Just Cause 2

[Dan2]

This game is a gem. In my opinion, the best wide open sandbox game EVER!! Puts grand theft auto to shame.
Can you say GRAPPLE HOOK sling shotting into a parachute jump?!!! I've put about 40 hrs into this game and have barely scratched the surface. The game is gorgeous with scenery ranging from topical to urban.
It's tons of action. Fighting enemy armies, going on mercenary missions, taking over military bases, civilian settlements, hijacking helicopters, prop planes, private jets, boats and anything that drives on tires. There's also racing challenges in planes, cars and grapple-parachuting.
You can improve weapons, vehicles, health and armor by picking up boxes throughout the world in a sort of treasure hunt.
If you would like to fill a 100 hour void in your gaming life, pick this one up.
Minimum system requirements:
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista (Windows XP is unsupported)
Processor: Dual-core CPU with SSE3 (Athlon 64 X2 4200 / Pentium D 3GHz)
Memory: 2GB System Memory
Hard Drive: 10GB of free drive space
Graphics: DX10 compatible graphics card with 256 MB of memory (Nvidia GeForce 8800 series/ ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro)
Sound: 100% DirectX 10 compatible sound card
DirectX®: Microsoft DirectX 10

[JIMINATOR]

the game is pretty awesome, in a lot of ways it is a technical feat the way the world scales on so many levels.
There are some issues though.
The plane controls are the worst ever, you can't turn left or right but instead have to tilt and then tilt again and again to correct. i found the plane challenges and missions to be impossible.
The shooting never really had a good feel, don't know why but seemed very disconnected
The dlc guns, although they are improvements on the regular guns, there is no GD WAY TO REFILL THE AMMO except rebuy them. that is some shiz....
anyway there is tons of free mods available.
some I picked up increased grapple length, strength and speed, modified crates required for upgrades, and some other minor tweaks.

[Dan2]

Plane controls difficult on a keyboard? Yes. Use the directional keys for left, right, pitch down and up. 2 other keys for accelerate and decelerate. Notice the plane will pick up speed without any input so.... stand on the brake when doing challenges. I've done the first 2 this way, maybe its a nightmare after this I don't know. It's easier than Microsoft Flight Simulator, this I know.
As far as combat goes, you're right, there's a slight quarter second delay between hitting the fire button and actual firing. Remedy? Max out your assault rifle to mow down any man or machine that stands in your way.
I've heard DLC sucks which is a shame. Haven't done that yet. Ammo is scarce, yes. So whenever I need to fill magazines I blow up some gas cans and wait for the red guys to attack, blow them away and pick up their ammo.