Gameplay Journal Entry #3

Just Cause 2 is a single player third person action game developed by Avalanche Studios and releasing in 2010 within the seventh generation of home console systems. I remember back in 2010 I was in middle school and actually found the game through the demo section of the Xbox Live Store. Essentially the game had you control a ‘Rambo’ style protagonist with an endless arsenals of weapons, gadgets, and vehicles in a large sandbox filled with various biomes and explosive opportunities. While I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the demo I never got to purchasing the full release. Years later I found out about multiplayer in Just Cause 2, but to my dismay it was only available on PC. Regardless I looked into it and was struck by how well it turned out to be, and that was when I first realized the potential of player driven modification.

As a console player it hasn’t been common throughout my time as a gamer to run into mods. Still I was intrigued by the various methods in which players, fans, etc. were able to manipulate the original game in ways the developers never intended to. The multiplayer mod in Just Cause 2 is an example of building upon the foundation the developers built. As expressed by Anne-Marie Schleiner this is an instance of a mod “clearing the way for a new order of play culture to come”(pg. 49). The concept of a mod being a parasite is indicative with fans using the tools and proprietary engine of the developers to manipulate the game to their liking. The mod itself felt like a natural progression for the game and was well received by the community. Eventually Avalanche Studio gave it their official stamp of approval with the mod being labeled as downloadable content for the game on steam. I believe it was with this mod that we would begin to see a large push for multiplayer integration in single player action games, most notoriously with the release of GTA Online.

Just Cause 2’s Multiplayer Mod — IGN Plays — YouTube

Schleiner, Anne-Marie. “Game Modding: Cross-over Mutation and Unwelcome Gifts in Ludic Mutation: The Player’s Power to Change the Game”. Amsterdam University Press, 2017. Print.