Just Cause 2 Preview

VideoGamer.com: Just to check, there are no plans for any form of multiplayer mode in Just Cause 2?

PJ: No, we're not doing multiplayer because we wanted to make sure that the core single-player experience was as good as we could. We wanted to get it right this time, so we didn't want multiplayer to put a limit to that.

VideoGamer.com: Fair enough. Was it something you ever considered?

PJ: Yeah. What we've done is that we've started talking about how it could be done in such a game, without limiting the core experience. We have a bunch of ideas, so no-one knows what will happen in the future. But for Just Cause 2, it's single-player only.

VideoGamer.com: So it could be part of Just Cause 3?

PJ: It's something that would be nice to pursue, yeah. If we know that we can do it to enhance an experience, yeah. Multiplayer can sometimes be something that we need to tack on, because it's the big thing to do. It's very difficult to do it right, and it costs a lot of money to do it right. If it ends up that there are a lot of other games that do it better, then why do you do it? I think it's important to do it when you know it can enhance the core experience.

VideoGamer.com: Do you think there's a lot of pressure to include multiplayer, that it's something people expect?

PJ: It can be, of course. Some people really like it, and it's fun! But you have to look at it from game to game. I don't think you can automatically say that all games need to be multiplayer because they have guns in them. If it's just tacked-on, it's just going to be something you try out once, and then you'll go back to Halo 3 or Gears of War 2. They did really well, and when we know we can do it really well we'll do it as well.

VideoGamer.com: Do you think multiplayer modes are "tacked-on" quite often?

PJ: I can say that there are games where it's probably not worth the resources that they put into it. I'd say that. And me as a player, personally, I would prefer that [the resources] were spent on improving the single-player game. If you don't have a good foundation, the multiplayer part isn’t going to be good anyway. If it doesn't feel right, if the mechanics aren’t there, you're not going to get great multiplayer.

VideoGamer.com: The first Just Cause used a lock-on system for combat. What made you decide to use free-aim in the sequel?

PJ: It was part of making the combat a bit more challenging and tactical. In Just Cause 1 there was full auto-aim, which basically did all the work for you. We didn't want to go that way, but it's a difficult balance because we need to keep the action fast, and if it's too hard to aim it becomes stop, aim, shoot. We now have quite a unique hybrid system that means you have a little bit of help. You always have control of your crosshair, but if you aim close to someone you'll get a bit of aiming assistance. The closer your manual aim, the better your accuracy will be. So skilled players will always get that reward on higher difficulty settings and on later enemies. So if you get this crosshair on top of the enemy's head… [takes aim at us with a pretend finger-gun]. You'll have to excuse me!

VideoGamer.com: That's okay!

PJ: I'll get a headshot by aiming at your head or a knee-shot by aiming at your knee, but the further away I am the worse my accuracy is going to be. So it's a system that helps you a bit and keeps the speed up, but that rewards you for skilful play.

VideoGamer.com: Okay, I have two more questions. Firstly, any demo plans?

PJ: I can’t talk about it now, but we're looking into it.

VideoGamer.com: So there will be one?!

PJ: We'll see![Laughs.]

VideoGamer.com: Final question. How confident are you that this game is going to be bug-free? The original had quite a few problems.

PJ: Bug-free? I'm 100 per cent confident that it won't be! [Laughs.] No, I'm just kidding. The thing is, it was important for us to get this technical polish up to a higher level. And of course with Just Cause 1, we had developed the engine from the ground up, on the last generation consoles at the same time as current gen machines. So it was a different process, and now we can just take a step back and look at which specific areas we want to improve. It's been a lot more controlled a process this time around, and I think that ensures that we'll get a lot less bugs and a lot more technical polish. It's been very important to us.

VideoGamer.com: So… Will it be bug-free?

PJ:[Laughs.] No game is ever bug-free. But we're going to get rid of…

PR officer:…99.99 per cent!

PJ: Yeah, 99.99 per cent. You know, you ask a PR guy, they're going to say "Yes!" to that question. You ask a game designer, and you'll get, "Oh man! No, but there was so much else we wanted to do with it!". But yeah, we're going to get rid of the bugs.

VideoGamer.com: We're going to hold you to that!

Just Cause 2 will be released on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 later this year.