'Just Cause 3' Hands-On Impressions: Explosions, Wingsuits And Repetition

Steven Schneider, Tech Times 03 December 2015, 04:12 pm

Just Cause 2 is one of those games that's happy with being a video game. It never needed to tell a complex story, it never needed to tackle some modern-day philosophical issue...Just Cause 2 was a game about blowing stuff up, and that simplicity is what made Just Cause 2 felt like a near-perfect example of how to make an open-world game.

Now, five years later, Just Cause 3 is finally here - and, at first glance, it looks a lot like a repeat of the game that came before it. Just Cause 3 is all about blowing stuff up in a massive open world...but so was Just Cause 2. Sure, it's prettier, but it also raises some serious questions: namely, what makes Just Cause 3 stand out from its predecessor?

Previews and trailers may make it seem like Just Cause 3 is just another repeat, but that's far from the truth: while the game doesn't necessarily revolutionize the genre, there's no question that Just Cause 3 is the best game in the series to date.

Unfortunately, the story in Just Cause 3 isn't very good.

Rico Rodriguez, the dictator-toppling super-spy, returns as the game's protagonist, and he's the exact same caricature that he's always been. Supporting characters don't fare much better, as they're either obnoxious, off-putting or bad stereotypes (sometimes all at once). There are a few standouts - Rico's friend Mario has a few chuckle-worthy lines sprinkled throughout the story - but the game's cast is pretty weak in general.

If there's one character that does manage to stand above the rest, it's the game's main villain. General Di Ravello is the ultimate scumbag James Bond villain: sure, he's a bit generic, but watching a bad guy be a bad guy just for the sake of being the bad guy is genuinely entertaining, and the fact that he gets quite a bit more screen-time than Just Cause 2′s weak antagonist keeps the story from being outright awful. Even the collectible-based side-story detailing Di Ravello's rise to power is worth listening to, just to hear him speak.

Aside from the characters themselves, the moment-to-moment storyline isn't all that great either. Again, we can't talk about the game's ending, but Just Cause 3 starts with a flashy montage of explosions and some bad exposition about a revolution...and it never gets better from there.

That being said, if you're playing Just Cause 3 for its narrative prowess, you're kind of missing the point.

The story of Just Cause 3 may come up short, but the gameplay has been improved in just about every conceivable way. The overall structure from Just Cause 2 hasn't changed much - most of the game is still about clearing out settlements and blowing stuff up - but how players go about doing that is better all across the board.

Gunplay has received several notable improvements: not only are there more guns to play around with, but players won't have to waste time upgrading every single gun, and ammo is far more plentiful this time around. The same thing goes for explosives, as rocket and grenade launchers are much easier to find - plus, Rico now carries an unlimited number of C4 charges, meaning that players will never have to worry about how they'll blow up that next fuel tank.

In terms of getting around, Just Cause 3 makes it easier to ignore vehicles than ever before. That's not to say that the game's vehicular roster is bad, but the combination of infinite parachutes and the wingsuit basically eliminate the need for traditional transportation. Granted, they do take some getting used to (especially for those who are used to Just Cause 2), but the thrill of flying through a tunnel or crossing an island without touching the ground is unparalleled.

Outside of main missions, players can take on two types of side activities: Encounters and Challenges. Encounters are random events that pop up from time to time when you're not on a mission, and are basically short distractions. Challenges, on the other hand, are far more important: completing them unlocks Gears, which can then be traded in for Mods. These Mods open up new tech and abilities - while it's entirely possible to play through the game without unlocking any of them, there are more than a few Mods worth going out of your way to grab.

However, even if the game is easier to play and the majority of content on offer is great, that doesn't save Just Cause 3 from getting repetitive quickly. Even after a few hours, it's easy to feel like the game has already shown everything it has to offer: sure, blowing stuff up is fun, but after a few hours of doing nothing but that, even gigantic explosions can seem routine. Whereas most open-world games are designed for marathon sessions, Just Cause 3 feels like it was built to be played in short bursts: clear a settlement, fly around, blow stuff up, and log out before it gets boring.

From a presentation standpoint, Just Cause 3 has its ups and downs. The art direction on display is fantastic: Medici is an absolutely gorgeous place, and it's worth taking a break from the chaos to just glide over the hilltops or go for a relaxing swim. Most of the effects are also strong: dust, sparks, even flowers blowing in a breeze are great. Sound design is also strong, even if the game's voice acting is a few steps below its contemporaries.

All that beauty comes at a price, however: on the Xbox One, Just Cause 3 buckles regularly. Frame-rates are anything but stable, and loading times can be atrocious: just booting up the game and getting back into a mission can take minutes at a time, and players will become intimately familiar with the loading screen.

...but that doesn't necessarily matter. Not when the explosions are this magnificent.

It may sound like hyperbole, but Just Cause 3 features the finest virtual pyrotechnics ever. The game's explosions are so loud, so visceral, so beautiful that they actually make the game's performance-based shortcomings easier to expect. Everything about them: the size, the look, the colors, the sound, it's all perfect. Watching a single grenade cascade into a massive, settlement-clearing wave of devastation never, ever gets old - while they don't necessarily fix the game's problems, Just Cause 3′s explosions really do help pull the game together.

Just Cause 3 is a strange game to recommend. While most other games struggle to offer up enough content for the price of admission, Just Cause 3 is overflowing with challenges to complete, places to explore and buildings to destroy...but whether or not you'll actually want to is another thing entirely.

Any player's enjoyment of Just Cause 3 will come down to how much repetition they can handle: if you need a game to constantly change and evolve throughout its duration, you may end up disappointed. Then again, if you're fine with flying around like a superhero and destroying a small Mediterranean country piece by piece, Just Cause 3 is the best possible way to do just that.