Just Cause 2 MP Mod Adding Battlefield-Like 'Faction Wars'
There's an alternate dimension in which the day Just Cause 2 was first modded to include thousand-person multiplayer is cited as the beginning of a new, gloriously utopian chapter in human history. I'm sure of it. Quite frankly, it's the one puzzle piece that was always missing - from Just Cause 2, from plane surfing's never-ending fight to be recognized as an Olympic sport, from life. It is, however, still a work-in-progress, and even pure shrieking chaos is only entertaining for so long. Thus, Faction Wars. The new mode adds giant teams, classes, squad management, squad spawning, alliances, customization, and more. Underneath it all, Just Cause 2's screaming barbed wire eagle heart still pounds away, but I think it's safe to say that this is no longer just Just Cause.
It really does sound like quite the thing. The plan is to incorporate all 370 in-game bases, each of which will provide money and access to custom weapons and vehicles. Classes, meanwhile, sound fairly standard, but this is still an entirely new game system we're talking about. Initially, you'll have your pick of the heavily armored Assault, flesh-mending Medic, sharp-eyed Sniper, base-hacking Infiltrator, and ammo/rocket-supplying Support. They'll apparently all play off each other's strengths and weaknesses, with, for example, the Assault needing a Medic for truly effective head-on attacks.
Grouped into factions, players will be able to spawn into squads, customize characters and vehicles, capture bases, and keep tabs on what everybody else is up to via new menus and an upgraded PDA. The mod's creators are also advertising "limitless factions, limitless destruction," which bodes quite well for everybody except rabid fans of limits.
It does sound like a magnificently elaborate brand of madness, though - verging on MMO, but with infinity times more infinite parachutes and the chance to imagine you're battling for a real, flesh-and-blood Bolo Santosi instead of some dumb king or wizard. I'm certainly looking forward to giving it a try. How about you?