New to the game and very confused (warning: Lots of questions)

[DarqueDragon]

I bought this game cheap and now have several questions about it.
1. I am not understanding the purpose of the game. I am so far just wandering around aimlessly because the game seems to offer me no direction at all. What am I supposed to do? Do I just go to the different faction bases and take jobs for them, or do I have to choose one faction for the entire game?
2. I played the demo awhile ago, and it made it seem like I would get a mission, go there and do what needed to be done, then get extracted and go back to a home base. But, this is not the case. So, do I have a home base, or am I just supposed to wander around between places?
3. How do I get ammo? I bought the sniper rifle from the Black Market dealer and had it delivered, but it only had 12 shots, so it is not useless, because I can't seem to find ammo for it. I also am forced to use my pistol way too often, because even SMG ammo seems to be rare.
4. If I buy a gun from a Black Market and later have to switch it out (because I ran out of ammo, for example), do I have to buy that weapon again later?
5. I currently have the pistol and SMG, and had the assault rifle. Why can't I upgrade those in the Black Market, since I already have them.
6. Why am I always getting attacked? I can't seem to go anywhere without running into a cop or whatnot, who just starts attacking me for no reason.
7. What do you do in the Civilian Villages? Are you just supposed to clear out the things with the bad guys' symbol on it?
8. If you run into a place, can you clear it without needing a mission first? For example, I was using the helicopter to get somewhere and passed over a military base. I decided to land and attack it, but couldn't take it over.
9. I currently only have one Faction Stronghold that was taken over from the bad guys (Awan Cendawan Power Plant, the first mission for the Ular Boys). Thing is, I destroyed everything in there with a symbol on it (except a truck that keeps respawning). After capturing the base, it said 96% complete. I found three turrets inside, so I destroyed those, and it still says 96%. The only other things I see in the entire place with the bad guys' symbol on it are explosive barrels that also respawn.
10. Why do I seem to die so easily? There is no cover system, so I am getting shot as I am shooting. And, as I have to rely on my pistol most of the time, I am taking a lot of damamge.
11. Why does it take so many bullets to kill these guys? They are sponges. I was shooting a guy with my pistol and actually had to change the clip before he died, and I was right in front of him.

In case you can't tell, I am totally confused about the purpose of this game. The destruction and shooting and such is fun, but I need to figure out what I am doing, because wandering around aimlessly is quickly losing it's fun.

[TheViper4Life]

Originally Posted by DarqueDragon

I bought this game cheap and now have several questions about it.
1. I am not understanding the purpose of the game. I am so far just wandering around aimlessly because the game seems to offer me no direction at all. What am I supposed to do? Do I just go to the different faction bases and take jobs for them, or do I have to choose one faction for the entire game?
2. I played the demo awhile ago, and it made it seem like I would get a mission, go there and do what needed to be done, then get extracted and go back to a home base. But, this is not the case. So, do I have a home base, or am I just supposed to wander around between places?
3. How do I get ammo? I bought the sniper rifle from the Black Market dealer and had it delivered, but it only had 12 shots, so it is not useless, because I can't seem to find ammo for it. I also am forced to use my pistol way too often, because even SMG ammo seems to be rare.
4. If I buy a gun from a Black Market and later have to switch it out (because I ran out of ammo, for example), do I have to buy that weapon again later?
5. I currently have the pistol and SMG, and had the assault rifle. Why can't I upgrade those in the Black Market, since I already have them.
6. Why am I always getting attacked? I can't seem to go anywhere without running into a cop or whatnot, who just starts attacking me for no reason.
7. What do you do in the Civilian Villages? Are you just supposed to clear out the things with the bad guys' symbol on it?
8. If you run into a place, can you clear it without needing a mission first? For example, I was using the helicopter to get somewhere and passed over a military base. I decided to land and attack it, but couldn't take it over.
9. I currently only have one Faction Stronghold that was taken over from the bad guys (Awan Cendawan Power Plant, the first mission for the Ular Boys). Thing is, I destroyed everything in there with a symbol on it (except a truck that keeps respawning). After capturing the base, it said 96% complete. I found three turrets inside, so I destroyed those, and it still says 96%. The only other things I see in the entire place with the bad guys' symbol on it are explosive barrels that also respawn.
10. Why do I seem to die so easily? There is no cover system, so I am getting shot as I am shooting. And, as I have to rely on my pistol most of the time, I am taking a lot of damamge.
11. Why does it take so many bullets to kill these guys? They are sponges. I was shooting a guy with my pistol and actually had to change the clip before he died, and I was right in front of him.

In case you can't tell, I am totally confused about the purpose of this game. The destruction and shooting and such is fun, but I need to figure out what I am doing, because wandering around aimlessly is quickly losing it's fun.

