Just Cause Review

Review by IanBear

Just Cause for a game?

Just Cause has some great ideas about it. The guys at Avalanche studios are obviously big fans of the James Bond franchise. In the game world, they have clearly played a lot of Far Cry, GTA and Mercenaries. They then decided to mash all of these principles together. Avalanche have created a game with the lush tropical world of Far Cry, the size, (actually it’s a lot bigger than GTA, bigger even than Oblivion!) scope and freedom of GTA San Andreas, the outlandish explosions and over-the-top action of Mercenaries, and the stunts and likeable, womanising hero (albeit a Latin hero, rather than British) similar to the Bond franchise, and a story fit for a Bond film. These elements sound like they make up an awesome game, but does the premise really work?

The Plot Thickens

The story idea behind Just cause is pretty outrageous, but it’s pretty good anyway. Basically, our hero, Rico Rodrigues is a CIA agent called to the small Caribbean island of San Esperito to help overthrow the evil dictator who is threatening the USA with his newly researched nuclear arsenal. The story missions see you doing outrageous things like jumping from 10,000ft to infiltrate a nuclear silo, to blowing up power stations and breaking into prisons to help your friends in the guerrilla forces. The sheer over-the-top nature of the characters and plot really helps the game; it makes you feel like you really are in an over-blown action film. It’s actually quite similar to the end of the 80s classic, ‘Commando’ with Arnold Schwarzenegger. You generally get to kill hundreds of people and blow loads of crap up, by yourself, without getting scratched! The manual is really cool, it’s like a tourist brochure, and is filled with comedy adverts and the like, but it tells you a lot about the plot, and is funny and informative.

A Massive World

Just Cause is HUGE. It comes in at over 600 sq. kilometres, but you can also go up. Steal a helicopter or a plane, and you could fly so high that if you jumped out and opened your parachute immediately, it would take you an hour to land! There isn’t much variation in the scenery, but there is enough (and it looks so awesome!) that you won’t be getting the feeling that you want to fly off to a completely different area. The fact that there is a well implemented time system that flows nicely from day to night with jaw-droppingly gorgeous sunsets and sunrises probably help to ease this problem!

Graphicly, the world is just amazing. There is no pop-up or fogging, and the level of detail and realism even when travelling at speed or at height is simply stunning. It is at least a match for Oblivion in most respects. The forests are really dense, and there is also grass and other objects being rendered from distance, yet the frame rate is a silky smooth 60fps, with barely any slowdown. The water effects are particularly stunning, and driving a speedboat, jumping over waves with the incredible blue water streaming past, and the music thumping is enough to send shivers down the spine! The only problems are that Rico, our hero, has few animations. This results in him running like John Cleese in one of his ‘Ministry of Silly Walks’ sketches from Monty Python. Also, the cars and many of the NPCs look just like higher-resolution versions of the Xbox/PS2 version, which is disappointing considering how good everything else looks. The other problem is with the FMV cut-scenes. They are really, really terrible, and look like PS1 FMV. Using the beautiful in-game engine would have been a far better idea. At least they serve to tell the story well, but it’s still disappointing.

Sound is used well in the game. There are pretty good jungle sounds when you are out in that kind of area, sweeping waves when near the sea, and the normal bustle when you are in a city area. Mostly, the game just lets you listen to these effects, which is fine. However, when Rico is in danger, or fighting, or moving at speed, different types of music kick in. These pieces are pretty good, up-tempo Latin-style beats, and they serve their purpose of raising the tension nicely.

Gameplay issues

Generally, Just Cause is a joy to play. The action and stunts are really cool, and pretty satisfying. The story missions are the right length, and whilst of a moderate difficulty, are neither too easy, nor are they frustrating. However, story mode only lasts between 5-7 hours, and that’s really not long enough. The side-missions also feel really tacked-on. They are designed to make the game easier by giving you more places to save and better equipment, but you don’t need them, as the game is really not that difficult anyway. Most of the missions you have to do to get this stuff just repeat over and over, so they get pretty tired once you have done about 10-20 of them. You might want to go for the achievement and do 50, but I couldn’t be bothered. It’s the same story with the liberations; done a couple, done them all. Races aren’t races, as you do them by yourself, and so on. This is a real shame, as there are some 300 side missions in total, and they would flesh the game out considerably if they were good, but especially when compared to story mode, they suck pretty bad. This means that you will probably get bored after 10-15 hours of play, which is a shame because in that time, you won’t have really had a chance to explore all of the islands in the game.

There are also some bugs that further spoil the experience. The last mission was bugged for me, and I had to reset my Xbox before I could complete it. I also got all of the takeover achievement points by accident due to a glitch. On several occasions I started falling through levels, and sometimes after you steal a helicopter it becomes un-flyable and you plummet to your death. Whilst none of these issues are terminal, they certainly detract from the overall experience of playing the game.

Conclusion

Just Cause could have been so much better. It has really good ideas behind it, and a lot is actually executed well. It has a gorgeous world, great action, and a good hero, but the problems drag it down. A sandbox game like this you really expect to get about 25-30 hours out of, at least, but I was bored after less than half that. The story mode is great fun, but way too short. There is also no real incentive to do any of the side missions, but in a way, that’s no bad thing, because they are pretty boring and repetitive. The numerous bugs are also irritating, and probably could have been removed with either a patch/a bit more development, but gamers got neither. Just Cause is DEFINITELY worth playing, but you might as well just play the story, so rent it, rather than buy it, and you will have a blast well worth the cost of the rental!