It’s been a few days since the launch of Just Cause 2 but I unfortunately didn’t have any time to sit down and play it for the first time until last night.

Right out of the gate, the thing that stands out to me about this game is the sheer vastness of the environment. You really feel like a small, relatively insignificant part of a massive world. The graphics are beautiful and the game engine has a lot of polish. I’ve got it running at full blast on my 285GTX supported by a Phenom X4 955 and 8GB of DDR3 – no hiccups whatsoever.

Although the plot is paper thin, the dialogue is sharp and the gameplay makes up for the lack of story. It feels like a mash-up of Red Faction Guerrilla and Grand Theft Auto IV. You’re shooting baddies and blowing up buildings within the first five minutes of the campaign, which is incredibly long. Mr. Maroon reported a few nights ago that he was 7% complete and had already logged more than eight hours playing.

My only complaint at this point is that the enemy AI is a bit goofy at times and there seem to be some clipping issues with a few of the vehicles. However, that doesn’t take too much away from the game. On the whole, it’s a lot of fun and definitely worth buying.