A banana republic is a country that is politically unstable, dependent on limited agriculture (like bananas) and ruled by a small, self-elected, wealthy and corrupt clique. And I always thought it was a term used for Natal Sharks Rugby. The fictional island of Panau is a banana republic though. It is politically unstable, it has loads of banana plantations and it is ruled by a self-elected president who murdered his father to get the post. However, since it is politically unstable, there are others who want in on the action too. Time to call in the cleaners - Rico Rodriguez will answer the call!

Just Cause 2 is not the sequel to the Sean Connery movie. You play the role of Rico Rodriguez, an agent working for The Agency. You are after a rogue agent on Panau Island, and you have a license to do it by any means necessary. In proper gaming fashion that means blowing stuff up, driving a bit, shooting the enemies, hijacking some vehicles, shooting more stuff, blowing up more stuff, a bit of flying, some exploring and then, finally, blowing up a few more things. This may sound boring, but Just Cause 2 manages to pull it off with some serious style!

Just Cause 2 has a few characters that I will focus on. The first of these is Rico. He can only be described as a Spanish James Bond. He has gadgets, he has all the right moves with the ladies, and he has a license to kill. He also only ever talks if he can make a really corny joke. The plot is simply there to give you some vague guidance as to why Rico will destroy a certain building or kill a certain person. It does not have to be a good reason, as the manner in which the task is performed is reason enough.

Rico has all sorts of gadgets at his disposal. He is equipped with a retractable parachute which allows him to do some base jumping, or which can be used to pull him behind vehicles. If no vehicles are around, Rico can reel himself in on his grappling hook, allowing him to gain enough speed to open his parachute. This allows quick transport between mission objectives.

The most important part of his equipment is his grappling hook, a character in its own right. This is what Bionic Commando should have been! Rico can use his grappling hook to pull enemies off high towers. He can use it to swing from high places or propel himself across big distances. Use the grappling hook to hijack a helicopter while it is in flight - crazy awesome! The grappling hook can also be used to tether two objects together. Use it to tie an enemy to a passing helicopter to see the poor guy whipped away, or tie a jeep to a statue and topple it over, causing Chaos. All of this uses the incredible physics engine to make Chaos look good!

Chaos is good. Chaos is needed. Rico can cause Chaos by doing some damage to the thousands of government buildings located around the island. They vary from propaganda caravans to generators, from fuel tanks to satellite dishes. They are clearly marked with the Panauan government’s white star. Their destruction gives you Chaos and Chaos provides Rico with real currency, and also increases his reputation. The higher his reputation with the different factions, the more they trust him and the more missions become available.

The factions are each their own little character in the story. As with everything else in Just Cause 2, they are all over-the-top clichés. You have the corrupt government police, shooting at anyone for any reason. Then you have the roaches, the island’s version of the mafia. The Reapers are an underground rebellion to the government, and finally the Ular Boys are a group of industrialists. Doing missions for the rebel gangs allows more Chaos and also moves the story forward. The missions can get a bit repetitive at times, normally either to take over an area to open up more missions, or one of the old classics, kidnap a snitch and deliver him to the gangs or steal a new vehicle for them.

Soon you realize that a more sinister plot is afoot, and each of the three gangs has aligned themselves with either Chinese, Russian or Japanese criminal leaders. Getting to these criminals and finally to President Panday will be your mission assigned by the Agency. The Agency is the top secret US department Rico works for. More Chaos is required before these missions are unlocked, but they are the real driving force behind the story. Riddled with sarcastic one-liners and clichés you will soon notice how the story is not even needed to have fun in Panau. Your agency contact will provide you with black market equipment and vehicles, and even give you a lift to places you have been before. All of the above costs money though, but if you need more money simply cause a bit of Chaos!

Chaos can be gained by non-violent means too. Scattered all along the island are containers with upgrades to your health, equipment and vehicles. Gathering these will unlock black market items. Similar to other sand box games you can try and collect all of them across the map, but this will only really inspire the obsessively compulsive among us, as it is a humongous undertaking!

The equipment required to cause the by now infamous Chaos is easily attainable on Panau. You start with simple handguns, moving your way up to shotguns and rifles. You also get to carry a few grenades and remote explosives. These are best used against the bigger installations. When these take too long to get the job done, simply pick up a mounted rifle. Still too small, then steal a tank with machine guns and rockets, or grapple onto the helicopter the government will inevitably send to quell the rebellion. The game contains a huge amount of different vehicles to hijack and steal. Planes, boats, cars, helicopters, bikes, jets, airliners, you name them it has them all.

Most vehicles are used by the people of Panau. Panau, as an island, is a character all on its own as well. The people go about their daily business, not as detailed as in GTA IV, but enough to make the island feel alive. Sometimes a small dirt road can be so busy the traffic is backed up. Other times the main freeway will be empty and barren of any life. The island is also diverse in its geography. In the north east you have the snowy mountains, with peaks high enough to make you dizzy. Down in the south east you find the rain forests, with their lush vegetation. In the south west the desert landscape shimmers in the heat. The north west finds itself covered with the large metropolitan capital on Panau. Standing on the high snowy peaks of the mountains you can see the entire island, all 400 square miles of it. Technically the game is very impressive!

Some of the other locales in the game are also a lot of fun and a bit tongue-in-cheek. Actually, since the whole game is tongue-in-cheek, places like the Mile High Club, a zeppelin club for the rich and famous, fit in perfectly. You will also get to visit exotic places like an old Japanese World War II installation on an island very similar to the island in TV’s Lost.

But being on an island 400 square miles in size also has its drawbacks. Get stuck in one corner, and you need to get to the other side to complete a mission and it could take you forever to get there. Walking is not an option. Driving takes too long. Using your parachute will be quicker, but its still not quick enough. Even the faster jet will take you close to 30 minutes to get from one side to the other. Luckily the black market will give you lifts, at a price.

Yes, as always, no game is perfect. The perfect game will never be bettered, and thus the gaming industry will implode and I will be out of a job and out of a hobby at the same time. So in order to protect thousands of jobs in the industry, I can point out a few of Just Cause 2’s flaws. Firstly, even though we all know the story is not to be taken seriously, the fact that it’s not even required to pay attention during any form of storytelling, including missions, means that it’s a wasted effort. If Just Cause 2 had more of a story, even if it was a funny cliché with loads of witty one-liners, it would have been so much better for it. As it is, the game starts to feel empty and without purpose pretty soon.

Some of the awesomeness of the explosions and the creative ways of using the grappling hook also soon wears off. The third person shooter found in the game is good enough to have been a successful game on its own, yet with such high expectations being met early on in the game, you soon find that even that will feel a bit bland in comparison.

Finally, the effort spent on trying to make the island feel alive was clearly cut short along the way. The locals all look the same, and there are probably more types of vehicles than there are different people on Panau. A bit more effort in making the people look interesting and unique would have made it even more believably clichéd. Some graphical glitches, mostly with the vegetation and the shadowing, pop up from time to time. Nothing that is a deal breaker though.

Just Cause 2 should not be taken seriously. Not as a narrative at least. It should be taken seriously as an entertainment product. Michael Bay would be proud of the huge explosions, the crazy stunts and the beautiful island. It is a game that will allow hours of fun for those who play it and weeks of fun for OCD sufferers. It’s hard to put it down once you start, and that is always a sign of a good game. Now where can I get my hands on a grappling hook?

The good: Beautiful island with diverse landscape; big explosions and big clichés.
The bad: Can be repetitive and bland at times.
The ugly: Travelling around a 400 square mile island…by parachute.

Purchase: