the Xbox 360 version thanks to the superior (IMO) contol pad.

JohnMac

24-03-2010, 09:50

Here is a video of a certain easter egg in the game. The video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8r7rlJQ3pk&feature=player_embedded#) might be a bit long but watch until the end...

orac

24-03-2010, 09:52

got a £3 off print out at Sains.. will see how much it is on friday or may wait, from the demo and reviews will def. be getting, this looks like "at last" the replacement sandbox type game for Crackdown*

*I am ps3 only now, so no Crackdown 2 is coming soon comments! :(

JohnMac

24-03-2010, 10:05

Just Cause 2 gives you a huge island with lots of tools (grapple hook, parachute, vehicles, checkpoint races etc) to do cool things and blow stuff up. What you choose to do in that massive sandbox and how much you can bring to it youself to get the most out of it will depend on the individual. There are things I read and hear about on podcasts I wouldn't have even considered doing but now want to try them. For example, somebody ordered a speedboat from the black market and travelled down a mountain in it.

MrSpeed

24-03-2010, 10:11

Here is a video of a certain easter egg in the game. The video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8r7rlJQ3pk&feature=player_embedded#) might be a bit long but watch until the end...

There was someone waving to him on the beach at the crash site...I'd have had to have investigated him/her 1st!

TheDot

24-03-2010, 11:06

Have to say the demo didnt blow me away at first, but I was drawn back to it and ended up having some great fun at times.

The scale of this thing looks huge, and the game does look very nice. Im tempted to pick this up on release, but get a feeling this could be one of those titles that drops in price quick.

LouBarlow

24-03-2010, 11:28

Can you fly that big plane into buildings?

TonyG

24-03-2010, 11:31

I understand that military installations are all damageable by flying planes/dropping objects onto them but alas, most of the skyscrapers/buildings in the cities are indestructable .... so unfortunately no 9/11 reenactment scenarios to post onto Youtube. :|

LouBarlow

24-03-2010, 11:44

Damn that was the first thing I was gonna try :(

JohnMac

24-03-2010, 11:45

The last time I played the demo I had some success grappling to a vehicle and pulling the head off a statue; also hovering a helicopter over a target you want to destroy and just getting out works well, even on those statues.

JohnMac

24-03-2010, 12:21

Can you fly that big plane into buildings?
If you were in the world of Just Cause 2 they would grapple you to the back of a vehicle and drag you through the capital city for saying that. ;) But since I don't have a link to a good video showing that you get this instead (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw6AmO-0kbk) :D

daboy3000

24-03-2010, 13:03

But since I don't have a link to a good video showing that you get this instead (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw6AmO-0kbk) :D

:lol:

I wish this game had some co-op element, I would love to have been on the end of that rope!

Teasy

24-03-2010, 14:07

My biggest disapointment with this game so far (based on the PC demo) is that unlike the first game you can't look around while flying without moving the same way you're looking. I can press left if I want to move left, so why do I also need to move left just because I move the camera to the left?..

Am I missing some kind of option of feature that will allow me to look all around during free fall/flight without my character turning to move in that direction?

the_daddy

24-03-2010, 14:44

Here is a video of a certain easter egg in the game. The video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8r7rlJQ3pk&feature=player_embedded#) might be a bit long but watch until the end... Well it certainly took him long enough to find it :lol:

Though it didn't seem interactive in any way? Nothing also appeared on screen? So what the hell was it ?

JohnMac

24-03-2010, 14:53

Well it certainly took him long enough to find it :lol:

Though it didn't seem interactive in any way? Nothing also appeared on screen? So what the hell was it ?

It was a reference to
the TV series LOST, it's the hatch. If you fly over the island your aircraft will crash and I believe there might be more Lost easter eggs on the island as well as a strange mission I've read about which is Lost-like.

the_daddy

24-03-2010, 15:25

Oh great, never watched it..

Guess most of the "easter eggs" meannings will be over my head in that case.

JohnMac

24-03-2010, 15:45

Oh great, never watched it..

Guess most of the "easter eggs" meannings will be over my head in that case.
You'll be able to enjoy the mission as normal, but now you know where that little easter egg came from.

splobber

24-03-2010, 17:50

I've played the demo a few times now and even though I like it, I can see the novelty of going round to the same old places doing the same old things will bore the tits off me very quickly. I reckon the price will crash to £20 within a few weeks, although I can get it for £31 now so don't mind having a punt then as I still have a couple of other titles to tide me over.

luffk

24-03-2010, 18:54

Wasn't going to bother with this but having watched some of the videos I'm really tempted now. Looks like a right laugh.

gothi

24-03-2010, 20:12

splobber

24-03-2010, 20:23

Asda (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=27) have a 10% off code at the moment (order is fulfilled by The Hut (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=81) IIRC). Don't think it's the limited edition, but I've given up on all that rubbish after the Batman ltd edition batarang P.O.S..

gothi

24-03-2010, 20:35

TonyG

25-03-2010, 09:17

orac

25-03-2010, 09:30

Splobber you star! Canceled my Amazon order and placed one at Asda (Special Edition) for £31.42 after the 10% discount :)

I too got burned by the crap-o-rang but still can't resist a Special Edition if it's as cheap as a regular edition :)

any experience on how quick asda are on pre-orders?

Sheepking

25-03-2010, 09:31

Special edition arrived here at work this morning, teasing me. Comes with a code for unlockable weapons/vehicles & a useful map giving co-ordinates for interesting locations like specific mountain peaks to do base-jumps etc.

Did you order it from Zavvi?

Mine shipped yesterday so i hope its waiting for me when i get home. Bought the PS3 version for a change.

TonyG

25-03-2010, 09:33

No, got it from ShopTo.

My last Zavvi order was posted on a tuesday evening & I didn't receive it until Friday morning.

