Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2 is a game built around one brilliant idea: agent Rico Rodriguez has a grappling hook on his arm and an endless parachute on his back, and this combination lets him move around the giant island nation of Panau with practically no limits. He hooks onto a flying helicopter, reels himself up to it, throws the pilot out, and flies off; or he grapples onto a passing car, stands on the roof, and jumps off into a parachute from there. Travel stops being a necessary evil between missions and becomes the best part of the game.

The world is enormous and offers desert plains, tropical jungles, and snow-capped mountains with military bases. Progress is measured not just by completed missions but by so-called chaos: the player destroys government property—water towers, satellite dishes, fuel tanks—weakening the regime and unlocking further story missions for three local factions. The hook can also be used as a tool of improvisation, since it lets you link any two objects together and let physics figure out the rest. On the Xbox 360, the engine managed to keep a sprawling landscape running with minimal loading, and the view from high above the island fading into haze was among the most striking things the console ever showed.

The story is thoroughly secondary, and the dialogue sounds like a parody of nineties action films, which the game is fully aware of. Reviews reflected that, praising mainly the freedom and fun of movement while criticizing the missions for repetition. Just Cause 2's influence shows up anywhere an open world tries to hand the player a toy instead of a checklist, and the game also earned an unusually active modding scene. Today it's still an ideal title for a quick, commitment-free session, since even five minutes of flying over Panau is worth it. The game also never punishes experimentation: at any time you can call in a gear crate, summon a helicopter, or teleport to another part of the map to try something else. That generosity is exactly why Just Cause 2 became a favorite toy even for players who never finished even half of the story.