Just Cause 2

9/10 Have it on xbox decided to buy it on my thinkpad to kill my time for the season and it plays smoothly its fun with the best combat mechanics of the franchise (just cause 3 improved the destruction mechanic though) and the only reason it gets a 9 out of 10 is because if you decide to buy the add-on packs youll probably pay more than you payed for the game itself (i bought it for 1.50 euro on a discount )

The gameplay can be quite repetitive, but there are moments of fun.

Unfortunately, I didn't finish the game because it crashed today and hasn't launched since. I've tried reverting graphics drivers, setting compatibility modes, and more, but now it only displays a white screen for a second before closing.

This is the best Just Cause game and the singleplayer game I've played the most. It may be a little dated now, both in terms of graphics and the effort required to get it to run without crashes, but it's well worth the effort. I played this game after playing JC3, and at first I didn't understand it. JC3 added a lot of polish and is definitely easier to play, but I'd still choose to play this one. There's something about how fast the game loads, how effortless it is to run on a modern PC, and how relaxing it is to explore the detailed world of Panau. This game has a much better map than the one note world of Medici. JC3 has a beautiful world, but it's only skin deep. JC2 took the time to add a gamut of environments, from villages and towns to cities and ports.

To those coming from Just Cause 3: give this one a chance...or a few. I thought the game made no sense and felt out of place, coming from JC3. But when I revisited the game again, I fell in love with the detail and the variety that this game offers, to the point that I'd trade my wingsuit and jetpack for the small details and easter eggs offered here. Think of how many distinct places you can recall from JC3. I can think of maybe five places that were truly distinct in that game. There's far more unique places in Panau, from the ski resort and capital city, to the military base with the gondola system and the rocket silo. All for a couple dollars on sale.

Don't buy it. The launch problem is real and you will not be able to launch it anymore.

Pure fun, just don't expect a fantastic story.

Pros:
- Fun traversal options.
- Decent gunplay.
- Simple objectives.
- Runs and looks great on modern hardware.

Cons:
- Basically nonexistent satirical (maybe not) story.
- Gets old quick.
- 100% settlements gets annoying.

at its best when it directs the action a little. Hopping between cars and boats and planes and blowing things up is a good time, gets old eventually when there's so many icons and bases and side missions to do those in. It's only during the main story missions that a bit of authored care went into contextualizing those actions in a directed, action-movie way. worth the buck, not worth the time

Fun when it doesn't crash.

EDIT: Yeah it was fun while it lasted...UNTIL THE LATEST CRASH COMPLETELY MADE ME UNABLE TO RELAUNCH THE DAMN THING. I have tried:

-downloading an exe that seemed to work for other people

-downloading directx and made sure to launch it in compatability mode

-running command prompt to do an sfc scannow and did some dism commands to make sure my windows was good

-verifiying the integrity of my game files in steam

-deleting and reinstalling drivers

AND NOTHING WORKS...

Useful technical information:

Run the game with DXVK to solve some crashing issues and bugged building graphics.
Unfortunately this removes nVidia options for water and DoF, though it's likely those options won't work on 5000 series+ anyway as they use 32bit CUDA.
If the game is extremely blown out on an HDR display, use DXVK 2.4 or earlier, or add a dxvk.conf file with the line dxvk.allowFse = True

Useful launch flags:
/borderless /windowed -- does what it says. Enable fullscreen in the ingame options.

/filmgrain=0 /edgefade=0 -- Disables film grain in cutscenes, and vignette. Normally I'm a fan of these effects, but they're way overdone here IMO.

/frameratecap=60 -- Grappling hook/parachute physics is framerate dependent and its performance becomes worse than intended above 60fps. This will dramatically impact your traversal speed when parachuting, so capping framerate to 60 is advisable. Capping framerate through your graphics driver will produce more stable frametimes than this launch flag. YOU SHOULD CAP FRAMERATE IN DRIVER IF YOU CAN. This option is available if for some reason you can't cap in driver.