Sheepking

25-03-2010, 09:34

No, got it from ShopTo.

My last Zavvi order was posted on a tuesday evening & I didn't receive it until Friday morning.

Guess i better not expect it till Friday or Saturday then.

orac

25-03-2010, 09:37

Guess i better not expect it till Friday or Saturday then.

mmm thats the issue...

prob take this £3 off voucher for JC2 into sains. tomorrow.

paulmotion

25-03-2010, 09:59

Splobber you star! Canceled my Amazon order and placed one at Asda (Special Edition) for £31.42 after the 10% discount :)

I too got burned by the crap-o-rang but still can't resist a Special Edition if it's as cheap as a regular edition :)

Splobber, brilliant. Can anyone tell me where I can get the code from?

EDIT - Found the code on the bargain forums - cheers Splobber

JohnMac

25-03-2010, 10:21

Special edition arrived here at work this morning, teasing me. Comes with a code for unlockable weapons/vehicles & a useful map giving co-ordinates for interesting locations like specific mountain peaks to do base-jumps etc.
No post here yet. Does the map look a lot like this (http://www.justcause.com/panau) with the desert peak, jungle peak and snow peak on there. I notice that the Gamestats leaderboards (http://www.justcause.com/game_stats) are now active.

TonyG

25-03-2010, 10:29

Yup, that's the map you get.

JohnMac

25-03-2010, 12:14

Game arrived, installed (4.1GB confirmed), black market chaos pack downloaded, demo deleted. Island of Panau here I come... :)

Matt KB

25-03-2010, 12:22

What's the black market chaos pack? I can't see it on the marketplace website.

MrSpeed

25-03-2010, 12:26

Game arrived, installed (4.1GB confirmed), black market chaos pack downloaded, demo deleted. Island of Panau here I come... :)

/awaits 1st impressions :thumbs:

TonyG

25-03-2010, 12:40

What's the black market chaos pack? I can't see it on the marketplace website.
It's an exclusive with the limited-edition version of the game. Includes a handgun, automatic rifle, car, hovercraft & parachute. I assume they just look prettier than the normal versions.

Out for Justice

25-03-2010, 12:49

I wonder if they are just exclusive at the start but you can still unlock them on the black market.

Going to trade in AvP (if it's still worth anything) tomorrow at blockbusters. Might even trade in COD6 as without the new map pack, MP will be useless.

splobber

25-03-2010, 14:01

any experience on how quick asda are on pre-orders?

As I said it's fulfilled by The Hut so very quickly. I caved in and bought the SE for £31.59 from them late last night and got the dispatch email at 7am this morning so it will probably be here tomorrow.

orac

25-03-2010, 14:29

As I said it's fulfilled by The Hut so very quickly. I caved in and bought the SE for £31.59 from them late last night and got the dispatch email at 7am this morning so it will probably be here tomorrow.

cheers ordered...

LouBarlow

25-03-2010, 15:37

Had a couple of hours on this (great fun) and already had one system lock-up. Hope my 360's not on the way out!

orac

25-03-2010, 15:40

JohnMac

25-03-2010, 15:45

/awaits 1st impressions :thumbs:
You have to do the first two missions before you get freedom to go where you want The first mission in particular is designed as a tutorial with the second one already seen in the previews. One really cool way of taking out pursuing vehicles while you are in stunt position standing on the roof is just grapple them (holding LB) and then grapple anything, including the ground and they get slung off brdiges and into the air every time. So no need to jump to them or take out individual enemies.

One thing you will notice is that the demo must have been set on Casual difficulty because on Normal you can't just stand around and get away with what you did in the demo. When the heat level increases you can get cut to ribbons by the more powerful weapons the enemy bring to the party, but perhaps the health of Rico was set to a higher level in the demo as well.

I've taken over three settlements close to where you gain control after those first two missions. As with the demo a good strategy is to find the collectables first and then take out the targets that will get the attention of the enemy.

Graphically the game looks excellent. I experienced a night-time thunderstorm with some impressive lightning effects. The framerate isn't always as good as it could be. There is one small city close to where you first get freedom to go anywhere and at ground level the framerate does dip with some tearing evident. But so far this issue was just a problem in that one location.

So far I haven't done much free roaming or done anything too crazy. Knowing that there are so many settlements I thought I would just take over a few before I mix it up and do something else. The next thing I want to do is just have a look around, get on a motorcycle and enjoy exploring just a tiny part of the island because this place is massive.

LouBarlow

25-03-2010, 15:55

Does everything remain 'open' once you complete the game like GTA?

JohnMac

25-03-2010, 15:58

Not sure, I'm not that quick... ;)

CraigKORE

25-03-2010, 17:37

I'm really enjoying this a lot more than I would have thought. Had an in game notice pop up saying I have played 9 hours so far over the last few days, but it certainly aint felt like that! The sheer size of the place really is something else, quite a few times I have bailed from a chopper over the middle of nowhere just to have a wander..

Jedibitch

25-03-2010, 17:49

Had a quick blast and it does feel very good, a real time eater though. 5mins turns into an hour very easily.

Also I got the LE but don't remember ordering it! :lol:

JohnMac

25-03-2010, 17:56

Just done my first Faction Stronghold Takeover (not to be confused with faction missions) which involved taking over a nuclear power plant, at least I think it was a nuclear power plant. Spent ages on 96% and must have been looking around for 40 minutes for the last government object to sabotage. It does seem kind of odd to take over a government facility for a faction and then sabotage the government equipment inside instead of just liberating it for your faction but that is just one of those things. When I reached 100% I got in a vehicle at the plant and drove out looking for more chaos but with a faction guy on the mounted gun helping me out. So in theory you can use your faction in this way to help you with settlements or just to have some support.

