Introduction

It's not everyday you get the chance to play such an awesome game almost two months before it's release, and after a few emails back and forth from Mike Oldman, January 29th 2010 quickly become the most exciting day of my life.

I've been pretty excited about this game for almost two years now, in fact since I completed the first one, but my anticipation for the game only really kicked off a few months ago. I knew that creating one of the only English fansites for such a great game would have it's benefits on exclusives, but I never expected to have received an email only a few weeks ago exclusively inviting me to join the great Mike Oldman (aka Mycoldman) at Square Enix London Studios to play a polished version of the game almost 2 months before it's big launch, and it's definitely going to be launched in style...

Meeting the legendary Mycoldman

Technically I had already been to the offices of Square Enix and met Mike for a coffee the day before to discuss the industry, as I am currently doing a BA Digital Arts degree at Kingston College and thinking about my options when I leave. After speaking to Mike, I would definitely love to have his job when I finish my degree!



That aside, walking into the offices on January 29th 2010 was very different to the day before indeed. The receptionist remembered me from the day before and gave me a smile as I sat down. I had already brushed past Mike earlier so just had to wait in the lobby with the others. Two of them were just friends of Keir, and the others were friends with Mike.

Experiencing Just Cause 2

When we entered the conference room, which for today had been turned into a games room, we were welcomed with 4 xbox 360 consoles and a PS3. Being an xbox player, I grabbed the one at the end and Chris was the lucky one who had the PS3.

Of course, the first thing that we all saw onscreen was the Main Menu, which looks absolutely stunning up close, and after a quick briefing from Mike, we all started a new game.



Midway through the load, my controller vibrated and it hadn't even loaded the first cutscene yet. Whether it was supposed to, I don't know, but it certainly woke me up! I was now even more prepared for what was about to come. I of course was the slowest to push the button, so everyone else got to see the spectacular introduction video before me. We weren't given any headphones yet so it got very loud very quickly and the dialogue was a little hard to hear. Aside from that, the entrance is very similar to the first Just Cause game, and like the first, you literally dive straight into the action, so no tutorial at start up guys, but the features and controls are introduced along the way like before, but it's a lot less intrusive than before so don't worry!

The first thing I noticed having played the first Just Cause is the amazing graphics of the game and the improved handling, particularly when skydiving and using the parachute. It feels very different from the first game, and takes a moment to get used to though. It was interesting to see how everyone else was playing the first mission, as they spent most of the first mission on the ground and never really used the parachute much. I went for the aerial approach and made full use of the parachute, getting the hang of the slingshot action a little earlier than normal as it turned out, which really is a great way to get around. I literally spent half the time in the air. I think being in the air does play to some advantage, as I seemed to get through the first mission quicker than the others.



When I was on the ground however, believe me, I tried everything possible with the Dual Hook before using any weapons! Whether it was tethering enemies to each other, juggling, attaching an enemy to a gas canister and setting it off, or attaching Rico to the top of one and turning it into a rocket! Some seriously good fun can be had with this, and the possibilities are endless. You will never run out of ideas, and the YouTube feature on the PS3 is a great way to share them. And to answer your questions, this is just a PS3 exclusive feature, and there is no replay editor, but there's nothing stopping you from using capturing software on the PC version like FRAPS. Though I've mentioned this feature, none of us never really tried it out properly.

After a few cut scenes, you immediately go straight into the second mission for yet more action, which introduces you to Blaine. That's right, it's the Casino mission we have been shown in gameplay footage. The slingshot technique will definitely get you into the action a little quicker.

There is no cover system like before, but covering behind things will help quite a bit. Rico can crouch though, unlike the first game. Also worth a mention is the new targeting system. You will lock onto an enemy much like the last one, and it is very easy to change the target, but the big difference is that target area is much smaller and not so blatant, but aiming within the target area will majorly increase your accuracy and will certainly kill them quicker.

After killing most of the enemies and the a demolition officer at the bottom of the casino; which using the juggling technique is relatively easy to kill, it is only really at this point does the slingshot technique become properly introduced, as you need to slingshot your way up the casino.



Once up there though, there are a few enemies, but most importantly the Simon says style, button bashing code feature comes into play. It's fairly easy and you do get loads of time to complete it.

Then comes the helicopter. You may want to deal with it as soon as you can, and there are many ways you can go about doing it. What I didn't try was dual hooking the helicopter to the building… hmmm, would definitely give that a go next time!

Once I eliminated the enemies holding onto the side of the helicopter, I grappled my way to the helicopter and hijacked it with another button bash code. Once in, I immediately noticed the new control system for helicopters. It is very different to the previous game, and the aiming is very different too (fire straight ahead this time), but I guess a lot more realistic. After a bit of practice though, it's easy to get the hang of.

