Sowing the Seeds of Chaos: Our Favorite Ways to Make Mayhem in Just Cause 2

Just Cause 3 hits Xbox One next month, and we’re pretty excited to start wreaking havoc. If you’ve pre-ordered Just Cause 3 or pick it up at launch, you’ll receive Just Cause 2 absolutely free via Xbox One Backward Compatibility for a limited time. If you missed it the first time around, you owe it to yourself to give Just Cause 2 a try; it’s one of the most awesomely destructive open-world games out there. In honor of this gem of the last generation, check out some of our favorite ways to cause mayhem on the island of Panau.

I Need a Weapon

The most straightforward way to make a mess in Just Cause 2 is to strap up and go in guns-blazing. Skydiving into the middle of a military base with a rocket launcher in hand will send dozens of soldiers rushing in your direction (who will then be promptly blown away in the opposite direction).

Vehicular Destruction Derby

There are a whole slew of cars and trucks to purchase (or “borrow”) in Just Cause 2, and some of them are pretty beefy. Hop into a Razorback – an armored car that’s basically a tank – and take a drive down the wrong side of the road, watching compact cars and motorcycles fly off as you barrel through them.

Hook Everything to Everything

Just Cause 2 introduced a grappling hook to the series, allowing you to zip around the level – but it can also be used to attach objects or people to one another. Cause all manners of mayhem by hooking two vehicles together, then watch as they get tangled up in an exploding knot of wreckage.

Make Your Own Wrecking Ball

Helicopters are handy for getting around the island, but their most fun use comes when you hook your line to a car, or a bell from a bell tower, or the head of a dictator’s giant statue… then take that makeshift wrecking ball and smash it into vehicles, soldiers, and buildings – anything you want!

Boats Aren’t Just for Water

The speedboats in Just Cause 2 are extremely fast, perfect for circumnavigating the massive island paradise. And after you’ve spent all day towing a hapless soldier behind your boat like an unfortunate water skier, return him to his fellow soldiers by launching your boat up an embankment and right into the middle of a crowded militant-controlled street.

Take Down Planes with an Indestructible Hot Air Balloon

Nearly everything in Just Cause 2 can be blown up, except for the rainbow colored hot air balloon – which seems to be magic. If that dainty, lighter-than-air balloon flies in the path of a 747 airplane, that jet ends up a fiery wreck in the ocean… and you continue to enjoy your sightseeing vacation.

Blow Up a Whale

One of the Easter eggs hidden on the island is a beached whale, just stinking up the place. Planting some C4 or throwing some grenades can turn that beauty of the deep sea into a destructive meteor shower of rotting whale meat. Gross, and awesome.

All of this and more is at your destructive fingertips in Just Cause 2. You can run rampant on Panau, and enjoy Xbox One’s new Backward Compatibility when you buy Just Cause 3, out December 1.