Just north of where you first get control after the first two missions there is a bridge over a river with a military base just to the north east of it. I went in there and stole the military fighter jet which is very cool, there was one similar to it in Just Cause 1 but if you want to explore the island that is probably the fastest way to travel. There was a good James Bond moment as I was slowly taxiing onto the runway and before taking off I turned round killing approaching enemies on the ground and then took off evading SAM missiles.

The island of Panau is excellent, if anything there is too much to do and in the end that might be what puts people off. Some of the settlements might also look similar but it does genuinely seem like a real place sometimes. Maybe it is because I'm in the tropical part of the island but the weather can change very quickly and it can darken to almost night-time and there will be a very short thunderstorm and the sky will clear and you are in a tropical paradise again.

the_daddy

25-03-2010, 18:06

Watching some user uploaded youtube clips, those airliners look fun, though most uploads seem to be kids trying to recreate 9/11.. :eek:

The visuals are quite impressive though.

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DG_yIH-hcN4&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DG_yIH-hcN4&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Madness :lol:

Matt KB

25-03-2010, 18:10

Shame more (any?) 360 games don't support direct to Youtube uploading.

JohnMac

25-03-2010, 18:47

Love the world that Avalanche studios have created. The island of Panau is so varied compared to the first game. I thought I would hate the snowy mountains area but I just took an aircraft over there after a checkpoint race and it was incredible. I then flew all the way to the capital city which is immense. Hard to judge the scale of it from the air but it took a while just to fly around the city. I would say the capital is easily the size of Liberty City from GTA4. I then landed my aircraft safely I'll have you know... :) Suddenly Just Cause 2 became the next Flight Unlimited.

LouBarlow

25-03-2010, 18:51

This is a really, really impressive game. Loving it.

As a technical feat alone, it is remarkable....apart from the voice acting and accents :lol:

the_daddy

25-03-2010, 18:52

I would say the capital is easily the size of Liberty City from GTA4.

:eek:

Matt KB

25-03-2010, 19:01

Dammit JohnMac this is sounding more enticing now, even though I didn't really like the demo.

TonyG

25-03-2010, 21:40

Blimey! ... Just had a 3hr stint there that felt like 10 minutes. Sandbox gaming at its finest at the moment. The visuals are fantastic & the carnage is tremendous. Just been taking my time after the opening two tutorial missions. Working my way down the initial coastline you start from, taking over the little villages, an airfield & lastly, a small military base.

Enemy A.I. feels much tougher than the demo suggested. They aren't that intelligent but it doesn't take long for your health bar to drop dramatically & those health cabinets are in short supply. Initial weapons are also quite weak & ammo is scarce for the rifles. Getting the threat level down is proving tricky too. Great fun though.

The black market weapons that you get with the limited-edition are much more powerful than the basics you start with, almost feels like cheating, but couldn't say no to paying $50k for the Bulls eye Assault rifle. Some basic RPG elements too to play with, for weapon & vehicle upgrades.

So far, so good. Living up to my expectations so far. :thumbs:

gothi

25-03-2010, 21:47

Just caught wind of the video facility and can't help but wonder why this is PS3 exclusive. Halo 3 showed that hours of gameplay can be stored to disc whilst playing a very hectic game so it shouldn't be a technical hurdle. I wonder if the rumours of a native "gameplay recorder" for the 360 are true and they thought "why waste time coding something that'll be included with the OS some point soon"...

Matt KB

25-03-2010, 21:51

gothi

25-03-2010, 21:55

Speaking to Al online he mentioned something about money exchanging hands to make it PS3 exclusive.

No excuse though really, you can export your Halo 3 videos to PC then upload them so there are ways around it without having a direct to Youtube upload. With the Halo 3 feature though I suppose you can edit on PC and have a copy yourself anyway without it just existing on the 'tube.

Don't forget about Bungie Pro where Bungie will render any clip for you which is then made available as a hi def video (WMV of course). On reflection this is probably the feature you're thinking about too. Shame to see such a cool feature left out on a purely financial basis. Ahh well, if it is true then I'd like to hope it's got a time limit and will be made available as a patch for 360 owners.

MrSpeed

25-03-2010, 23:45

I'm 18th on Goozex for it...guess I'm going to have a long wait :(

mr_woo

26-03-2010, 00:22

Speaking to Al online he mentioned something about money exchanging hands to make it PS3 exclusive.

No excuse though really, you can export your Halo 3 videos to PC then upload them so there are ways around it without having a direct to Youtube upload. With the Halo 3 feature though I suppose you can edit on PC and have a copy yourself anyway without it just existing on the 'tube.

Aye, there's been no confirmation that was the reason but it would make sense. It's also apparently part of the PS3 SDK and so isn't that hard to implement whilst the 360 one would have required a bit more work. Avalanche seem like guys with pretty good technical know how (considering how nice the engine looks and runs smoothly) so financial reasons sounds like a pretty viable reason to me.

Matt KB

26-03-2010, 09:40

Don't forget about Bungie Pro where Bungie will render any clip for you which is then made available as a hi def video (WMV of course). On reflection this is probably the feature you're thinking about too. Shame to see such a cool feature left out on a purely financial basis. Ahh well, if it is true then I'd like to hope it's got a time limit and will be made available as a patch for 360 owners.

Yep that's what I'm thinking about :)

luffk

26-03-2010, 11:51

The video capture is great.... here's one I made earlier.

