When Dan called this the “best. game. ever” back in 2015, I feel it was from a selling standpoint instead of what he actually felt.
Watching his now completed series of the game’s story arc from start to completion, I can see he has his own dislikes. I too, have mine.
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Title: Just Cause 3
ESRB Rating: M
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Avalanche Studios
Price Tag: (Unknown how much I paid for it(got it late 2016 when it was on sale))
Release Date: December 1st, 2015
Game Engine: *unknown*
Available for these other systems: PS4, XBox One
Number of Players: Single (can compete against friends via leaderboards, such as highest fall, or most time surviving through Heat Level 5)
Genre: 3PS, Action-Adventure
Game Features: Rico’s back for more as he arrives in his homeland of Medici, and with new toys to cause even more chaos (such as the Wingsuit, and the modified Grapple that can fire tethers(which can be used to string up enemies, or make fuel tanks hug and explode together)).
Story: Six years have passed since the release of Just Cause 2. Rico decides to head to his homeland (with Sheldon), “Medici”, after (I assume) hearing more unrest with another dictator (named ‘General Sebastiano Di Ravello’) oppressing the people(this time involving his best friend ‘Mario Frigo’). Once arriving there, their plane comes under attack. After Rico manages to take down a few SAM sites homed in on taking the plane down, Rico gets knocked off the plane and meets up with his friend (after a fierce gun fight with DRM forces).
Main Character: For the ones who have never played Just Cause 2, go and do that to learn more about the main character.
Side Characters: Since Rico has no need for a sidekick (as he’s a one man army), I guess a mention would go to his best friend Mario Frigo. Not too bright (and tends to be a jokester), but his heart is in the right place.
Enemies: So there have been theories that the enemy force is based off of a fight with Ubisoft and it’s overuse of DRM(Digital Rights Management), how the player is liberating towns from the ‘DRM’, and this is causing more people (aka gamers) to rebel against them.
Combat/Health System: This is where the game really shines (and has since Just Cause 2). Rico has a plethora of toys (dual weld pistols/SMGs/shotguns/assault rifles/RPG’s/FOW’s/and DLC-only weapons) to liberate military bases and towns from the DRM.
Just like the previous game, Rico’s job is to blow up anything that’s red and gray and color(and are better seen at night as they show a red light). How he does it, depends on the player. He can tether two fuel tanks together and make them hug until exploding, place C4 and look away (as cool guys don’t look at explosions), or fill a generator full of lead until it explodes.
Health works by listening to a heartbeat sound (and the screen going red on the sides). When the screen suddenly flashes white and the player barely hears anything, they need to get out of there or risk death. If they die, all enemies are reset (but all chaos objects destroyed before, remain destroyed).
Maps/Levels/Chapters: Taking place in an area claimed to be the same size of the game world as Just Cause 2, Medici has (without any DLCs) three main islands (or Regions), with several smaller islands(including off-shore oil rigs).
Any one of these can be explored at anytime.
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What I liked;
-You can stop enemies from calling for reinforcements (by simply killing anyone trying to radio for help).
-The big island is absolutely beautiful with its pine trees, and it has trains.
-The trains on the big island can be destroyed (so can bridges). Bridges can also be destroyed on other islands. This doesn’t reward chaos, but it does fuck up the AI in thinking the bridge is still there(which is hilarious).
-Main characters of the story felt believable.
-If the player manages to kill everyone that was called in (including stopping NPCs calling for reinforcements), they will suddenly be listed as having ‘Escaped’ the enemies, regardless of Heat level.
What I didn’t like;
-Vehicles spawned by Rebel Drops have an (unexplained by the story) time limit before the player is allowed to ask for that same vehicle.
-HUD directional icons are really small and easy to miss.
-I don’t like how the whole ‘Gear MODS’ mechanic is gated behind forced challenges.
-The final boss has little to no effort put into it (compared to the rest of the game).
-Kill final boss, credits roll. Sandbox mode unlocked.. DRM vehicles still active?? Is this a ‘joke’ to gamers that “you cannot defeat DRM”?
-Towns with ‘Listening Posts’ aren’t a fun way as a step to liberate it (as it’s a ‘beat the clock’ scenario).
-Burial Tombs are extremely uninteresting (the player cannot enter them to have a new area to explore. They just hit E on a door and that’s it).
Neutral things;
-I couldn’t seem to grasp the story until later on.
-The player cannot dual weld one-handed items anymore (only pistols/SMGs). Aka, no more dual weld grenade launchers. 😛
-Enemy NPC Dispatch either spams “We are sending tanks/helicopters/boats to your location” or “Call off search! We lost him!” when attacking a base from the air.
Final Opinions/Thoughts;
For days (since the 23rd of last month) I’ve been debating if it’s worth working on this review (let alone post it) as I’m 100% sure I’ll get hate mail (for not appreciating the mechanics). Don’t get me wrong, I do love flying around blowing up chaos objects (and pissing off the DRM out in the open by blowing up their vehicles). But what has annoyed me since Just Cause 2, is when they send unending vehicles after you(especially in the higher Heat levels).
There is thankfully a way to stop this (by killing everyone before more vehicles show up). However this doesn’t always work and they will be in ‘Searching’ mode even through everyone’s dead. Still, it does feel satisfying when it happens.
I had major (nearly unplayable at times) issues with studdering and turning lag, due to my once beefy now weak CPU (where no one can help me optimize the game(via Nvidia Experience) as it’s that old). I also had a few crashes (granted, I was using a trainer to circumvent the Gear MOD restrictions).
All and all, I’m NOT saying Just Cause 3 is a bad game! I have never said that. It’s a good game…that has a lot of things that annoy me. But it also has things that I like.