1. If you've just started you should have the 1st agency mission ready...look for a black star on your map (Press ). But once you complete an Agency mission (Main story missions), you have to cause chaos to get more...chaos is caused by completing areas, which include destroying anything with a Panauan Star on it.

2. Most of this was answered in question 1. But yes, the whole point of the game is to cause chaos.

3. You'll be using your pistol ALOT when you first start. But as you cause enough Chaos, new items will be available on black market...when they become available you can then start to upgrade them to carry more ammo and become more powerful, as long as you have the proper amount of weapon parts (It takes 75 weapon parts PER weapon to get it to level 6). MY weapons of choice are the Machine gun, the Sub Machine gun and the Pistol for a last ditch effort.

4. In some cases yes...I wouldn't suggest running into a military base on low ammo. But when in heavy firefights, you'll usually come across an enemy with the weapon you want. Buying a helicopter is what I tend to spend the most money on.

5. Answered this in question 3. Even though you may be carrying it....you cant upgrade it until the black market gets it.

6. Watch the heat meter, if theres a yellow symbol there it means be cautious...you're on watch. As soon as they spot you they'll start firing.

7. Pretty much, yes. You need to get it to 100%...which also includes getting all the pick ups (Weapon Parts, Vehicle Parts, Armor, and Money).

8. Yes. Taking it over means causing chaos and getting all the pick ups, to get the area to 100%. Military bases can be the biggest pain in the ass because they're so heavily gaurded.

9. Its hard to help with this one without looking at the game in front of me. But with 96% that means you're only missing one (maybe two) thing. The vehicles and barrels dont matter. You'll notice, when you have something you're supposed to destroy, and you Aim your sight at it, a red and white scorpion icon appears with a little health bar...thats military stuff you have to destroy. Also keep in mind you could be missing a pick up...watch and see if the radar goes off (The white indicator at the top of the mini map)...it'll get stronger the closer you get.

10. If you're on Hardcore difficulty (Which I suggest being on if you're not already). then the military has the advatage of taking health away pretty rapidly. Look for Armor pickups...for every 5 you pick up your health increases. But you need to learn how to utilize that grappling hook...it'll save your life. Also rolling with .

11. Start learning how to aim for headshots...it saves ammo.

[DarqueDragon]

Thanks, Viper. I appreciate all of your answers, which did clarify a lot of things. There are just a few points I want to expand on, though:

#6: How do I get rid of the yellow symbol? I just started the game, did one faction mission, and this symbol is there and won't go away. It is rather annoying to have to try to make a long trek to a new mission spot and get into fights, which wastes my ammo.

#9: I have out my reticle on EVERYTHING in that first base and the only things it even turns red for are the truck and barrels. I have searched everywhere and found a few pickups, but I will have to try searching for more. There is nothing else there that has a scorpion symbol when I am or the star on it. So, I have no clue.

#10: I know I may get some crap for this (which I am used to), but I am not on Hardcore. I am having a hard enough time on Normal (and have thought about turning the difficulty down, even). I am not an expert gamer, so Hardcore for me doesn't happen for most games. Unfortunately, some people tell me I am not a gamer because I don't play on Hardcore modes, but I do what I gotta do.

So far, I gotta say that this game is annoying me and making me regret buying it. I am gonna keep at it, though, and hope it gets better. But, so far, I am not liking this game much.

[TheViper4Life]

Originally Posted by DarqueDragon

Thanks, Viper. I appreciate all of your answers, which did clarify a lot of things. There are just a few points I want to expand on, though:

#6: How do I get rid of the yellow symbol? I just started the game, did one faction mission, and this symbol is there and won't go away. It is rather annoying to have to try to make a long trek to a new mission spot and get into fights, which wastes my ammo.

#9: I have out my reticle on EVERYTHING in that first base and the only things it even turns red for are the truck and barrels. I have searched everywhere and found a few pickups, but I will have to try searching for more. There is nothing else there that has a scorpion symbol when I am or the star on it. So, I have no clue.

#10: I know I may get some crap for this (which I am used to), but I am not on Hardcore. I am having a hard enough time on Normal (and have thought about turning the difficulty down, even). I am not an expert gamer, so Hardcore for me doesn't happen for most games. Unfortunately, some people tell me I am not a gamer because I don't play on Hardcore modes, but I do what I gotta do.

So far, I gotta say that this game is annoying me and making me regret buying it. I am gonna keep at it, though, and hope it gets better. But, so far, I am not liking this game much.

6. It goes away automatically when ever you get to an area thats not under Military jurisdiction. If you're at a stronghold, it'll always be there but you'll never get attacked. But there are a few areas of the map where it never seems to go away...But theres also a good chance you're in either a military vehicle or a faction vehicle...both will keep you under watch. But, again, it's hard to know without looking at your game.