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qc9fr4XJLyM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qc9fr4XJLyM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Should be working now...

mr starface

26-03-2010, 12:02

Says its a private video and cant open it?

cedge

26-03-2010, 16:37

Hmmmmmm. 360 Achievements & friends or PS3 Uploads, difficult choice for which version to get.

platty

26-03-2010, 17:17

Hmmmmmm. 360 Achievements & friends or PS3 Uploads, difficult choice for which version to get.

theres only one way to find out .....

clarkyboy100

26-03-2010, 19:43

Been playing this all afternoon, flipping stunning game so far. It's gonna take months to get through it all properly! :)

TonyG

26-03-2010, 22:22

Still enjoying it (over 6hrs played & still only scratched the surface) but lots of little niggles starting to creep in. Biggest one is when attempting to 100% a location, especially the military bases/strongholds. finding the pick-ups is mostly ok using the indicator on the top-left of your HUD but there's always a couple of difficult-to-spot/find generators that is a pain. Also some of the villages are quite spread out & can be difficult finding the last of the collectables when an unseen part of the town is over a ridge/hill.

Also the destruction fun is already beginning to get repetitive, with only fuel-tanks, communication masts, SAM launchers & generators to blow-up. I did just complete the mission to take out the Space Rockets which was cool, so hopefully there's more variety further along.

Have unlocked three aircraft races, the first of which was ok, but the other two, one of which is only 1-star for difficulty, i'm finding are rock-hard. The default single-seater plane is very twitchy. Thankfully you can use any mode of transport, but the easy to fly helicopters have been too slow & the black-market mini-plane is waaay too fast.

Have upgraded my armour three times but still finding health drops rapidly if you find yourself exposed.

Visuals continue to impress & when things click (for example: during an enemy stronghold mission, you take-over an enemy gunship & start straffing up their base) it's great fun, buuuuut, the niggles continue to grow & that combined with the daunting length of the task before you, i'm not sure of this game's staying-power.

JohnMac

26-03-2010, 23:42

I've been in the same boat two or three times where I have spent ages on 95% or 96% and yes it will get repetitive or at the least become routine which is why you should mix it up with doing other things. I take it you've noticed that there are faction items to collect as well and those seem to appear on the map if you control the area they are in. I like the checkpoint races and I use the default plane. Keep doing different things. For example, pick an airport, take an aircraft, plot a route (say following a river and fly under all the bridges) then land at another airport (hold LT to slow down and stop).

Just Cause 2 is a massive game and like Fuel the journey is more important than the destination. Maybe I'll complete everything but then again if I don't it doesn't matter. Compared to your regular 8, 10 or 15 hour game you'll still more than get your money's worth out of it.

I only realised this evening that I could take any mounted gun and use it as a minigun. I obviously haven't been paying attention.

mr_woo

26-03-2010, 23:49

Quick video I made on the PS3 version below, just messing around. Have a few longer ones 'in progress' at the minute, nothing too exciting just me yet again messing about :D

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/B9YiE4rBHLc&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/B9YiE4rBHLc&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Another silly video :D

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kjUbARdxB1E&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kjUbARdxB1E&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

LouBarlow

27-03-2010, 04:08

Did the people complaining about collectibles not play GTA? Those pigeons! Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

orac

27-03-2010, 10:30

so much for Asda being quick - dispatched thurs, not here...

still hour less tonight, it can wait..

splobber

27-03-2010, 11:07

Mine came this morning.

JohnMac

27-03-2010, 11:56

Did the people complaining about collectibles not play GTA? Those pigeons! Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I think the collectables are great in Just Cause 2, especially given the size of the world. The items like weapons parts, vehicle parts, cash stashes are relatively easy to track down in a settlement when trying to get 100% for it and the other 3 x 100 collectables (black boxes, skulls and drug drops) all appear on your map if your faction controls the area they are in. They are entirely optional but make a change of pace from storming strongholds or taking over settlements.

If I have the odd gripe it would be about stocking up on weapon ammo or triggered explosives. I could pay £30,000 to get a fresh supply of triggered explosives but they should be in a faction stronghold like the grenades are.

Matt KB

27-03-2010, 12:11

Is there any way to teleport between areas of the world?

JohnMac

27-03-2010, 12:16

After a while you'll unlock Extraction on the black market. You can be transported to any location you've visited. Plus, it doesn't cost you anything.

TonyG

27-03-2010, 12:51

Yeah the extraction option is a Godsend with a map of such a size & it's a good incentive to unlock as many villages/strongholds as possible.

Regarding the black-market weapons that you can upgrade/buy. For example i've started to upgrade the default pistol. Now, does this mean that only the pistol I buy from the black-market is upgraded, or are all similar pistols that you can pick-up from bad-guy corpses have the similar upgrade applied?

Also i've discovered the disadvantage of buying the Bulls-eye Assault rifle, i've yet to find ammo for it anywhere & eventually swapped it for one of the default assault-rifles. :|

JohnMac

27-03-2010, 13:13

I've only upgraded the frag grenade and triggered explosives to give them more power and capacity. So whenever I pick up grenades at a faction stronghold I can take more of them (but only pick them up 5 at a time), so I assume upgrades apply to all weapons of that type that you pick up.

Just had a great 10 minutes of carnage doing a settlement. It was one of those where there is a bridge crossing a river in the mddle of the village and when trouble started I took the mounted gun and carried it to the middle of the bridge the enemy were showing up in vehicles trying to kill me. The heat was at maximum for about 10 minutes and I was just blowing vehicles and attack boats up with the minigun it was crazy.

Matt KB

27-03-2010, 13:21

They should have done a bit more to the grappling hook/camera angles etc and just made it a stunt game as the gunplay really sucks. I'm quite happy just jumping off stuff and parachuting at the moment. Would make a good superhero kind of game in a big city, if you could have wings etc to glide.

How do the friendly strongholds work? Do I need to 100% a random enemy one to make it friendly?

JohnMac

27-03-2010, 13:29

You unlock stronghold missions and your faction will help take them over. You will usually start from there if you reload a save game and you can then get in a faction vehicle and have of your faction guys use the mounted gun. You can stock up on some ammo usually (depending on stronghold) and I think I can save vehicles including helicopters on the helipads but I'm about to test if I can do that or not.

