Review — Just Cause 3

Just Cause 3

We Sit Down And Review Just Cause 3. There Has Been A Lot Of Hype & Other Sandbox Games But Does This One Take The Cake? Here’s Our Review Of Just Cause 3

We all wanted the madness of Just Cause 3 or just another entry to the franchise and now we have it. In a sea of sandbox titles this year who doesn’t need another one right? At least Just Cause 3 has a nice little franchise history of doing things right to piggy back on. That also means that Avalanche Studios has a lot to live up to in terms of not only gameplay but also an amazing narrative to go hand in hand with it. We had a chance to sit down and put Just Cause 3 thought its paces and without further delay; here is our review of Just Cause 3.

Story

About six years have passed since Just Cause 2 and Rico Rodriguez just wants to go home. Sadly his homeland of Medici is under the horrible control of General Sebastiano Di Ravello. Not only that but said dictator wants to move his control to a global platform via weapons of mass destruction crafted from a mysterious new element. Rico just won’t stand for this and neither will the rebel forces he teams up with. Now is the time for mass chaos and destruction. Why? Just Cause… 3…

Hated

Some of the bigger mechanics pushed for Just Cause 3 were the new ways to get around the game’s world. This was in the way of the new Wing Suit that Rico was able to employ on top of the parachute glide and the grappling hook/shot. Sadly though it did not feel like it was done with the precision that was needed in Just Cause 3 to use it to its fullest. Be it a steep learning curve on how to blend it in or just buggy mechanics but I constantly found myself plummeting to the ground faster in Just Cause 3 while using this feature and usually opted for more slow gliding instead of fast movement. That is when I just didn’t opt to use fast travel instead. For a core feature in Just Cause 3 it didn’t pan out as expect at all.

Building from there is also seemed like the combat mechanics were a bit “off” in Just Cause 3 when it came to shooting. I get that Rico is a run and gun type of character but it was a huge drag not to be able to have iron sights on the weapons of the game. Granted this is fixed later on in Just Cause 3 though character upgrades but why do I need to level up to be able to zoom in my shots? It felt completely out of place to me. Almost as if Avalanche Studios ran out of ideas for character upgrades and need to fill a few slots. After unlocking this in Just Cause 3 the fire fights flowed a bit more fluid for me but having to unlock it was just a pain in the ass more than a real sense of accomplishment.

I am also a little lost on why Just Cause 3 had to notify me of almost everything and not let me just play the game. Almost every move you do in the game is recorded and reported to Square Enix for some leader board around the world. Do we really care or need to know that I flew higher with my parachute than some random person I’ll never know? Or that I ran down more enemies in my vehicle than another gamer I’ll never know anything about but the fact that they played Just Cause 3? I am sure that some people out there want that information but does it really need to distract me from the ‘splosions every 2 seconds? Or get locked on my screen due to a minor glitch in the system? It was almost as annoying as accidentally following a One Direction media feed on accident.

Loved

One thing that was promised in Just Cause 3 was the explosions and destruction that we could cause in the game’s world. If there was one thing that Avalanche Studios delivered on it was just that. In fact they were so pretty and fun to employ that I got lost in the wonder and challenge of trying to top the last fire ball I made in Just Cause 3. A true task indeed as it wasn’t always just over the top for the sake but mostly flowed in the way that one would expect if you were in the world that was crafted. The whole team deserves an epic high five for this portion of Just Cause 3 alone. It stood and delivered like no other.

When it comes to sandbox games it is easy to get things bogged down in the size or just in terms of repetition. Just Cause 3 is one of the largest sandboxes we have had to play in for a while now and while the objectives and side missions are repetitious on paper when they are in action you quickly forget that fact. This is due to the basic mechanics and abilities you have in Just Cause 3 more than anything. When you read on screen that you have to destroy 3 more billboards or media towers you’ll roll your eyes, I did, but when you fly in and let the destruction fly I found that I would try and out challenge myself more than just show up and get things done. Thus breaking the illusion originally set forth.

Of course all of this boils down to one thing and that is being able to have fun with the tools and world presented; not to mention what video games are all about. Just Cause 3 offered up a fun factor I have been missing in most games since [Prototype] or inFAMOUS, just without the super powers. Even the missions that were comprised of got to point A, blow it up or just destroy everything, then get to point B became a laugh and fun riot as I wanted to see if there was more to it and always found other little things to do that were not fully presented in Just Cause 3 from the start or as the game moved on. Just as a video game like this should be.

Overview

Should you drop the shekels to pick up Just Cause 3 though? If you have ever been a fan of the Just Cause franchise or are looking for a great sandbox title in the sea of sandbox titles then I would fully suggest giving Just Cause 3 your time and money. Yes there are a few mechanical issues and annoyances that someone along the development line thought was a great idea but when it all boils down Just Cause 3 is just a fun game at its core. So much fun that you can learn to love its faults or just deal with them and get back to blowing things up. Such a fun and wild romp to be had here.

Just Cause 3 was developed by Avalanche Studios and published by Square Enix for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC on December 1^st, 2015. A digital PS4 copy of the game was provided by the publisher for reviewing purposes.