Just Cause 2: The Crazy S*** Developers Would Try

Calling Just Cause 2 a "sandbox game" is sort of like calling the Sahara Desert a…well, sandbox. It's not only a huge game from a real-estate perspective (we're talking vertically, too), but you can have a hell of a time experimenting with all the different ways to BASE jump, parachute, zip line, drive, and combine all these things into clever killing methods. The game makes you feel like a kid the first time you tether an enemy to an end of a propane-tank-turned-torpedo.

So that got me wondering: What are some of the craziest antics the developers tried in Just Cause 2? These guys have spent weeks and months developing this game — they've got to have some fun, sleep-deprived, deadline-fueled stories to tell.

Yup, I was right. Here are a few of them:

Tobias Hagberg, producer, Avalanche Studios:

“Craziest moment? Trying to bridge limbo in a commercial airliner while standing on the roof!"

Emil Kraftling, narrative designer, Avalanche Studios:

“During development, we had our own internal BASE jump competition. One of our game designers held the record by airlifting a tank to the top of Gunung Merah (the desert mountain at X: 8082 Y: 28454) and using it to get that extra jump height. To beat him, I had to find an even higher vehicle than the tank. So I hijacked a 474 and landed it on the top of Gunung Merah, then BASE jumped off of it. This landed me the record jump and broke the magical 1500 meters! Some days just prior to shipping the game, however, a few palm trees were added to the mountain top and with them the extra height to make the 474-landing technique obsolete. Though I still think that the 474 is the ‘Rico’ way to do it. And no, balloon jumps are not real jumps!”

George Wright, associate producer, Square Enix:

“One of my favorite stunts to try and pull off is a repeated loop-the-loop in a stunt plane that go under a bridge…not easy! I also love planting C4 on a jeep’s roof, ejecting with parachute, and while parachuting, trying to shoot the C4 on the jeep roof using precision aiming! I also tried to walk the island once.” 

Andreas Persson, A.I. designer, Avalanche Studios:

“Using a ski slope as a runway for a fighter jet!”

Saty Mann, associate producer, Square Enix:

“The first time I discovered Rico could grapple to a gas canister and launch himself into the air, I started playing around with it all the time. One time I was being chased by a whole bunch of military jeeps and ended up on foot. I saw a gas canister and thought it would be a cool way to make a quick escape. I grappled, shot it, and flew into the air. When I jumped off there was a helicopter passing, so I grappled it, hijacked, took out the military jeeps, and flew off! I just wished someone had been watching!”