Edit: The Avalanche game engine would be awesome for a flight sim (what am I saying, it is awesome as a flight sim). I did one of the checkpoint races which ended near the space centre. Just then a few SAMs locked on and launched and I could see all these yellow arrows pointing off screen and the sound of bleeping getting closer together. So I pressed the left stick button and I could see the missiles homing in on my plane so I tried to shake them off and one flew within a few feet of my plane. But they still were trying to lock on so I headed under a bridge but by then they had already exploded.

Edit again: I also love just getting on a motorcycle and travelling to my target by setting a waypoint and following the arrows on the road. Even though you are travelling fast, weaving through traffic feels like a relaxing way of getting there and you have that connection to the world. I was just travelling about 10KM to my next Agency mission this way and only stopped about 4 times to pick up 2x4 health/armour pick-ups that were on either side of the road near the supports of bridges. So even this wasn't a waste of time and I got rewarded for it.

Said it before but mix it up, keep varying the way you play and you'll play it for longer and will be less likely to get bored or see it as a chore.

Xenole

27-03-2010, 14:41

I hate the third person? perspective. Just can't get used to it - right pain when using the grappling hook at the start.
Did like the flak gun though as caused a bit of carnage with that.
Got killed after dropping from the helicopter as I just couldn't see what was shooting at me.

LouBarlow

27-03-2010, 14:54

3rd person shooters are not a new thing though. Haven't had a problem with the controls tbh and I'm far from decently co-ordinated.

JohnMac

27-03-2010, 18:43

Just unlocked 10 races in the capital city as one of the faction territories expanded to cover two of the 4 island districts of the city. Some of the challenges are driving and some are paracute/stunt-based. Looks like I'll soon be visiting the capital proper instead of just flying around it and standing on the top of buildings admiring the view. I wonder how long it will take to get 100% for those four island districts of the city.

I'm now at 12% complete and still enjoying Just Cause 2 a lot. I love the flying and travelling around on motorcycles. Using the grapple hook/parachute combo is just second nature now and I can land almost inch perfect or just travel through the countryside between settlements quickly - even my parachute climb is higher than my base jump stat. I know my enthusiasm for Just Cause 2 seems to know no bounds and in a way I wish I had gone for the PS3 version so I could record some videos.

Matt KB

27-03-2010, 19:03

The flying etc is really good, it sucks balls when you need to get somewhere though with no vehicle. Example - trying to get to the middle of an island, had to cross water. Not been there before, so I buy a boat from the black market - the silly bitch drops it on land. Nothing I could do to shift it into the sea, no more money so long swim for me.

Everytime I'm really getting into it and enjoying it, I hit something that annoys me - the voice acting is really bad, and they recycle half of what Rico says for different cutscenes (the same lines for each of the 3 factions so far). Or I'll do a fantastic dive out of a helicopter, to grab onto another than have to do a little QTE which I could do without but is fine, then go into a base and have to do some gun combat which is poor.

The sound of the explosions are great and seeing bits fall to pieces are fantastic, but every settlement seems to be made up of the same stuff and are copied and pasted all over the world. Plus 100%ing them is a pain as there's always one little bit hiding somewhere.

The world is great and it feels like they put all their effort into making a world that looks great and is really expansive, then slapped Just Cause 1 on top of that with a few small tweaks as that familiar grinding boredom is starting to come back already.

Found the Lost island though after a massive flight which was ace :D Although no clue how I stumbled across the hatch as I gave up trying to find it and was trying to get off the island and there it was. :) Result.

sirp

27-03-2010, 19:43

Scorpio, Scorpio, Scorpio

the enemy chasing you all the time is well annoying. And enemy alerts in places you have overtaken is equally annoying.

Please tell me the missions change from guarding a guy to a certain place on the takeover to something else, as I have had that, give someone a lift somewhere in an uncontrolable vehicle (like most) and set timers!

the_daddy

27-03-2010, 20:09

Has anybody found..

The Hot Air Baloon?

LouBarlow

27-03-2010, 20:16

Has anybody found..

The Hot Air Baloon?

yup.

the game confuses me in that you can shoot up the bases and the folk in it of the bases you take over during missions and they seem to forgive you.

mr_woo

27-03-2010, 20:22

I keep reading that casual is the way to play this as it gives you a lot more room and fun to experiment which is the most fun way to play it. I haven't had too much trouble on normal but you got into the red far too quickly for my liking.

Wish we had the Bolo mod on the PC which lets you string more than one wire to multiple things, gives you infinite ammo and makes the wire much more stronger.

Royle

27-03-2010, 21:20

Clocked about 13hrs on this and 13% completion. Loving it so far, despite what others have said ie having to spend ages getting 100% completion on bases and normal mode being a tad hard which denies you the opportunity to mess around with kills as much as you'd like.

Overall the graphics are stunning and the more I use the grapple/parachute the better I become so it now feels like second nature. So far so good and an early contender for top 5 games of the year!

Basically it's just a pleasure to play.

JohnMac

28-03-2010, 00:13

Just ventured into the desert region again (only time I've been there since the demo was for an Agency mission). After doing a takeover mission for one of the factions I decided to hit the road and see where it took me. So I arrived at the nearest settlement, which turned out to be the closest one at the start of the demo area and I took it over no problem just like in the demo.

Then I had a couple of nearby checkpoint races but instead of doing the one from the demo (Desert Dash) I chose the Red Canyon Race in a nippy Dunebug 84 (or whatever it was called). After completing this road race I liked the vehicle so much I decided to just continue driving and I headed up the coast road and it was a very pleasant drive with the blue skies, steep red rock hillsides and blue sea.

