Amazon.com: Just Cause: Playstation 2: Video Games

11 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.3 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Are you a delivery person? This game's for you!, October 17, 2006

By	Samuel O. Snow (Earth) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars

I'm gonna keep this brief.

Here's the deal: I got sucked into this game based on its heady premise of liberation of a nation from its cruel dictator. Aside from the NPCs telling me what an evil dude the leader was, I never really got any impression that I was doing any actual good.

Never mind the fact that the graphics in the cut scenes are sub-par, or that the voice acting is abysmal and barely sync-ed with the in-game models. The fact of the matter is, I've imagined more fleshed out scenarios drinking coffee at 3am at an interstate truckstop.

But still, the idea of being able to navigate a massive 'sandbox' nation by merely harpooning a vehicle and popping a parachute seemed like it would be amusing at best. What I didn't figure is that 'pooning and 'chuting would be the best parts of the game.

There seem to be only two types of missions: 'Liberating' towns (read: kill everyone/ change the flag to seal the deal), and 'go there, get that, bring it here' activities.

Now, if it were that easy, and if it were assisted by a targeting system that reduces all weapons to variations of streetsweepers, there would be coups hourly.

Considering that one of the major blurbs on the game's box boasts 303 missions, well, let's just say boredom is a wee bit more entertaining.

If you're looking something to fill the GTA-sized hole in your life, just replay GTA. If you absolutely HAVE to play this one, either rent it, or wait until it hits the used bins.

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice Try But Just Okay, November 12, 2006

By	coopertex (CA United States) - See all my reviews

Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars

Just Cause for the PS2 is an third person action game very similar to GTA at least it tries to be. You play a C.I.A. operative named, Rico who fights against the government and drug cartels on the fictional island known as San Esperito. You will sometimes work for the guarillas who want you to assist them in freeing settlements. These missions are called "Liberation". Liberation is just one of the many side missions you can play through. If you want to play the story missions, you head to the C.I.A. encampment for briefing.

The story missions all involve the same concepts as the side missions; destroy a certain target or retrieve an object. And this is just one of its many faults in Just Cause. The repetitive nature of the missions make the game boring. You will alway be doing the same thing over and over. Even the script of the characters are the same. You will hear them repeat the same lines after about one hour of playing. It just shows that the game's writers were lazy.

Another of its fault is the terrible controls on all land vehicles which includes; motorcycles, cars, trucks, and tanks. On one side was I happy with its variety in vehicle types, but their horrid controls makes it pointless and adds an element of difficulty to mission that should not be present. Your vehicle will skid and slide or sway from side to side as if it were running on ice! You will crash and burn or fall through a cliff because of all the wonky handling.

The sound effects in the game are cheap and glitchy like its gameplay. Gunshots sound fake and subdued, although explosions are satisfying. Voice acting in the missions are low budget and the music weak. The graphics in the game are very choppy and looks more like a PSONE game. The characters are not well animated even when they die they look very wooden. There are also sparodic gameplay glitches that will prevent you from completing a mission; so remember to save your game often.

I am complaining a lot about, Just Cause, but I did enjoy what it tried to accomplish. Just Cause is free-form and lets you explore just about anywhere and do about anything! The game levels are HUGE, even bigger than GTA! traveling with a vehicle is essential because running on foot is no fun, not to mention dangerous. Aside from the many land vehicles you can hijack, you can also get on; copters, boats and airplanes. Ironically these control better than the land vehicles (but are harder to find). I also liked how the game gives you fully equipped safehouses- if your character is low on ammo or health just run into a safehouse and replenish. Every time you complete a story mission or side mission you earn points which then unlock more safehouses, vehicles and weaponry. To me, this system works and wished more games implemented it.

Another of the greatest things in terms of gameplay is the grapple device you earn after completing a certain mission. The grapple allows you to harpoon onto any moving vehicle to either hitch a ride or hijack the vehicle and you can commandeer! This one ups GTA! If you jump out of a moving vehicle or aircraft, you can release a parachute and paraglide to safety or harpoon onto another vehicle! It would make James Bond proud! This is also fun to litterally drop in on your enemies!

If it weren't for its downsides and glitches, this could have been a better game than GTA. I hope the creators of Just Cause don't get discouraged. I would like to see them release an improved sequel in the near future. Overall, Just Cause is an average purchase but a great rental.

Pros:
+free-roaming
+huge map
+grapple harpoon
+parachute
+safehouses
+lots of vehicles
+lots of weapons

Cons:
-gameplay glitches
-sound effect glitches
-horrid vehicle control
-repetitive missions
-weak weapon sounds
-choppy graphics
-wooden animation
-lousy music
-not better than GTA

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Most fun I've had in years, October 6, 2006

By	Claude Valentine (Wabash IN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

Just Cause is the perfect idea for a game; an undercover agent with an array of tools topples the beautiful nation's government. Any techniques needed can be used, as one can enter missions in many ways. While similar to GTA, the Stunts setup makes this game incredibly fun. Don't like that cop chasing you? Take his car without even stopping! Need in an enemy base? Jump off a vehicle and parashute onto the roof! The simple control scheme (in Control Setting 2, mostly) offers quick evasion of the worst crashes, but creates some horrible deaths. While driving in a forest, I jumped out of the car right before it hit a tree; just to be crushed when it bounced back! I had been killed by enemy, ally, and even civilian cars several times, even when I was trying to transport to a safehouse. The game has questionable sensors on the vehicles, making cars stop early or speed up when you are in the road. A word of warning: WALK ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD!

Besides being forced to eat car bumpers, the main character has many awesome abilities; including the chance to get vehicle drops and quick transport to unlocked safehouses. Safehouses always provide increasing numbers of cars, guns, ammo, garages, and conditional vehicles (boats at coastal houses, helicopters and planes at large, flat houses). The best part of the game is that EVERYTHING IS FREE! All items are unlocked by doing side missions for two "good" groups. No more shelling out five million for houses in San Andreas, a game I disliked for having too much to do. Just Cause has more area, more missions, better ORIGINAL cars (it's not a sequel), and still does not become overbearing.

Wrongful deaths have been reduced with infinite ammo in the main duel handguns and Grappling Hook(FUN and extremely HELPFUL). Bike crashes hardly ever occur, and if they do, you aren't thrown far from your bike. Cars are hard to destroy(good or bad?), and as they catch fire, the paintjob melts away, giving a good sence of timing and reality. UNreality still occurs when the car disappears after the explosion, but that can help clear the areas of intense battle.

Speaking of battle, the town revolutions are in a fun arcade form. Cause enough trouble and a blockage is built in the city. Destroy the blockage with explosions and proceed to the next. After three blockades, you(and only you) can capture the government flag, changing cops and military into rebels in that town. Very helpful to have on your side in the event of trouble, just don't start trouble with the rebels. On that note, Vehicle drops and evacuations are blocked when you are under attack, even when you are not being shot at.

Overall, the game is downright hilarious. I have had to pause the game several times from seeing a police bike fly off a cliff in a chase, exploding upon impact. However, I have also thrown my controller down a few times when I was killed by a civilian during a mission. It is fun to mess with the game environment, and everything comes together in nice reaction. Adventure is possible from the depths of the ocean to miles up in the air, and you can always prevent your death in any of these areas. Just think about an infinite health cheat, and look both ways before you parashute into a street in the game.