Kombo was invited to a showing of Just Cause 2, the sequel to the so-so received Just Cause. The original saw its birth on the shelves in the fall of 2006. Now, Eidos is also publishing Avalanche Studios' second go with the series which is aiming for a 2010 release.

For those that don't remember the original Just Cause, players took on the role of Rico Rodriguez, an agent working towards eventual peace and harmony in a South American country. That peace and harmony was achieved through explosions, bloodshed and repetitive gameplay. I own the original Just Cause. I bought the title because of the opening moments of the demo. The game opened up with Rico free falling towards the island. The rush and exhilaration that came from that moment is probably one of my most favorites of this console generation. I know, I know, call me crazy.

Rico's back. This time it's on the island of Panau in Southeast Asia. It's odd to me that the locale is a whole world away and yet the tropical look remains intact. This criticism does not reflect the quality of this demo, but I just think that Avalanche would have done themselves more by choosing a less similar locale. The original location rocked out at approximately 390 square miles. This time, Panau sits at above 400 square miles. The developers did mention the fact that their latest version of the Avalanche engine has made more dynamic weather a possibility, so it's likely that there will be some snowy mountain tops scattered about in order to break the tropical monotony. In fact, during some panning in the demo, I noticed snowy peaks looming in the distance. Here's hoping Rico spends some glorious time in the snow.

Rico is out to kill his former boss gone rogue. Players will hunt him down by spreading chaos around the island of Panau. That's the game's driving force: Chaos; you clear an area by completing objectives and raising the Chaos in your meter. We got a taste of destruction, car chasing and murder with the demo shown to us, clearly meant to showcase the transitional style of gameplay within Just Cause 2.



I use the phrase "transitional style of gameplay" with a lot of deliberate intent. There was a grappling hook in Just Cause, but it was wielded awkwardly and with a lot of hesitation. Players had to switch to it and use it in the middle of high intensity moments, making the process exceptionally tiresome. Now, the grappling hook is always equipped. It's mapped to a single button on the controller. And they've done a lot with the tool. In fact, the way the demo went, the grappling hook in Just Cause 2 looks like the grappling hook I wanted from the new Bionic Commando.

While using the hook from the new parachute, you can snag the ground and pull yourself in order to build momentum and height. You can use the hook to reel in enemies or lift them into the air to catch a chest full of bullets. You can use the epic tether feature to attach two enemies, objects or whatever together. Pin a bad guy to a pole, pin two bad guys together, or drag someone from a truck. The system leaves a ton of room for experimentation and exploration; this seems like one of those great toys to goof off with.

The demo also took us throw a car chase where Rico stood on the hood of the ride he was escorting. In typical chase style, enemy trucks rode up behind Rico and tried to take him out. Rico, however, can grapple from vehicle to vehicle. He can also navigate to different sides of the vehicle, hanging off of all parts in order to take cover. Most impressive, however, was the destructive system in place here. Blow out a tire on a truck and it leans, squeals, flips and behaves like a wrecking truck. I know it's been done before, but in this demo it felt and looked so luscious and vicious.



Finally, we saw some flight combat. So much of Just Cause 2 looks like it will be played in the air. The helicopter section allowed players to battle another helicopter and bring the hammer down on poor foot traffic.

The game moves so fluidly vertically and transitionally that it looks like a complete blast to play. Our presenter never stood still and he never slowed down, he just grappled, floated and flew from victim to victim. I'm obviously waiting to see more, but Just Cause 2 looks like the work of developers looking to make good on their initial premise. There's a lot of fun to be had here, I'll be keeping my eye on it.