Just Cause 2

Developer: Avalanche Studios
Format: Xbox 360, PC, PS3
Genre: Action

Rico Rodriquez returns!

The sequel to the action adventure epic that was Just Cause originally parachuted in from Eidos back in 2006. Rico Rodriquez is now back to wreak havoc once again, this time with a new destination - the huge playground of the imaginary South East Asian islands of Panau.

Details are currently as thin on the ground as a puddle in the Sahara - but Eidos has been keen to talk up how the developers have been able to really crank up the action even more than the original. We're talking more stunts, vehicles and weapons than the last outing plus an overhauled grapple hook to make getting to those out of the way spots that little bit easier.

Unlike the sprawling Caribbean adventure in the first outing, Rico returns to action in Panau, an incredibly detailed and vast 1000 sq km game world of different climates and changing weather effects. The island is going to feature a wider variety of terrain this time around. High-rise cities complete with skyscrapers that are just begging to be grappled up, thick dense exotic jungles, sun-drenched beaches and snow-peaked mountains - all free roaming and all there to be explored in immense detail.

Leap from your plane and skydive from 10,000 feet down into a tropical jungle, tear across an arid desert in a dune buggy or climb your way up a snowy mountain in a 4x4. The vast open-ended, unique gameplay is back, allowing you full freedom once again to free roam and explore the massive world of Panau and tackle your assignments however you want.

The original was met with a mixed reaction from the critics - with most complaints focusing on the fiddly control system. Now with what we understand to be a new improved air, land and sea stunt system, the feel of chucking Rico out of a tiny twin propeller plane into the dense green canopy of a hostile jungle may just feel that little bit more realistic.

Time will tell, but as we've yet to receive an official release date (apart from '2008'), we're going to have keep guessing just that little bit longer.

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