Just cause the game came out a couple months ago doesn't mean we can't review it.
 |
| Who said I can't fly? Check this out! |
Just Cause 3 is self-aware romp of explosions
and teenage power fantasy. The one-man-army Rico Rodriguez returns in the third
entry of the series, and continues to excel at what he does best: blowing up
everything in sight. This time around, Rico is returning to his childhood
country of ‘Medici’ and teams up with a new squad of plucky heroes to try and
overthrow the country’s dastardly dictator, General Sebastiano Di Ravello. It
has high-energy gameplay, a lively cast of characters, and a
fun-but-forgettable story. I really enjoyed my time with it, but the game is
flawed in a number of ways, and I often left play sessions wanting more: not
really to play more, but for there to be more to what I was playing.
Fans of the series will
be greeted with familiar mechanics and gameplay. Rico is still armed to the
teeth with weapons and explosives, and the zipline and parachute return giving
Just Cause 3 the familiar mobility that has made the series unique in the open
world genre. Adding to that dynamic is the inclusion of a wingsuit that allows
for faster and more extensive personal flight. When used in tandem with the
parachute and zipline, the wingsuit makes for some interesting and dynamic
interactions, both inside and outside of combat. You can use it to travel long
distances ‘as the crow flies’ in relatively rapid fashion without having to
find or drop in a helicopter. Or, just as likely, you will use it to make a
quick escape from a sticky situations that involve exploding fuel tanks,
vehicles, or squads of enemy troops.
This
installment of the Just Cause series boasts a massive in-game world that trumps
the size of all other games in the genre, even its predecessor and the beloved
Grand Theft Auto V. It doesn’t do this at the cost of its look or environments
either. Despite its massive size, the different areas and islands still look
and feel gorgeous, and there was a surprising attention to detail in lieu of
how much literal area to cover the developers had. It doesn't have the
graphical prowess of something like The Witcher 3, or the raw style of a game
like Splatoon, but its aesthetic of Medici is consistent, lush, and beautiful.
Just Cause 3 tries to bring the country to life with cities and bystanders, but
it often felt a bit shallow, and I might even go as far as saying
stereotypical. It tries to create a cultural middle-ground of the Mediterranean
and Spanish influences, which characters portray by speaking in a mix of
Italian, Spanish, and English. It’s successful in staying generic and nonspecific
in its Mediterranean nature, but I can't help but feel a little uncomfortable
when I hear a random civilian spout the phrase “My mama makes the primo
spaghetti!” in a terribly fake Italian accent. I wouldn’t go as far as to say
it’s racist, but the stereotypes seem a little ham-fisted and unnecessary. Although,
this piece of the game while annoying, was not nearly my biggest problem with
Just Cause 3.
Like this review? Please share.
Far
and away, the most frustrating part of Just Cause 3 is the character progression
and gear mod system. In order to add some more progression to the open world
model, a system of mods for weapons and vehicles was added to the game. In
theory this is awesome, giving a structured progression in a game that is
essentially a giant sandbox can help listless players have something to
concentrate on, or help curve the challenge of the game by unlocking tools as
you play. The problem with this concept is that in this game there is one way,
and only one way, to unlock upgrades: through skill challenges. Skill
challenges are not a new concept to open world games, and some of them are even
done well, but the concept of tying 100% of your gear progression to it is
maddening. Many of the more intense challenges are nigh impossible without the
very upgrades you unlock by completing them, and some of the challenges don’t
actually test the abilities related to the items they unlock. You want to be
able to tether more objects together with your zipline tool? You’d better get
good at driving trucks in the game. You want to get more tools to climb higher
with your parachute? You’d better get good at flying through rings in the
wingsuit. Even something as simple as aiming down the sights for better
accuracy is locked until you complete a skill challenge. I ultimately ended up
doing many of these challenges throughout my time with the game, but I'm not
sure I would’ve engaged with the system if there wasn’t a promise of gear
upgrades. It could be considered a positive, I was engaged with parts of the
game I otherwise would not be, but Avalanche really should have found a middle
ground that allowed more unlocks from story missions or territory control, or
at least something more engaging than what they did.
 |
| This would make such a sweet album cover! |
From
a technical perspective, the game has its fair share of issues as well. All
those pretty explosions that would make even Michael Bay blush, they come at a
cost: performance. On consoles especially, the framerate absolutely tanks when
there is a lot going on in an army base. Often your reward for spending your
time carefully placing remote mines to simultaneously cause dozens of
explosions is a framerate loss that makes the game nearly unplayable. Similarly,
the load times in Just Cause 3 also border on atrocious, something that I
thought we had moved away since the PS1 era, but they seem to be making a big
comeback on modern console games. These long load times really felt like the
biggest ‘punishment’ for death or failing a skill challenge, and this often
worked hand in hand with the poor challenge design to make for a very
frustrating experience. It’s tough to criticize the technical, even as
someone who designs software professionally, but it's become an unfortunate
side-effect of modern games with hard publisher deadlines and it really hurt
the experience for me. If you have a beefy gaming PC, I would suggest trying to
play it on there, the technical problems seem less drastic on that platform.
Overall,
I had a lot of fun with my time in the world of Just Cause 3. Seeing how the
systems interact, how the near-infinitely destructible environments and
explosives mesh together is satisfying and at times quite entertaining. If you
come to it looking for a deep and emotional storyline, or a technical
masterpiece you will be sorely disappointed. But, if you are just looking to
slingshot a cow covered in explosives into an army base, fire a rocket launcher
at a train when hanging from the bottom of a moving helicopter, or wingsuit
across a beautiful and verdant landscape, then Just Cause 3 is the game for
you.
Developer: Avalanche Studios
Publisher: Square Enix
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC
Release Date: December 1, 2015
Reviewer’s Platform: PS4
-Justin Wicker