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IMO, JC2 is the best of the Just Cause series. The later games are great, but they made a few key steps back that I think still elevate JC2 above them.

Of the Just Cause series, Just Cause 2 has the best map. There's a wide variety of biomes, it's evenly populated with points of interest all over the map, it has many unique memorable locations to discover, and it makes excellent use of water in between smaller landmasses, allowing for boats to play a substantial organic role in gameplay. In comparison, JC3's map suffers from an (at least perceived) lack of biome diversity due to how empty the north half of the map is (where the very small desert and snow biomes are) and JC4's map is one solid blob of land which doesn't leave a lot of opportunity for boats to shine outside of missions.

JC2 also has a lot of missions; more than 3 or 4. Some of them can be samey, but each faction has at least one or two standout side missions that make for some of the best moments in the game. Slippin' and Sliding, Pirate Broadcast, Fry Me To The Moon, Taking Care of the Dishes, Stranded, and Mile High Club are all excellent side missions and definitely shouldn't be skipped. Unfortunately the only mandatory faction missions are Stronghold Takeovers, which are completely cookie cutter. Don't let these put you off of trying the other faction missions.

The gameplay can feel a bit dated at times, and it definitely plays better with a controller, but there's plenty of excellent game design on display here. A robust game mechanic and weapon sandbox keeps things interesting without getting bloated; something the later titles started to suffer from.

If you're coming back to JC2 from JC3 or JC4, The Black Market Aerial Pack DLC includes the Dual Parachute Thrusters, which will help close the gap between JC2's parachute and the later games' wingsuits. Strongly consider spending the extra on this DLC if you're coming from the newer games and are used to faster 'on foot' traversal.

ok, now that i've finished this game i can give a detailed review.

First of all, if, like me, you played 3 first, then expect this game to be different, but in a good way. The destruction aspect of the game isn't as forced as in 3, however at (only 1 time in my case) times, you will need to destroy infrastructure, to gain chaos which is how you progress the game.

While i admit that the destruction aspect can be fun, it does get stale quick, there is only so much a man can blow up until he gets bored. The missions in this game are the real meat and potatoes.

There are 2 types of mission in this game, faction missions (of which there are about 40) and agency missions (of which there are 7)

Faction missions can be seen as kind of side missions, they are my preferred way of gaining chaos points, and are a mixed bag.
Some, like the one with the japanese soldiers on the island are really good. Some are really short, like the ones where you only need to kill 1 person. Some, like above the law, are pretty frustrating.

Agency missions are the main story, and are pretty good, if a little shallow. Just Cause games aren't exactly known for their amazing stories, but this one is the best out of the 2 (2 and 3) that i've played. Don't expect telltale levels of storytelling.

The voice acting in this game is laughably bad at times, out of all the characters, i'd say that rico, sheldon, and maria have the best VA's, everyone else (especially the natives of panau) have such a strange accent, that sounds like someone trying to do a mix of a singaporean, british, and south african accent. It's not very good.

The movement feels pretty realistic and great, if i hadn't played 3 first then i'd probably think it was perfect, however the lack of a wingsuit seemed pretty jarring to me at first, but i got used to not having one. Let's hope that when i play 1 that it will at least have a grappling hook. I was especially surprised at how good the driving felt (the driving in 3 was hilariously unrealistic), It feels like a sweet mix of GTA 4 and GTA 5's driving, and i'm all for it.

I didn't really care for the whole weapon and vehicle upgrades, but they are a neat addition i guess.

In conclusion, I do believe that this game is better than 3, and it's definitely worth checking out if you haven't already.

A real Og game. Stands there with GTA SA, Sleeping Dogs, Mafia 2 and Saints row 3

Crashes over and over and over on my Legion 7i. Unplayable and non refundable since I went over the 2 hour timeframe for returns.

I was really looking forward to playing through the series but unfortunately the game keeps crashing, i have found nothing to fix this which is a shame.

i7-10700
RTX 4060
32GB DDR4
1TB SSD

Great game but it crashes and switches off.

