Just Cause 2 looks great on the consoles, but it really shines on the PC. The problem is you need a pretty powerful PC to run the game at optimal settings.

Here at GamingReality, we have been working on finding the best settings that provide (steady FPS) optimal performance with great visuals.

You may have to trade off a few things for performance, but in the end, you will have the game running pretty well even if you don't have a very powerful PC, while still getting better graphics than the console versions.

So try out these settings, and see how the game runs for you.

Note: Some may think 30 fps is low, but really it is much better to keep it at 30 FPS than have it going from 30-60 FPS, because your CPU will be overworking itself, causing more slowdown than if you just have it capped at 30 FPS.

Advanced Display Settings:

Texture quality: High
AA: 2x anti aliasing
AF: 0x/2x
Soft Particles: Off
Shadows: Medium (Huge performance hit on some systems. If you are still getting major lag in some areas such as cities, it is recommended turning the shadows to Low.

Yes you will lose the great looking shadows, but on the plus side, your FPS will skyrocket and the game will still look great.

Medium and high shadows require a powerful CPU because they are dynamic and require lots of calculations. Especially in the cities.)

High Res shadows: Off (If your system can handle it, try keeping the shadows on medium and turning high res shadows on. This gives you great looking shadows without the huge FPS hit from the high shadow setting.)
Object Detail: Low
Water detail: ~Medium (I have not noticed a huge difference between the water quality, but the performance hit seems to be there when the setting is on Very high or high. So I recommend medium. It still looks great.)
Point light specular: Off
Enhanced water: Off
Bokeh Filter: Off
VSYNC: Off (Very important that this is off, Vsync impacts the FPS a lot on many cards, and only provides a minor benefit if left on. Unless your card can handle it, or you get a lot of screen tearing, I suggest leaving it off.)
SSAA: Off (Heaviest FPS hit, recommended off on a lot of older systems)
Motion Blur: Off (This setting is found in "Display Settings", not the advanced settings.)
Decals: On
* Framerate cap: 30fps

* For the framerate cap, the way you set it is:

Steam

1. Go into steam.
2. Right click Just Cause 2, and click properties.
3. Click "Set Launch Options" in the General tab.
4. Set the launch options to the following: /frameratecap=30 /filmgrain=0

Non-Steam

Just edit your game shortcut on your desktop or wherever it is, right click on the icon, go to properties, shortcut, and then in the "target" add /frameratecap=30 /filmgrain=0 to the end, after the quotation marks.

Note about an FPS Cap: If you are having a hard time getting the framerate cap command to work, consider downloading a program called "DXTory". The program can set an FPS cap for any game and has a built in FPS display.

The filmgrain option is for those who do not like the strange grain the game has during cutscenes. (It's a weird graphic filter which looks really bad on the PC version, so it's best to keep it off.)

I hope these settings help you obtain steady FPS. If you have questions, or suggestions of your own on how to improve FPS in Just Cause 2, feel free to leave a comment. Keep in mind these settings are the where you should start if you are having performance issues in Just Cause 2.

With these settings the game will look better than the console versions, even if a lot of things are turned off. Feel free to experiment and turn on more settings, until you get a decent framerate. Just remember that in the city areas, the game is even more performance heavy than in any other area in the game.