Much like the gameplay footage, another helicopter appears, but is relatively easy to shoot down with your rockets or mini-gun, which by the way are all unlimited. All big vehicle weapons are unlimited, which is awesome if you manage to find a vehicle with a weapon that packs a powerful punch.

This is the point were I failed the mission as you are supposed to get into the skyway where Blaine is, so grappling does the trick nicely. However, you have to be very careful with the grapple. If you're not careful with the grapple, you could be doing a lot of Palm to Face action. I was doing so well up to that point, but simple miscalculations with the grapple's aim made me accidentally yank Blaine out from the skyway and fall to his death. Believe me, it was definitely a Palm to Face moment. This is a good time to point out that you can start from the last checkpoint, although you may end up having to do quite a bit again, but you would want to anyway as it gives you a chance to try out different approach.



You pretty much know the rest of the mission so I won't go into to much detail, but it's pretty much as shown in the gameplay footage with the car chase. You can complete this part of the mission without firing a single shot and just Dual hooking the cars to floor/bridge or passing buildings/bridge, and it is seriously good fun to watch. Mycoldman recommended shooting out the tires, which is again pretty cool to watch them spin out. After another cut-scene to end the mission, I finally got the chance free roam. I didn't continue playing just yet though…

What really made me laugh was the fact that it was only at this point did Saty (one of the producers) - who was watching what I was doing - notice that the machine was setup in Standard definition… I thought this was absolutely fantastic as I was already impressed at how great the graphics looked, and they did look awesome even in Standard definition, so don't worry guys! When we reset the machine to HD, I was literally speechless! The graphics are just insane! They are so much better now and playing the game up close looks nothing like some of the videos released so far. You seriously can't compare this game to GTA IV, as firstly it is not an urban setting, but most importantly, the graphics are just 10x more stunning!

I must point out that I did save the game from the pause menu before resetting the console, so that's a great new feature! Sadly for me today it didn't appear in load section after resetting the console. My guess was that because it was a developer console and a development build, the game save was reset. This however did give me the chance to start the game again in Hardcore mode, which I must admit is much more fun and challenging once you've got the hang of the game. I did ask about Mercenary Mode, but didn't get much info on it...



While I was doing the missions again in order to reach the free roam part, the others carried on and did some Faction missions. It didn't take me too long to catch up now that I had gotten the hang of the control systems, and when I did get to the free roam, I set out to do a bit of exploring. I opened up the PDA (where you can find the map, which is so big it's unbelievable!) and looked for the nearest airport. As you may know from the previous game, the best way to explore the islands in a short amount of time is by air, and I was fast running out of time before lunch. At the end of the second mission (the point where are now free to explore), you end up very close to the water and can literally go anywhere. The first vehicle you will drive (apart from the ones in the missions) will no doubt be the jet boat, or the old banger Blaine was driving in the mission. The jet boat is a lot of fun to drive, and very fast too. It was also great to see how visually stunning the water is. I also experienced driving possibly the slowest boat in the game (a barge), before diving into the water.



As you may already know, Rico can only hold his breath for a limited amount of time, and a regular update above Rico's head lets you know Rico's current oxygen percentage level. I was under for some time though before surfacing for air though, so it's still pretty great.

After driving my way over to the airport (which turned out to be a military airfield), I then slingshot myself down the runway, and found myself flying a helicopter in no time at all. There were no planes there at the base, however Mycoldman did point out that when you get heat, they do spawn in the airbase hangers and start flying after you from there, as opposed to randomly appearing like the previous game, which is a pretty cool touch. So it wasn't long before I found myself flying the infamous none-VOTL harrier jet. It certainly looks like it should have that ability, and from what I'm told, this did actually feature in an earlier build of the game. If I remember correctly, it was then removed due to the impossible control system and the physics of it all proved impossible to fly.

When I was finally up in the air, I found that the jet was pretty maneuverable, performing barrel rolls very easily. I was tempted after a recommendation from Mycoldman and everyone on the official forums to try out just how high you can go in this game, and believe me… I was up pretty high and it took me a lot of my precious time to get to the height i was at, but I didn't even scratch the surface according to Mycoldman! Of course, it took absolutely no time at all to dive straight back down. I could have skydived from up there, but I wanted to do some proper exploring.

You can only guess where my next coordinates were… that's right, the famous Blimp in the sky! I know most of you are dying to know what it is, but I really don't want to spoil the surprise for you all! Even Mycoldman hesitated as to whether to let me continue flying towards it, but it truly is a very cool place. You're just going to have to wait and see for yourself!