Eventually I got into a spot of bother with the authorities so grapple hooked/parachute climbed my way up a cliff which eventually resulted in me finding my way to an airbase on top of a high plateau in the north west of the desert area. After grappling onto the roof of a hangar to check the lay of the land I noticed a desert camouflaged military fighter jet parked near the runway so I decided to take the Si-47 Leopard for a test flight.

I flew north and once I hit the coast I travelled south along the western coast, round the southern part of the island. This part of the flight was incredible as I was almost skimming along the surface of the water but turning along the coast into the the natural bays of the coastline.

I reached the river delta where the vegetation started to appear again and I flew low along the winding river and then along the river that cuts through the centre of the desert, going under low bridges as I went. Eventually I reached the north coast again and with some manual setting of waypoints off the coast and at the start of the runway I was able to bring the aircraft safely into land at the same airbase I took it from.

:)

the_daddy

28-03-2010, 03:30

I was able to bring the aircraft safely into land at the same airbase I took it from.

:)

http://i358.photobucket.com/albums/oo28/garethevans2009/NintendoNerdLord.jpg
(JohnMac circa 1993)

;) Glad to hear your getting so much enjoyment from the game. Ever thought of taking flying lessons?

lettuce

28-03-2010, 09:33

You paint a nice picture JohnMac! With this and Red Dead Redemption coming soon hours will just fly by!! One think i think the developers missed a trick on was not inlcuding more destructable builds in the vain of Mercs 2, that would of been the icing on the cake right there!

Can the grapple hook be upgraded at all, like the weapons?

JohnMac

28-03-2010, 14:39

Unfortunately my eyesight is too poor to be allowed to drive let alone fly. Maybe it is for that reason that I go out of my way to enjoy things like that in games because I know I'll never get to do them in real life.

I don't think the grapple hook is upgradable. It is reasonably strong though. I've grappled one of my faction vehicles to a helicopter and transported it to a military base I wanted to attack. The faction guy on the mounted gun fell to his death near the end of the journey which turned out OK because I wanted to use the mounted gun in the first place to save on ammo.

Edit: I've read that once you take over a military airfield some of the better enemy aircraft can disappear from them. I suppose it makes sense but I just tried getting 100% on an airfield and the military fighter jet didn't respawn there again but the attack helicopter did. As a result I will leave all military bases with a runway in enemy hands for as long as possible.

TonyG

28-03-2010, 19:58

Another lengthy session today, now 10hrs & 11% completed. Did the 3rd agency mission which was ok. Also unlocked some vehicle racing which was fun & much easier than the aerial racing. I did try one of the parachute events, leaping off a skyscraper to go through a half-dozen checkpoints, but I still suck with the 'chute & wasn't even close to completing it.

Also did another couple of stronghold missions which despite the locations all being different, the actual gameplay was almost identical & that aspect of the game has already grown old fast, as is taking over villages which is constantly annoying with finding the last few % worth of things to destroy.

As John says, keep mixing it up with what you do & it's fine in short-bursts but ultimately this is going the same way as their first attempt. A beautiful sandbox environment but lacking in the all-important gameplay factor. :|

Robby

29-03-2010, 05:44

I've been through the demo 3 or 4 times now and enjoyed it immensely. I'm just hoping my interest doesn't wane like it does with most sandbox games and I don't progress any further than the first island.

Good fun blowing **** up though :D

Slender

29-03-2010, 11:01

I'm about 13 hours in and still really enjoying this game. I was slightly worried about the main missions because of a review on Joystiq.com. They claimed that the game was fun as long as you were just messing around and that the missions were a bit uninspired and not that enjoyable. To my surprise I really loved the missions I've done so far. They've all been vary varied and well designed in my opinion.
I'm playing on normal and while I thought it was quite easy at first. Now I'm getting chased by multiple gunships whenever I cause some chaos and enemies get parachuted in. It's tough to survive when you stay and fight. That's why I mostly use hit and run tactics.
One easy way to get rid of the enemy chasing I discovered is to get to some water and stay submerged for a while. Rico can hold his breath for an extremely long time and the enemy can't find you underwater. Maybe that's a bit of help for people who are having some difficulties with this game.

mr starface

29-03-2010, 11:09

Started this yesterday and its great fun, only played for a couple of hours just past the tutorial bits but so much to see and do, the map does my head in it looks so packed!

Went to the first town I found and started causing mayhem but can see what people mean about being able to 100% a place. I got up to about 60% and then couldnt see anything apart from residential housing to blow up. Would really help if they identified what bits you need to destroy.

Out for Justice

29-03-2010, 11:57

I've done a shed loads of missions and the only time someone has driven my vehicle was in the tutorial mission. This means I can't get out and have fun grapple hooking the pursuing enemy vehicles as nobody is behind the wheel. This is one of the best uses of the grapple hook but the situation to use it never arises.

LouBarlow

29-03-2010, 12:28

Jedibitch

29-03-2010, 12:30

Great game and i'm really loving it but the 100% thing is becoming tiresome. Take the oil rigs, one I've done the other is stuck at 93% with NOTHING left to do. I'm feeling a bug!

Also why can't you just choose where to spawn when you die? I'm tired of calling in the chopper EVERYTIME!

TonyG

29-03-2010, 12:38

Jedibitch

29-03-2010, 12:42

The oil-rigs are a common problem mentioned on other forums, apparently not a bug but really sneaky, well-hidden small generators down in the lower decks to be destroyed is the key to 100% success.

The spawning after you die is a pain but less so, the more strongholds you have unlocked.

Cheers Tony, i'll have a check down below :suspect:

Really is a fantastic game though, just needs the missions from the GTA games to add the variety! The graphics in places are outstanding.

How hard is the harrier to fly by the way?