This game give me good memories on the Xbox 360. I only played the demo so it kinda counts.

Fixed most of the game crashed by disabling these features in the advanced settings: Shadows, Bokeh DOF & Decals

It's literally worth buying this insane open world sandbox game at just 1 bucks. I love it!

An excellent game wrecked by the constant crashing every 20 minutes

Edited: I found a fix for the none ending crash, it turns out you'll need to disable some graphics enhancements and have a launch setting to set the gameplay fps to 60, now I can do the endless rampage through out Panao without disruption. Best chaotic game, despite the most OP'd protagonist in most sandbox game, you can hardly call it easy for changing difficulty to "Experience" especially if overwhelmed by enemies, Large map, I can only say for bought DLC, refilling ammo and buying equipment for destruction should be free, not that you'll have to buy it with ingame currency, especially if there's no refilling as bought by real money weapons ammo cannot be replenished, would still recommend it as the game would never be boring even at 100% completion.

JC 3 still at the top, I can only paced this as 2nd, Rico R. in JC 3 is a lunatic that would eat a popcorn while watching explosions, overpowered wingsuits, dual wield weapons, with 2 additional handheld OP weapons.

JC 4 what an Emo Rico R. lame weapons set, no dual wield, enemy being deployed at your 6 o'clk or behind you, Tanks spawning at plateau where no means of delivering a squadron of random military vehicles, friendly planes would hit you for overtaking an enemy vehicle. I could fill out all random "Downgrades from JC 3 & 2" all it adds are the weather and overkilled grapple features, which is cool but is that it?

If they'll add JC 5 I hope no woke crap and it should be JC 3 and 2 features combined and add more!!! Avalanche engine is enough, JC is not about graphics, story, but it's all about the freedom, exploration of the map by all means, things to destroy; 3x from JC 2 and 2x the objects to destroy from JC 3 & 4 bridges, and return M488 !!!


Previous Review: Keeps crashing on a decent PC, on old PC that runs window 7 never crashed, what's happening to one of my all time favorite game?

Poor residents of Panau have no electricity and water since you’ve destroyed their generators, transformers, and water towers.

Pros:
+ Lots of things to blow up. From cars to limited structures like radars.
+ Getting collectables is easy as it is already on the map.
+ Some boss battles can be easily done by shooting their heads.
+ For time attack challenges, you can use any vehicle that you want as long as it is the same type. Example, if the challenge provides you Car A, you can buy Car B from the market since it is faster and you have more control, and you can use Car B to complete the challenge.

Cons:
- Some achievements are grindy, like getting 75% completion which takes between 60-80 hours on average.
- There’s no rudder control for planes; which is quite disappointing since other open-world games released before Just Cause 2 has this function.
- You can only carry 1 main weapon and 2 side-arms, with very limited bullets. It is limiting especially if you are continuously going through one settlement to another to 100% them. You can buy bullets, but it is difficult in the middle of the action. You can also pickup weapons from downed enemies, but why would you pickup a level 1 weapon if you already have a level 6 weapon?
- Having the same 2 side-arms only have total bullets as 1 side-arm. Example, if you have 2 different side-arms, a sub machine gun and a pistol, with 240 and 320 bullets respectively, you have 560 bullets for side-arms in total. But if yoiu have 2 sub machine guns, you only have a maximum total of 240 bullets for both sub machine guns.
- Played both on easiest and hardest difficulty, both have the same level of enemy toughness even with level 6 weapon. Another reason why the bullets are limiting. You always need to headshot them to save bullets.
- The game says mechanics that aren’t true. Example, if you defeat colonels in game, it says the enemy morale will be lowered. However, there’s no noticable changes.
- Free-fall diving controls is a nightmare, always ending up in circles even when you are only using the camera controls. It feels like this was not play-tested enough.
- Getting collectibles means nothing, it is just for completion percentage.
- Camera tilting when you are driving a motorcycle is too much, it feels nauseating.
- Checkpoint markers for land vehicle time challenge are very confusing, especially if they are too far from each other and has a lot of inter-connected roads in between. It is just a simple arrow pointing the exact location of the next checkpoint, it doesn’t tell you which is the correct road you need to take.The checkpoints are also not visible on the world map. You will be lost and lose precious seconds, failing the challenge.
- Enemy types per heat level is inconsistent. Example, if you have Heat 1, you should only encounter a few enemies. However, sometimes if you have Heat 1, you will still ncounter helicopters i

