Just Cause 2

More is Not Always Better
Let me start by saying that this game is very addicting, and very fun...but it does lose its appeal a bit after a while. Why this is is because the game is HUGE and overwhelming. While this is cool to have over 400 square miles of real time sandbox fun, the game got a little redundant. The missions always started out the same, taking over the different factories and blowing them up was fun, but there are so many on the map, it just feels pointless to even try getting them all as well as collectibles. I think what this game needed was a little more variety.

Funnest Item in ANY Game
However, this game was a win in sooo many ways. The grapple is just about the funnest item in any game I have ever used, and you can do so much with it. It honestly made me feel like every game should have one. Parachuting at any time was also really fun too. Granted neither of these add to any realism, but who cares, it's a game and it was a blast! However I found myself grappling and parachuting more to get around the map more than anything. The way the cars handled sucked big time, and the heli-drop extraction could take you anywhere on the map, but took too long which I think both play a critical role in open world games. Also the camera is always in the wrong angle with every vehicle you use be it planes, helicopters, cars, or motorcycles and even parachuting. It got really agitating to not be able to see and constantly adjust the camera with the analog stick. I also thought it was annoying to skip a cinematic and get a loading screen every time you want to get an item drop and that you can only buy one item at a time and only one in quantity. 

A Good Game, a Weak Story
The game was really fun, but I really think what really would have made it shine was a decent story. The story was, well, weak. A lot of the voice acting and dialogue could have used some work too. There were honestly times characters said, go in there and download the information and blow up the factory. Once and a while the main character would make a quip or joke to how simple it sounded, almost like it was an in game joke how bad some of the dialogue was. Did they not have decent writers for this game or what? The grand theft auto series has the best games because each mission varies so much and they have a rich story and make you feel like a character taking over the city. I never really felt as if I was taking over this country and ultimately just felt like a worthless grunt mercenary.

Rating
Overall out of 1-10 I would give this game...
Visuals: 8
Animations: 9
Music and Sound FX: 8
Story: 5
Overall fun: 8.5
Pros: Smashing and destruction galore, cool grapple and parachute to work with, huge open world that looks beautiful.
Cons: A lot of redundancy, lack of good story and character depth, annoying quirks like vehicle operation and item drops.