An open world island with loads of guns, explosions, slavery and annoying DRM type features! That is Just Cause 3 for you! Even though it comes to us from the very well known Avalanche Studios, it isn’t very different from Just Cause 2. So is the game worth spending $59.99?
Just Cause 3 - first impressions
Welcome to the always online system that is required for this game, if you do not turn your Steam to offline mode while playing it. Yes, you will be interrupted with an online check every time you open the map. Extremely annoying, especially when you realize that losing server connection will freeze your game for minutes.
Speaking of the map, it is a freaking huge map! Properly huge! Even in the fastest aircraft, you will need quite some time to get from one end to another.
You will quickly learn the new tether system, which will let you connect two objects to each other. This is a wonderful feature that complements the destruction system. The grappling hook and wing suit return for this game. If you have played previous instalments in this series, the grappling hook and wing suit will not be difficult to master.
Even though some people have said that the graphics haven’t improved much since Just Cause 2, I strongly disagree. Even on the highest settings, Just Cause 2 does not beat Just Cause 3.
Just Cause 3 - story review
For the most part, your main character will just go from one point to another and blow things up. This game doesn’t really have a story worth mentioning.
It won’t take you a long time to figure out just how repetitive this game is. The objectives remain the same for the majority of the game. Before you buy this game, you will have to decide whether you are looking for a game that has filler content or a game that has killer content.
Just Cause 3 - gameplay review
Well, I can go on and on about the gameplay. This game is more of a physics playground rather than a complete game.
You will spend most of your time going from one outpost to another outpost. What is the objective? Liberate the damn outpost. Once one outpost is done, guess what? You have 100 more to go! Well, not exactly 100, but you know what I mean.
How do you liberate outposts, you might ask? You blow them off the face of the earth! There are certain things that you need to blow up that are part of outposts to liberate it. The problem is that the objectives repeat again and again. You will have to make the game interesting for yourself by experimenting and finding different ways to blow things up.
The explosions in this game are pretty, really pretty. The only problem is, there are so many things to explode that the game becomes an explosions simulator. If you like explosions, then I guess you should buy the game immediately!
You will turn into an absolute killing machine once you upgrade your main character. The thing is, you need to really work to get upgrades. I will not spoil the fun for you or give you any tips. It’s fun trying to find them yourself.
Ground vehicles in this handle extremely bad. In fact, I think bricks are more aerodynamic than the supercars that are in this game. You are better off with flying vehicles. Using flying vehicles is better anyway, because the map is huge. It takes a very long time to travel using ground vehicles.
The side-missions are quite boring. They are so bad that I won’t even waste ink by writing about them.
The guns feel like water pistols. Just Cause is not a series known for its gunplay, anyway. If you get used to the guns, you can dual wield and get some great headshots. It is fun killing the enemies, as you can take a ridiculous amount of damage before you die. You do have a lot of guns, but you will find heavy weapons to be the best in the game.
Just Cause 3 - graphics and performance
The game looks great and there are plenty of graphical options in the options menu. Flying around the map is fun, and that is why they haven’t included a good fast travel system. The view distance is very good and doesn’t impact frame rates too much. There is the occasional popping, though.
So, it is by Avalanche Studios. Is must be very well optimized right? Well, it is not very well optimized, but it can run on mid-end cards easily. You can run this game even if you do not meet the system requirements. The problem is, the team for this game was different and was not the same team that developed Mad Max.
Just Cause 3 - review summary
Just Cause 3 is a good video game and gives players a playground which they can use to create massive explosions. For most people, this game will be a physics sandbox more than a story based single player video game. The graphics are good, and the PC port is fine but not great.
Just Cause 3 Score: 8/10
The writer is a professional video game director, video game critic and video game developer.