Verdict: Overall, it is a fun game, just destroying things. But some functions that older open-world games have that this game don’t have is disappointing. I give it a 5/10

Shoot things and they explode, not much more than that, also have fun trying to speed run 100% this..

Just Cause 2 is what happens when someone plays an action movie at 2x speed, adds a grappling hook, and removes all concern for logic or physics. It’s not a game, it’s a beautifully stupid sandbox where your only job is to blow up a dictatorship using a parachute and sheer disrespect for gravity.

10 out of 10!

The game itself is childhood nostalgia for me

I cannot tell you how it holds up because this steam upload is not playable. Doesn't even boot up and the community forums are full of other people with the same problem: apparently the only way to get it to work is downloading some sketchy third party file.

Absolutely atrocious behavior, putting up a game for sale in this condition

I never played a game like this before. I normally play NFS (Need For Speed) However props. Reminds me of call of duty games, if they didn't actually suck in terms of action. I dig it, wasn't terrible. Has a vast open world and can do pretty much whatever the hell you want.

if you like action, and destruction, you'll like this game.

13/10 shitspawns. no sence to criticize it now for stuff that devs already fixed in next games, so.. still good and fun if you dont have hardware for at least JC3

i wish such games were made for PC at first place..

Its a great game for chaos loving gamers.

Classic open world and destruction.
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Classico do mundo aberto e destruição.

Can't really recommend a game that plays for a few hours and then crashes on start up out of no where with seemingly no solution. At least all always have JC1. Edit: ok so some fixes like re installing or editing game files works. still mad.

Nothing makes sense, the world is mostly empty, but God it's fun to blow stuff up.

I still remember buying this game in 2011 for PS3 after seeing a clip of it online. One of the best purchases I've ever made. Having a built-in game recorder you could upload directly to YouTube was a wet dream for me as a kid. From the massive map to the wide variety of land, sea, and air vehicles to the endless chaos and destruction, you could do almost anything in this game. Just pure fun. Still the best game in the series unfortunately followed by increasingly worse sequels.

In few words, it's like GTA, but on a tropical island, with a grappling hook, parachute, crazy stunts and superior graphics for it's time. The story missions are not bad, but don't expect too much. Most of the time you'll just do insane things in the open world: killing hundreds of people, switching from vehicle to vehicle, using parachute, collecting pieces of equipment within villages and military bases. Destroying stuff like crazy is appreciated. At some point you might be annoyed by doing the same things over and over again, so make breaks between gaming sessions. The grappling hook adds so much fun to the gameplay, so it's up to you if you choose stealth, experiments with game physics or just a wild action.

A great game that runs well on most modern computers.

I remember the first time I played Just Cause 2.
It was early 2010. I was sixteen, my soul hungry for chaos, my heart still unaware of the weight nostalgia would one day carry.
That day, I bought a cheap copy with some leftover birthday money.
A plastic case, a simple disc, for my dusty old PC.
But it wasn’t just a game.
It was the beginning of something.
It was Just Cause 2.

I installed it, launched it, and it was as if the real world faded away.
I spent every hour of that day soaring across Panau.
The jungles, the cities, the deserts — stitched together by impossible stunts and explosions.
I wasn’t playing it. I was living it.

And then came so many freefalls, so many crazy escapes. Endless hours tethering enemies to gas tanks and sending them flying.
I knew every village, every military base, every hidden easter egg.
And without any guide—when YouTube tutorials were still slow and rare—I found every upgrade, every ridiculous secret.
It was my world.
It was home.

