Just Cause 3 is a 2015 action adventure game developed by Avalanche Studios and published by Square Enix. Announced on November 11, 2014, it is the third game in the Just Cause series and the sequel to 2010’s Just Cause 2. It was released worldwide in December 2015, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Set six years after its predecessor, Just Cause 3 follows series protagonist Rico Rodriguez as he returns to his homeland of Medici, a fictional Mediterraneanisland country under the control of dictator General Sebastiano Di Ravello. The game is played from a third-person perspective and allows players to explore the island of Medici in an open world environment. Just Cause 3 received mixed reviews. Critics praised its open-ended gameplay, destruction mechanics, and emphasis on player agency. Criticism was directed both at its narrative, which some considered clichéd and uninspired, and also its performance issues, particularly on the console versions of the game.
A sequel, Just Cause 4, was released in December 2018.
Gameplay
A screenshot of an ongoing liberation of a town
Just Cause 3 is an action-adventure game with a third-person perspective. It is set in an open world environment on the fictional Mediterranean island of Medici. The world size is 400 square miles (1,000 km2), similar to that of the setting of Just Cause 2.[1] However, its volumetric terrain has increased to allow more verticality – as a result of this, it is possible for the player to explore caverns and scale buildings more effectively and realistically.[2] The game’s world is composed of five major biomes, with each having unique landmarks and landscapes.[3]
A variety of tools are provided to players for traversing the game’s environments. Just Cause 2‘s signature features – the grappling hook and parachute – re-appear with improved mechanics. The focus on chaos and exaggerated physics also remain.[2] A new wingsuit, which is permanently equipped by protagonist Rico Rodríguez, is featured in the game and allows the player to glide across the world more quickly.[4] When the player reaches the ground while using the wingsuit, they can use the grappling hook and parachute to draw themselves upward again.[5] Players can switch between using the parachute and wingsuit freely.[6] In addition to the equipment provided, a wide range of weapons, like assault rifles, missile launchers, shotguns, RPGs,[7] and vehicles, such as fighter aircraft, planes, ships, and exotic cars, are included in the game.[8] These vehicles can be customized by the player and can be used as weapons.[9]
Other game mechanics have been overhauled and updated. For example, players can tether multiple objects together with the grappling hook[8] and can increase the amount of available tethers by activating in-game ‘mods’, which are earned by completing challenges. Parachuting is also more stable and allows players to shoot enemies from the air.[10] The player can grapple nearly every object and non-playable character in the game with the grappling hook.[11] In-game currency has been left out of Just Cause 3, making supply drops more easily accessible. However, this affects the game’s difficulty; for example, if the player chooses to ride a tank, the enemy AI matches the power of it and adopts weapons that are able to take down a tank.[12] Another new feature is giving the character an infinite amount of “GE-64”, a Bavarium-based planted explosive similar to C4. Players can deploy three units of GE-64 at a time, and up to five with the in-game ‘mods’. In Just Cause 2 players were able to stand on top of moving vehicles but only in the center; in Just Cause 3, players are allowed to move around freely on vehicles.[6] Players are expected to liberate hostile military bases and towns featured in the game, which thereafter can be used as fast travel locations.[11]
Creativity and destruction are heavily emphasized in Just Cause 3. Many objects in the game, including structures like bridges and statues, can be destroyed in a variety of different ways.[5][13] A new mechanic called Rebel Drop allows the player to pause the game to select equipment, weapons, and vehicles. The selected objects are then dropped in a supply cache.[14] The game also features Challenge Modes. It includes mini-games like wingsuit races and the destruction frenzy mode, in which new objectives and challenges are unlocked when the player destroys an enemy base.[9][15]
Despite the multiplayer mode of Just Cause 2 being well received by players, the game only featured asynchronous multiplayer, in which challenges and leaderboards were included instead of any cooperative or competitive multiplayer mode, as the studio wanted to focus their manpower, time and resources in creating the game’s world.
