L01 Games Analysis | Just Cause 2

In this analysis of the game Just Cause 2, i will be commenting on different aspects of the game as well as make comments on the overall game experience.

The style of this game is a third person action shooter and the genre of the game is an action/open world genre. It shows the stylistic conventions of the genre by having a huge open world layout and shooter campaign in which you play as main character Rico who is an overpowered spy.

In comparison with other games with the same genre, Just Cause 2 did extremely well and won multiple awards. Although it was released in 2010 it still competes extremely well with newly released titles of the genre today, such as GTA V and Fallout 4.

The story being told throughout the game is that you are an agent named rico on the isle of Panau here to investigate about corrupt president baby panau. As you progress through the game you realise that what you were told is a lot worse. The story informs the gameplay by centring the single player gameplay around the story. In which you complete tasks around the world to cause ‘chaos’ which leads the unlocking of more story missions. The story uses stereotype a lot, with hatred experienced towards the corrupt president and Rico (main character) having no fear at all. The story connects to the target audience by having a near enough invincible main character with the ability to do anything.

The game was produced by Avalanche Studios on March 23^rd 2010. The use of a near enough invincible character makes the audience feel the same way. For most people this was a brilliant way for them to develop the game as no-one can become frustrated with the game, henceforth significantly improving the gameplay aspect. The overall physics engine was fantastic with Air, land and sea vehicles functioning near enough perfectly. One this that was missing though was a destruction engine, due to the lack of computing power at the time. The overall physics engine allowed enhancements to the gameplay by providing a unique method of attacking a mission, making every mission unique.   

Characters are relevant to the target audience by providing a supreme character to play as which makes the audience feel in Rico’s shoes. This appeals to the audience as it provides a character that the audience of the genre will love. The characteristics of the genre towards the characters are suggested with the ninja look and weapons mounted on Rico’s side. Overall the character feels very strong and as stated near enough invincible.

The target audience for the game just cause 2 is > 16 males who enjoy the shooting and open world genre. Indicators for this include the campaign which contains swearing that younger children might not like to hear. It also contains strong violence. The game appeals to the target audience by containing the open world approach when the player can complete the game in whatever way they want, which allows a dynamic twist to the story.
The game compares to others with similar audiences quite similar to games like GTA V or Call of Duty, due to the open world and shooting genre.

The game JC2 is available on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. And is now more suited towards the PC due to the creation of the multiplayer mod, which allows players to now enjoy the open world together.