The demo released just recently, and I downloaded it today just because the videos they showed pre-release were pretty incredible. The demo only lets you play for half an hour, but WOW. I kind of suck at it because there are so many controls to learn (and I'm not a shooter person by nature), but boy is it fun to base jump, grapple around and blow stuff up!

I'm on kind of a tight budget right now so I won't be buying it right this second, but as soon as Steam has a sale (or it goes below $30 or so) you can bet I'll be picking it up.

Anyone else excited for this???

^ I had never even heard of the first one til I saw the vids for the sequel, actually. I think this will be well worth a rental though.

As for the gas canister...funny story. I was sitting in a tree, and shot a gas canister that rocketed up into the sky. I shot out my grapple, meaning to pull myself back down to the ground, but grabbed the canister instead. It shot me way the hell up into the air (I didn't actually know you could grapple them, or if I did know I forgot), and I jumped off just before it exploded, skydove for a good 30 seconds, then let out my parachute.

Completely epic.

V.B.D. wrote:

I dled the demo and it has some interesting mechanics for an open world game, but I didn't feel compelled to throw down $60 for it. I probably wouldn't even rent it seeing as I got bored before the 25 minute time limit ended. I think I'm just tired of this genre as a whole. Also the game isn't made by Square, they're just publishing it.

I kind of understand that.

Still, I think this is different (for me, anyway.) I bought GTA IV, which I can't say I REGRET exactly, since I bought it on Steam during a very big sale so I'm not out a ton of cash, but THAT is the game, believe it or not, that made me feel sick of the genre. Maybe there is just SO much to do in the game that I wasn't sure what to do and got bored, but either way, it was resoundingly meh for me.

JC2, on the other hand, kicked my interest in open world back into high gear. I had a ton of fun just climbing mountains and jumping off them. The combat wasn't as fun, but I blame that on the steep learning curve I always have with complexly-controlled shooters like this. With practice, I think this could actually unseat GTA: SA as my favorite (third person) open-world game of all time. (Now like I said, I'm on a budget so I won't be buying it for $60 either, but when it goes on sale for $30 or so, I'll be the first in line.)

V.B.D. wrote:

I think GTA IV had the same effect on me. So much so that I've avoided these types of games ever since, but the hype surrounding this one had me interested. The grapple hook, parachute and stunts do make this seem more fun, but the execution felt a little sloppy at times and the shooting mechanics were not satisfying at all. Also, and maybe it's just the demo, but the environments seemed to be very repetitive. Every village looked the same and I only saw 3 different cars and 1 bike on the road. The enemy AI also seemed to be pretty retarded, just standing completely stationary shooting at me from a distance while I picked them off one by one.

I don't know about the AI, I guess we'll have to wait for reviews on that. I can tell you that (according to the developers anyway) there are a LOT more environments to explore, including mountains and urban areas and jungles. So I think it will seem less repetitive in terms of scenery as the game world opens up more. For what that's worth.

What do you mean about the shooting mechanics not being satisfying, though? I mean, I'm a terrible shooter, but the aiming/shooting itself seemed to work ok for me (especially after I turned down the mouse sensitivity a bit; I was constantly over correcting while trying to aim until I did that.)

One thing I don't quite get yet is the weapons upgrade system, but I suppose that will be explained better in the tutorial and/or manual.

So I broke my promise to myself (and my bank) and just ponied up and bought this game.

On a related note, if you don't hear from me for the next month or two, or if you hear a story about a 26 year old woman accidentally dying of starvation in her own room a few feet away from a fully stocked fridge, its because of this game. Holy SHIT is it fun, and addictive. I can honestly say I haven't had this much fun playing a game since...God, since like Morrowind (although its a very different kind of fun, but still...holy shit.)

That's the best review I can give it: I have been so absorbed with this game since I bought it I literally forgot to eat yesterday. Like I said, haven't done something like that since Morrowind, when I was in high school!

Andrew Man wrote:

Slayer1 wrote: If you turn into the kids from South Park when they played WoW... I officially quit "MOM! Bathroom!!"

I promise this will not happen.

Not until they create a Holodeck, anyway.