9. Again I can't really help without seeing your game. Sometimes bases have things that are set a little ways away from the area. Imagine a square...this square represents the base, everything inside this square represents military stuff you need to destroy...and it's like that in most cases....but sometimes theres something outside that square that you need to destroy, This game is VERY long, you have many hours ahead of you (I'm 68 hours in and only 46% complete), you have 368 different locations...if you cant finish one right away, come back to it later.

10. I don't play most games on the hardest difficulty either, I'd rather have fun then just be annoyed all the time. But with this game it seems almost everyone has had that situation at the beginning where this game just pisses you off, and you want to turn it off and never turn it back on again...but this is because you haven't gotten used to it yet...which brings me to my point. I said you should be on Hardcore for a couple of reasons. 1. Trophies. Theres a trophy for beating the story on Hardcore, which stacks all the other difficulty trophies. 2. If you start on Hardcore and learn to play on Hardcore, then the game becomes natural to you on this difficulty...and this is mainly because this IS NOT a game you want to play twice. Like I said I'm 68 hours in and ONLY 46% complete....its just too long to want to play again.

Everyone seems to have that moment of regret on getting this game, I did too...but you'll realize like with any game, the more you play, the more you'll understand. On a side note: I've seen alot of people on here say they had a harder time playing on Normal than they did on Hardcore...so take that for what it's worth.

EDIT: I just looked around Online theres a lot of people stuck at 96% on that strong hold, and it turns out they missed a little generator thats tucked behind a building...try looking for that generator.

I also found this Youtube video.

Just Cause 2 : Awan Cendawan Power Plant 100% Completed - YouTube

Just Cause 2 : Awan Cendawan Power Plant 100% Completed - YouTube

[DarqueDragon]

Thanks for all of your help. Unfortunately, there is no way I can play on Hardcore. I am on Normal and having a hard enough time staying alive. But, as you can see from gamer card, I am not a trophy hunter, so not getting a couple of them doesn't bother me. I know I will not get platinum on this game, but I am okay with that.
Mostly, I just play games for fun, and the trophies are extra.
I will keep at it for a bit longer and see if I can get the hang of this game and get over the frustrations I am having.
Thanks again, Viper. And, thanks for the video. I am pretty sure I have all of the generators it shows, but I don't remember picking up that many pickups, so I will use the video to navigate when I play again and see if I can find what I was missing.


Update: Finally got 100% in the power plant. I was missing the generator hidden in some bushes. It is around the 4:00 mark on the video. Thanks again!

[TheViper4Life]

But thats what I'm saying...Alot of people have said that Normal difficulty is harder than hardcore...I started on hardcore so i cant attest to this.

And a little trick I use when getting overwhelmed by gun fire, is to grapple to the top of a building, somewhere they cant hit you with gun fire, and just wait until your heat goes down this takes their attention off you so you can get the upper hand, this also allows health to regenerate.

[DarqueDragon]

Really? I have not seen anywhere that normal is harder than hardcore, which also would make no sense. Are you sure about this? Are the ones saying Hardcore is easy actually the ones with double and triple digit platinum counts?
My main worry is that I start the game and put hours into it, only to get to a point where Hardcore is too hard. Then, I would have to start over, because you can't change the difficulty once you start.
I will give it a shot on Hardcore, but will keep my normal save, as I am almost 4 hours into it. I just have a feeling I will be dying quite often, which will frustrate me and cause me to quit playing. I don't want this, as I am just starting to have fun (took over about 4 strongholds and an airport).

[kfree7]

Keep hunting Dragon. JC2 is a great game. Sure wish they would bring out another one.

[DarqueDragon]

Thanks, guys. Let me ask this, though:
I made it through the "tutorial" mission, and the casino without dying by enemy hands (had a few bad falls), but needed to heal a few times. Is this a good indicator that I may survive Hardcore difficulty, or does it ramp up once the actual game itself start?

[TheViper4Life]

I'm now 70 hours in, and I've been on Hardcore the whole time...and the difficulty doesn't ever raise out of nowhere...the main thing with Hardcore is the military enemies can survive more gun fire (Until you upgrade your weapons to level 6), and they drain your health VERY quick. The only time I ever had a rough time was in the 6th Agency mission...when you get there you'll see why.

As for the people saying they had a harder time in Normal than in Hardcore, It's all over other threads here...it doesn't make sense to me either, but I've never played on normal so I can't compare. But I do recall a game for the Genesis back in the day where the developers admitted to a coding error where it ended up mixing up difficulty levels, where Very Hard was Normal and Normal was very hard....could be something similar?

Oh and I forgot to point out earlier, you said you're not a trophy hunter...level 12 is a trophy hunter my friend. I have a friend whos had his PS3 two years longer than I have, and he's still level 5. You're just not a platinum whore.