Also what is the score with packages that don;t show on the radar and are not part of a 100% jobbie? I've found a few at random petrol stations but these don't appear on the map? Impossible to find all these surely?

TonyG

29-03-2010, 12:51

The faction packages (skulls/drug briefcases etc) do show up on the map wherever the factions have influence.

The Harrier is reasonably easy to control, but like all aircraft, the lack of rudder-controls make small adjustments a tricky prospect.

orac

29-03-2010, 12:53

help! I can't even land the parachute right at the start!

can't get it anywhere near the landing zone - please help

clarkyboy100

29-03-2010, 13:59

I'm not having any problems 100%-ing places. Done about 40 now. I often collect stuff first then if possible, steal a helicopter or gunship for rigs, and blow the crap out of it.

One annoyance for me is lack of ammo. If you could buy more from the Black Market bozo then I'd be happier. I hate running out of ammo when there's **** to blow up!

LouBarlow

29-03-2010, 14:17

Out for Justice

29-03-2010, 14:21

Had the same problem with the oil rig - didn't see any generator downstairs.

Upgraded my nades and plastics on the ammo side and the chopper and jet on the vehicle side.

Need the upgraded explosives in case the colonel doesn't deliver my free helicopter.

TonyG

29-03-2010, 14:33

Out for Justice

29-03-2010, 14:52

That must have been what happened as I tried to attack it with a harrier first before returning with an attack chopper.

I'll have to go back and check. Looked pretty deep though. Maybe I can swim down and drop a grenade on it.

JohnMac

29-03-2010, 15:56

Finally hit the streets of the capital to do some driving, flying and parachute challenges and a faction mission. Quite like the faction mission where you had to defuse these four bombs within a time limit. Not a problem in terms of time if you are used to travelling with the grapple hok/parachute combo. So far the faction missions have been quite varied and that compares favourably with Just Cause 1 where there were three identical basic missions that just repeated indefinitely.

I'm also pleased with the capital city. Obviously if you were to compare it with Liberty City from GTA 4 in all but size it would lose but this is just one part of a massive world and in that context it is as good as can be expected. Compared to the capital in Just Cause 1 it is a massive improvement. The capital city in the first game was just an urban area about 6 blocks by 16 (or something similar). They have at least made an effort with it and it looks the part.

I did a couple of car races, one aircraft race and one stunt/parachute challenge. They were all enjoyable distractions and good in their own right. The parachute/stunt challenge was actually a challenge but I wouldn't want it any other way; superb addition to the game and it requires some skill. The ground vehicle challenges were very easy with a generous amount of time to complete them. Flying challenges are still great, love them.

Jedibitch

29-03-2010, 18:36

Further investigation of the Oil Rig problem reveals that it's possibly to do with the tower part of the rig. Apparently it's possible to shoot off the top part of the rig which has a fuel tank attached. If you don't hit the fuel tank first, it can fall into the water & become submerged.

You are ******** me? looks like a swim for me then.

Looks like a bug, as I couldn't find the tower part and even if i did there is no way of destroying it under the water? Balls.

Jedibitch

29-03-2010, 18:38

help! I can't even land the parachute right at the start!

can't get it anywhere near the landing zone - please help

I believe HMV is your best bet. ;)

TonyG

29-03-2010, 23:01

Had my favourite session tonight of this so far. The Faction missions I played were good fun & were reasonably varied, including an island full of WWII Japanese soldiers defending a HUGE electro-lightning generating weapon & the mission on the Mile-Hile club, taking out shotgun-wielding waiters. :)

Alas, it was letdown a little with a Stronghold mission that was a carbon-copy of the previous missions apart from a slightly different location.

JohnMac

30-03-2010, 00:08

I didn't mind the stronghold takeover missions. I think there are only 9 of them anyway and now I've done those, almost the entire map is either red, yellow or blue when you zoom it out. Doing some more faction missions should expand those colours to cover the rest of the map.

Out for Justice

30-03-2010, 07:01

Finished the story and now on Mercenary Mode 29% complete.

mr starface

30-03-2010, 07:32

Mercenary Mode?

Does that mean once you finish the main story you can continue to roam around and 100% places and discover all the settlements? Would there be any soldiers left to kill though of this was the case?

JohnMac

30-03-2010, 07:56

I assume the game continues as before but calling the mode something different (Mercenary Mode) effectively gets round the issue of nothing really changing after the end of the story.

Out for Justice

30-03-2010, 08:00

Yep, just as JohnMac describes although now you have annoying writing popping up all the time with percentage complete. Everything else looks the same. Still plenty of bad guys.

TonyG

30-03-2010, 08:09

Finished the story and now on Mercenary Mode 29% complete.
How are the rest of the main Agency missions? ... Do they get tougher/more intricate as you proceed?

orac

30-03-2010, 08:42

after my very embarrassing start :nuts: I have got into this, first off I thought "this is too big a game for me" and considered giving up, but I did some stronghold missions and have got into it - its good that now via the black market I can get dropped off to anywhere I have discovered... so I think I need to spend a few hours flying around and discovering locations.

The gunplay is far better than the first one, pity ammo sometimes runs out though. The voice acting is apalling, the technician thats been in every stronghold mission is cringeworthy with his voice... Its the budget pickwick/music for pleasures actors they have used on this game.

How does the save work? it seems to me you need to use the menu to save every now and again, otherwise you could switch off and lose some stuff you have achieved?

Out for Justice

30-03-2010, 09:12

How are the rest of the main Agency missions? ... Do they get tougher/more intricate as you proceed?

Yeah, I would say they get a little tougher and intricate but only marginally.

I found the on-foot enemies growing more annoying as I progressed - the gun upgrades didn’t really seem to make any difference. Explosives where only good for blowing up objects as the enemies would just run away from them. Couldn’t really find any good uses for the grapple gun during these missions either apart from pulling enemies off ledges. I thought they would have geared the levels around the amazing grappling hook and set up some cool toys to take out the enemy with.