Every now and then, my father would glance at the screen, shaking his head at the madness.
He came from a world of Pac-Man and Space Invaders — a world with no parachutes, no grappling hooks.
I still remember the time I showed him how to skydive off a helicopter onto a moving car.
He just laughed and said, “That’s not a game. That’s a movie.”
It was my refuge.
It was our small bridge.

And now, years later, I go back.
The world has changed. I have changed. I’m thirty-one now.
And he... he’s no longer here.

Yet every time I boot up Just Cause 2, it feels like opening a window into the past.
The graphics are rougher now, the controls a bit stiff, but the heart remains untouched.
Every explosion, every whistling freefall, every ridiculous stunt speaks a language only the soul can hear.
It’s the voice of youth.
It’s the whisper of my father laughing at the impossible.

Just Cause 2 isn’t just a game.
It’s a time machine.
It’s a second chance to touch, even for a moment, what we thought we had lost.

And as I grapple onto a helicopter in the sunset skies of Panau, I remain there.
Fingers on the keyboard...
And a tear I cannot tell — whether it’s sorrow or gratitude.

This thing is a gem, that I only recently did all achievements for, I have owned the game for close to 15 years.

I would say this game due to it's age has become a classic, but it was since it's inception an extremely well made game, with a gigantic open world, that has lots to do in it, both content wise and non content wise.

What I mean by non content wise, is probably the core of what made the game so great, you have a grappling hook. While this may not seem much at first glance, it's the Swiss army knife of grappling hooks.
The amount of crazy things you can do, with the very few tools it contains, which is to be honest all the same tool, is astounding.

What the grappling hook is, is two steel hooks with a steel wire between them. This might not sound like much, but the hooks can attach to anything and the cable can or can not be attached to you. Meaning you can slap people around using it as a flail, you can super pull yourself around like a monkey on crack, you can assist your parachute making a parasail, you can tie enemies to lamp posts and hit them like pinatas, you can tie enemies together and hit them like pinatas, you can flip pursuing vehicles sending enemies flying off of bridges, you can attach explosive objects to vehicles, you can use debris or other vehicles as giant flails attach to your vehicle...

By now, you are probably getting the point and my lackluster imagination probably haven't even dipped into the fountain of crazy stuff.

This paired up with a 400x400km map, littered with enemies, explosives, destructive mega objects and a bunch of other stuff every few hundred meters for you to play with, makes for a very destructive playground.

Completing the entire map takes maybe around 80-100h, but the point isn't to complete the entire map, the point is to go in, get creative and make Pandak Panay run scared.

Para mi Just Cause 2, es la mejor entrega de la saga ,  divertido a no más poder ,  mejora tremendamente lo visto en su primera entrega , y es la mas original de todas , juego recomendado 8/10

One of my favorite games of all time. For me it's also nostalgic

the game is clunky, 90% of the mechanics are like really blotched, bad voice acting non compelling story 3.5/10 this game is a pile of shit

I played these games in wrong order, but if you don't mind that 3/4 are better in almost every way, it's a good game

Just Cause is great but it crashes after an hour of gameplay. Apparently i need to download some DirectX thing. i'm not too tech savvy to care.

its very fun grappling enemies and making them fall of buildings, there are specific controls in this game that feels so badass its impossible to have hate

A sandbox of chaos, creativity, and unfiltered fun.

Just Cause 2 is a masterclass in open-world mayhem. It doesn’t ask you to take it seriously—in fact, it practically dares you not to. From the moment you step foot on the massive island of Panau, the game hands you a grappling hook, a parachute, and a world begging to be turned upside down.

The strength of Just Cause 2 lies in how it embraces the absurd. The world is enormous, not just in size but in the sheer number of ways you can interact with it. Whether you're hijacking a fighter jet mid-air, tethering enemies to speeding vehicles, or using your grapple-parachute combo to fling yourself across the countryside, every encounter becomes an opportunity for improvisation.

