) but managed to sell over a million copies - with the much more impressive PC and XBox 360 versions scoring significantly higher. Sadly, there was never a PS3 port released so millions of gamers just about to move to next-gen Sony consoles (the PS3 launched in November 2006 remember) missed out.

Sandbox There were rumours of anti-Castro pigeons. I liked .  Okay, so it had a problem with pacing and the missions got really boring after a while – they where all the same after all – but as sandbox games go it was not bad, quite fun some might say.

Just Cause 2 stars Rico Rodriguez, back to wreak havoc once again, this time with a new destination - the huge playground of the Southeast Asian islands of Panau, in an over-the-top Hollywood-esque blockbuster of a video game.

A banana republic is a country that is politically unstable, dependent on limited agriculture (like bananas) and ruled by a small, self-elected, wealthy and corrupt clique. And I always thought it was a term used for Natal Sharks Rugby. The fictional island of Panau is a banana republic though.

Just Cause 2 succeeds in its primary aim of dropping you into a ludicrously over the top action movie. The missions may not be very involving, but there's no denying that with the right tools there is a lot of destructive, albeit mindless, fun to be had in this picturesque playground.

Just Cause was a game that was plagued by awkwardness. It was released during the tail end of the last console generation and received a port to Xbox 360 strictly out of necessity as most gamers were migrating to Microsoft's new console.

Though it has a fair few flaws, Just Cause 2 remains a high octane love letter to anyone who delights in exploration and destruction. The developers at Avalanche have succeeded in combining the art of destruction with that of collection and in this respect the game is a breath of fresh air from the...

The island environment is lush and sprawling. The story and voice acting leaves something to be desired, but the fact that you can base jump and jump out of helicopters is just downright awesome. Definitely a fun game.

packs all the explosive and preposterous action of a Hollywood blockbuster. By using its trademark grapple hook and parachute gameplay, the game allows players to indulge their action hero fantasies, such as skyjacking a helicopter, raining down fire on a military base and then parachuting to safety...

Even though it sounds like the subject of an interminably boring college lecture course, political geography is the "special sauce" that makes good open-world games tick. In titles like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City , Assassin's Creed , and Far Cry 2 , competing factions are divided by region as well...

Stupid fun; Smart setting; Grappling hook + parachute = love; Big on content

Stiff vehicles