Had a couple of glitches near the start when I was trapped in freefall but not moving. Got out of the first by grappling to the floor but had to reset on the next one. Another reoccurring issue came in the form of random long waits on blank screens when calling the black market or restarting check points. Didn’t always happen. I have the game installed btw.

That said, I quite enjoyed it and intend to go back to it but for how long it will hold my attention, I don’t know. I doubt it will be for much longer.

Out for Justice

30-03-2010, 09:22

Oh yeah, the last level was absolute rubbish.

You get a choice of which of the 3 factions you want to do but I think they all end the same way. I tried the closest one but I’d be interested to see if the other 2 are different. If so you might want to create a save point prior to starting the mission.

mr starface

30-03-2010, 10:08

Couldn’t really find any good uses for the grapple gun during these missions either apart from pulling enemies off ledges. I thought they would have geared the levels around the amazing grappling hook and set up some cool toys to take out the enemy with.
.

Would agree with this in my limited experience so far, its too fiddly to attach two enemies to via the grapple and smack them together as you end up getting shot to buggery. So other than yanking them off high ledges you need a gun or weapon enabled vehicle to do the job.

Out for Justice

30-03-2010, 11:14

I can't seem to unlock the achievement for flying low over the water for 30 seconds.

I've flown below the masts of the boats in my plane and held it there but I get nuffins! :(

TonyG

30-03-2010, 11:17

I can't seem to unlock the achievement for flying low over the water for 30 seconds.

I've flown below the masts of the boats in my plane and held it there but I get nuffins! :(

It's actually flying low over land, so it only works over water when its shallow. Best to find a long stretch of motorway & attempt it there. Not tried it myself yet.

Out for Justice

30-03-2010, 11:25

:lol:

:doh:

Thanks TonyG. I've got a feeling that might be the problem.

Special thanks to those in my party for not pointing my obvious mistake out to me after I mentioned it 500 times! You know who you are :razz:

daboy3000

30-03-2010, 11:29

I did mine over the water, was following a river, must have been shallow enough.

I would have thought that being the whore you are you would have known it was a land achievement!!!! :dork:

JohnMac

30-03-2010, 11:31

Party, but it is a single player game?

I think I got it flying down a river as well.

Out for Justice

30-03-2010, 11:46

Party chat.

Some of the other achievements look quite tricky to get.

daboy3000

30-03-2010, 11:46

Party, but it is a single player game?

I think I got it flying down a river as well.

Xbox live party, think he was refering to me! :suspect:

JohnMac

30-03-2010, 14:17

I found my first mobile radar last night. It wasn't linked to any settlement but just consisted of a radar, a generator and guarded by a few enemy soldiers. Speaking of things located away from settlements there are quite a few resource items to be found at gas stations, lighthouses etc. Under most bridges you'll find two of those armour/health items that increase max health. Good for Max, they don't seem to be increasing Rico's health any more.

If you look at the stats there are loads of things to sabotage and I'm still being surprised by the configuration of various bases and settlements. I recently found a tightly packed military base in the jungle that had lots of helicopters (at least 3) and not far away there was some sort of mobile refinery or processing plant - I'm not even sure what it was. Yes there are many similar looking smaller settlements but there is still plenty of variety to be found.

So does anybody else sometimes just set a waypoint and get a vehicle and drive/ride to their destination using the arrows on the roads. It's a good way to see the island(s) and it reminds me of travelling long distances when playing Test Drive Unlimited.

TonyG

30-03-2010, 14:26

Last night I discovered that at certain points of the massive oil pipelines that snake around the main island, you can flick an overload switch, which results in some nasty grinding sound-fx, followed by a lovely huge explosion & a large area of pipeline destroyed.

Normally I'd prefer to travel to my waypointed destination by the quickest means possible, but I agree John, that it's equally as fun going from A-to-B by road (and sometimes off-road if you're brave enough) ... I like the car handling, it's back to the arcadey feel of early GTA games, although a bit twitchy when racing at excessive speeds.

orac

30-03-2010, 14:32

use a waypoint - much needed in this game.

TonyG - I presume doing that to the pipelines gives lots of chaos?

Radyr

30-03-2010, 14:32

I spent ages grapple parachuting my way around last night picking up Drug Drops/Skulls etc and generally causing carnage on the way. Was great fun, discovered "Cape Carnival" - The space shuttle centre and some random Mobile Radar units.

Was a good way of seeing the island too. It's also surprisingly quick, seems to be faster than a chopper and you can still go direct over mountains/forests etc.

cervaro

30-03-2010, 14:35

Played the first Just Cause, and enjoyed it to a point. Is this just a tarted up more of the same edition, or much better? Either way I'll wait for the inevitable price reduction in a few weeks.

TonyG

30-03-2010, 14:51

use a waypoint - much needed in this game.

TonyG - I presume doing that to the pipelines gives lots of chaos?

I'm not sure, I was too busy enjoying the explosions to see what the chaos score was. It did come up with the comment that disrupting the pipeline supply affects government influence, but it wasn't a huuuuge length of pipe, maybe a hundred metres or so.

Been going through some youtube vids & spotted that if you're in one of the sleek speedboats & grapple it to the back of one of the larger, slow boats, leap back into the speedboat, blow up the other boat & then hit the accelerator. The destroyed boat slowly submerges, dragging your boat underwater, turning you into a submarine! ... Once the destroyed boat hits the bottom, the line snaps & your boat shoots upwards, launching dozens of feet into the sky, looks cool. :)

TonyG

30-03-2010, 15:28

Yikes! ... this makin' me feel dizzzzzy....
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This is pretty cool too....

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