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Just Cause 2 (2010 Video Game)
7/10
Blowing It All Up
20 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Just Cause 2 is best represented by it's own signature move. It boasts being able to grapple onto any surface and jump out of planes from any height. It seems to signify that JC2 gets progressively worse as you go on, despite the cheap tricks it throws out to slow the descent.

The controls of Just Cause 2 are good. It felt a bit less than natural when I aimed down a gun, but the running and grappling were easy and responsive. Vehicle controls are excellent too, however the stunt jump feature seemed useless unless I needed to leave the vehicle, in which case I just bailed out. The map of this game is enormous, which allows for some really fun, really long car chases and plane flights. And then there are the explosions. You can almost destroy every structure, and it's amazingly great. Once, I stole a helicopter from a military base in the desert and proceeded to dismantle every vehicle in the base, all the aircraft, the water tower, the generators, the broadcast towers, the guard towers, everything useful. Destruction can be used tactfully too, say there's a guard tower. There are five snipers, you have four bullets. Blow it up with a grenade! There's also grappling, which allows you to go from zero to sixteen hundred feet of elevation in seconds. It's great.

Just Cause 2 has impressive graphics for such a large scale game. There were obviously copied trees and buildings, but it was mostly decent. There were a few glitches, namely enemies stuttering fiercely and civilians not giving a poo when I shot them, but these won't exactly make you boot the game out your window, screaming and cursing wildly.

The story of Just Cause 2 is the weakest link of this otherwise solid production. You play as Rico Rodriguez, a secret agent tasked with hunting down your former mentor and now rogue, Tom Sheldon. You eventually do and this leads to a conspiracy filled with shootings, tank fights, Uzi wielding ninjas and a fat man's parrot. It's just a bad story, but Square Enix didn't intend it to be revolutionary. It's pretty much a 90s TV show.

Overall, this is a pretty good game. There's fun to be had, definitely, but don't expect much, because nothing but excuses for gunfights can be found in this menagerie of explosions and over the top action scenes.
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Assassin's Creed III (2012 Video Game)
9/10
A new look for Assassin's Creed
19 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Assassin Creed games have always suffered from their own ambition. Personally, I think the worlds of AC games have always seemed hollow, and that the cities just didn't have too much life to them. Assassin's Creed III changes that formula forever. After 35 hours I still kept finding new things to do as I raced from mission to side mission, be it listen to stories at a camp in the woods, attack (or defend) a convoy or just plain out enjoy the amazing world that existed here.There are new naval battles, which are plain out epic, but don't worry. There's plenty of stabbing and brawling too.

Assassin's Creed III looks stellar. Everything seems so beautiful in the forest I almost avoided the cities of Boston and New York, but when I found myself in them, I saw that they were great as well, thanks to the new crowd fluency system and game engine implemented in the game. There were a few pop-in textures and technological glitches, (one time I teleported 50 feet in the air and fell to my death) but for the most part is fine.

The story of ACIII is alright. The vengeful tale of Connor Kenway could have been a bit better, but when he meets famous revolutionaries like George Washington, I couldn't help but want the campaign even more. The Desmond bits are back from the other games, this time mandatory, but they're short and stealthy, and that's great. I'll try not to say too much, but I need to add that the ending may be the least satisfying moment of any AC game.

Thankfully, what Assassin's Creed fails in during the story, it more than makes up for during the return of the legendary multi-player mode of Brotherhood, during which players out-think and outmaneuver each other across a multitude of maps with numerous abilities. It forces you to strategize, something that's growing less and less noticeable in the more common "Kill everything and everyone" game archetype that's popping up everywhere.

Overall, Assassin's Creed 3 is great. Whether it's recruiting people to fight alongside you or sneaking into a redcoat fort, there's always something fun to do in the incredibly realized world of Colonial America Naval fights are great and scouring the cliffs for trinkets and feathers is undeniably fun. Sadly, some minor glitches show up throughout the game and redcoats have a habit of appearing out of thin air.
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