Combat and traversal are tightly linked, giving the game a flow that few open-world titles replicate. You're never limited to the road or the ground, and the movement system makes getting from point A to B genuinely enjoyable. Once you master the rhythm of grappling and gliding, the island becomes your personal playground.

The mission structure might not be the most complex, but that's not what Just Cause 2 is aiming for. The joy comes from how you complete objectives—not the objectives themselves. Blow up a radar station with a stolen tank? Sure. Launch a motorcycle off a cliff into a fuel depot? Even better. The game constantly rewards creativity, and the destructible environments make every mission feel like an explosive set piece waiting to happen.

Visually, the game still holds up remarkably well. The tropical landscapes are vibrant and diverse, from snow-capped peaks to sun-soaked beaches, and the scale of the map remains impressive. The soundtrack and voice acting lean into the campy tone, making the entire experience feel like a high-budget B-action movie—and it’s all the better for it.

For completionists, there's no shortage of content. Between collectibles, side missions, faction tasks, and the simple thrill of wreaking havoc in a variety of vehicles, the hours fly by. And with mods and a passionate fanbase, Just Cause 2 has continued to offer value far beyond its initial release.

In short, Just Cause 2 is the definition of a game that knows exactly what it wants to be: fast, ridiculous, and endlessly entertaining. If you're looking for a break from serious narratives and grounded mechanics, this game offers pure, unfiltered freedom on a cinematic scale.

If you liked my attempt at making a professional review of this game, please leave a like for this review and if you think I should continue doing professional game reviews, then click on "Award" in the bottom right corner. Thank you!

If you enjoy playing games set in beautiful tropical Malay Archipelago dotted with tropical rainforests and beaches, traditional villages and wooden houses on stilts, then Just Cause 2 is the game is for you. Playing it makes me feel like a retired veteran running covert missions in a lush, exotic land.

Love seeing Mexican spiderman shout ¡Viva la revolución! whilst tethering a cow to a jet. Poetry.

The best grappling hook physics till date. Hella fun to play, with great combat and vehicle mechanics.

Just Cause 2 is a great open-world game. The gameplay is solid, and the variety of vehicles, land vehicles, planes, boats, helicopters, adds a lot of fun and freedom. Traveling using the grappling hook is especially enjoyable and makes getting around feel unique.

However, the game does have its flaws. Ammo runs out quickly, and traveling by car is frustrating because the map is so huge. I wish the map were smaller to make driving more worthwhile. On top of that, grinding Faction Mission or Stronghold Takeover just to earn enough Chaos to progress the story can get a bit tedious. But overall, it's a good game that's worth playing.

Overall, I am really glad I gave this game another shot and I do recommend it; however, I do not think I would play it again.

This was my entry point in the just cause series, and it was great. Being able to use the grappling hook to extend a parachute glide, drive all sorts of vehicles, and it even has multiplayer? it's a nice game with tons of destruction and fun

I liked it.Period.

PS:- I have nothing to write everyone already wrote it about this game(including memes).

I played this game after JC3 and 4 and just finished my 100% (99.98%) run. There are definitely some glitches and developer oversights that were improved in JC3, but this game was still the most fun I've had in a while. I like Panau much better than Solis and even slightly prefer it over Medici. Not having a locator for collectibles and destructibles was very annoying at times, especially in Panau City, but the overall gameplay loop is exactly what makes Just Cause so much fun.

Jogo muito bom, o segundo melhor da franquia até o momento, perde apenas para o 3.

Pro tip for getting this game to work on modern systems:
go into options of the game, and set decals to "off"

Before i did that the game often crashed on me after 30 min of gameplay. But after this it became alot more stable!
so stable that i could even complete all story missions of this super fun action game.

this game is great - the amount of chaos you can do as Rico is a pinjata of enemies blowing up, overtaking enemy helicopters and planes - along with all the things you can destroy if you want to.

And the game features one of the largest open world maps made in any game.

I had not have this much fun since old school GTA 1-2.

This game is the best sandbox shooter and blow up game ever made. JC3 and 4 don't hold a candle.