| Just Cause 2 | |
|---|---|
 Cover art featuring protagonist Rico Rodriguez | |
| Developer(s) | Avalanche Studios[a] |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
| Director(s) | Magnus Nedfors |
| Producer(s) | Daniel Willför |
| Designer(s) | Peter Johansson |
| Programmer(s) | Fredrik Larsson |
| Artist(s) | Stefan Ljungqvist |
| Writer(s) | Odd Ahlgren Matthew J. Costello Neil Richards |
| Composer(s) | Mats Lundgren |
| Series | Just Cause |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Just Cause 2 is a 2010 action-adventure video game developed by Avalanche Studios and published by Square Enix. The sequel to 2006's Just Cause, it was powered by Avalanche Studios' Avalanche 2.0 Engine. It features Rico Rodriguez, a major operative of the fictional Agency who arrives at Panau (a fictional island nation in Maritime Southeast Asia) to overthrow dictator Pandak "Baby" Panay and confront former mentor Tom Sheldon. The gameplay involves Rico fighting hostile militants with guns and a grappling hook, enabling players to tether objects to each other and slingshot into the air with a parachute. Just Cause 2 introduces the Chaos System, in which players must complete missions and destroy government property on Panau for Chaos points. These points are essential for story progression.
The game was developed as an improvement of Just Cause; its team saw missed opportunities in the first game, analyzing and refining it. As a result, mission design, artificial intelligence and most core gameplay mechanics were overhauled. Panau, inspired by Southeast Asia, was considered by the team a good location for an action game. Square Enix London Studios worked with Avalanche for the development. It was announced in 2007 with a demo attracting two million players.
The game was released in March 2010 for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Just Cause 2 received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its gameplay, open-ended nature, stunts, world design, and graphics while criticizing its story, gunplay, and mission design. Sales of six million copies worldwide exceeded original projections. The game was supported with downloadable content at release, and a multiplayer fan project was eventually approved as an add-on. A sequel, Just Cause 3, was released in late 2015.
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