I must stress that I have absolutely no idea what or where everybody else was at this point, but believe me; we were all having a lot of fun playing this game. However, I do remember a great glitch that Alex found. I don't know how it happened, but when Mycoldman and me were looking at the screen, Rico was literally cartwheeling down the entire mountain! He very nearly cartwheeled right the way from the top of the mountain down to the bottom; a big flat area broke the cartwheel, and it was only at this point did Rico die. It was great fun to watch and I hope they keep that glitch in the game!



Looking back at my screen, I then made my way over to the highest peak in the game (where the ski resort is), and just as I was about to take off in my helicopter after attaching a bus to it, it was time for lunch. After playing the game for about three hours, I realised I hadn't driven a single car yet! I did however have a peak at the vehicles list (which is available in the PDA) and I can confirm that there are 104 listed vehicles. This apparently does not include any hidden/secret vehicles though… I had also unlocked a number of Xbox 360 achievements including: First Taste of Chaos, Piñata Party, Stunt Driver and Top of the World.

We had a quick lunch at Pizza Express (for those really interested, I had an American Hot and a beer, all paid for too), where we discussed the game for a while before moving onto other titles by Square Enix / Eidos for the rest of the conversation, before heading back to play more of the game. This time however, we all just stayed within the desert area. If any game should be called a sandbox game, this one certainly takes it very literally! There is just so much to do in the desert area alone, and it really is one big sandbox!

Causing chaos is so much fun too. There is just so much to blow up, break and smash through! Causing chaos and destroying things has never been so rewarding (in more ways than one!) and I love the fact it's pretty much compulsory in order to progress in the game.



There are definitely a lot of easter eggs and surprises in the game too… I tried one easter egg I knew of already which is pretty funny, and when Mycoldman told Chris how to do it, the room filled with laughter! But again, I really don't want to spoil any of the surprises just yet so I won't tell you what it was …

One thing I wasn't too fond about was the waypoint system. On the map, you can set a waypoint to something you want to get to, and a subtle blip on radar indicates where it is and points you in the right direction. Though this is a fantastic feature, don't get me wrong, it's the arrows in the road I wasn't particularly fond of. Oversized arrows in the road every couple of metres mark out the quickest route to the waypoint. Personally I think it would have been better if it was a subtle GPS/satnav i.e. a coloured line on the mini map instead.

This is the point where I could try out a number of things with cars, including the combat system. The ability to climb all over the car is a fantastic feature and very easy to get the hang of, though I don't think you can do this on every car. Also driving a sports car on this terrain is perhaps not a good idea as it is very difficult to drive. The damage system is very cool though, and yes, you can break through trees! It is important to note that the heavier the car, the easier it is to break the bigger trees and continue driving, otherwise you will just crash into it.



The last thing I tried out before leaving was one of the races. In the desert in particular was an aerial race that I tried. It was a time trail that was pretty fast and pretty fun and I crashed on the first run (Palm to Face), but the second time I tried it, I did the first part upside-down which was quite difficult I must admit.

Just to prove to you that we weren't just playing the games for the fun of it, within about 30 minutes of providing some feedback to Mycoldman, we were told that the developers were going to change an aspect of the game we gave feedback on Hopefully you'll get to see it and really appreciate our request!

For those of you interested in multiplayer… Mycoldman did a very cruel thing to us (particularly me) and bragged about the awesome multiplayer aspect of the game, only to finish with “Yep, you will be able to connect with over 300 players… all at the same time” followed by a big grin on his face. This is actually all he said, so take this as a serious no guys; there won't be any multiplayer features, although a connection to the Internet does seriously add to the gameplay experience! Let's just say that someone is watching your every move… or death as the case might be!



Now that I have had a chance to play it, I really am looking forward to playing it again and could very easily be playing it for a year or two without getting bored! I really want to get my hands on it again and explore more of the island, but all in all it was a very exciting day, and I can't thank Mike Oldman (Mycoldman) and the guys at Eidos / Square Enix London and Avalanche Studios enough for inviting me to play this absolutely stunning game.

I also want to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all the guys behind Just Cause 2, you really have made a fantastic game and I would definitely recommend it to everyone!

Thanks ever so much for such a great day!

- Nick Martin (Movura)
January 30th, 2010

Oh yes, a quick shout out to Alex and Chris, who have their own podcast shows and will be featuring Just Cause 2 later on this week. Check out their websites The Digital Cowboys and SuperHappyFunTimeShow respectively for their own podcasts and hands-on experiences.