Just Cause 3 Reviews
Just Cause 3 pretty much raises explosions and physics-based destruction to the level of an art form, and a few annoyances with gunplay and repetition don't do much to detract from that.
Just Cause 3 delivers in everything that it set out to do and doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not. It's a solid and light-hearted game that offers a sprawling open-world playground for you to explore and destroy in as many creative and humorous ways as you can imagine. There are bugs that need to be addressed, it lacks the depth of other games in its genre, and it can be repetitive over long periods of play, but in short bursts of a couple of hours or so there's no hiding from the fact that being given the freedom to blow things up to your heart's content provides some of the most chaotic fun you'll find on the Xbox One right now.
Just Cause 3 gets away with more stunts and high-flying hijinks that, let's be honest, even Hollywood can't get away with much anymore. Come for the explosions, but stay for the, well, stay for even more explosions.
Just Cause 3 is a big sandbox that lets you run around with a gun, a grappling hook, and a wing suit and blow up anything or anyone you want.
Imagine a roller coaster that stops for maintenance every 30 feet and doesn't allow you to exit, even after you've already been around the track a few dozen times.
Thanks to over-the-top game mechanics that encourage not just mayhem but also creative ways of unleashing them, the game can be a hoot to play for action lovers who have imagination and a sense of humor. Some parts are admittedly shallow and the game could use a more memorable plot. If you like campy action, however, Just Cause 3 is for you.
Tying all of this together are the beautiful visuals that stand in perfect contrast against the ugliness of corruption and the ash of flames. Just Cause 3 takes place in a fictional Mediterranean country and, just like you probably imagined, it is gorgeous.
While Just Cause 3 offers more of the same action blockbuster excitement of its predecessors, it also doesn't do enough new to make it stand out from its contemporaries.
In spite of some technical setbacks and repetitive tasks, Just Cause 3 delivers the kind of stress-relieving destruction to get you through the doldrums. It's easily the best looking game of the series thus far, and the awesome gameplay will have you continue to think up ways to bring down enemies. You're due a holiday vacation, and Rico's trip will certainly fulfill the need.
If you are willing to overlook the long load times, frame drops, and occasional graphic pop-in, you will find a highly enjoyable game. Just Cause 3 has its problems, but it's so damn fun you may not even care.
Why would I want to drive a car or shoot an assault rifle? I just dropped a tank out of a cargo plane and, while surfing on said tank, blew up a jet that was in pursuit with a rocket launcher.
Just Cause 3 can be a rather fun game, but it's not the sequel we were hoping for. There are some very impressive things to be found within its large-scale and explosive quest, and on its insanely large world of Medici, but technical problems and dated mechanics hold it back from living up to its potential.
Just Cause 3 lives up to the series' standard of high quality explosiveness by exhibiting just how a sandbox game should operate, with chaos and variety.
Just Cause 3 is genuinely fun most of the time, but it's the periods where its not that hurt it most. Add to that some mystifying design decisions around progression and upgrades, and you've got a game that attempts to go bigger than its predecessors while forgetting some of the elements that made them so good in the first pace. A fun, albeit flawed game.
Just Cause 3 understands what the essence of the series is – impressively chaotic sandbox action – and it duly provides mountains of it. Just don't expect too much from the story.
Just Cause 3 is an absolutely functional, totally pedestrian sandbox game which just so happens to launch at a time when the old models of open-world structure and design feel more overused than ever. Every standard issue, familiar mechanic and conceit is present here – if we needed one more argument for a new type of sandbox, one that doesn't prioritise or even feature the tropes and clichés we've come to expect, this is it. It's fine. It's there. It's benign. Even if you haven't played it, you've already played it.
Just Cause 3 doesn't hold too many surprises, particularly if you're familiar with the previous titles in the series. But it offers an almost unlimited number of ways to create your own flavour of mayhem, and is a source of constant "did you just SEE that?" moments. If the next Michael Bay movie features a dude hanging upside from a helicopter while blowing up a bridge with a missile launcher, you'll know where it came from.
Meet The Phantom Pain's disposable, delinquent cousin, dedicated to the art of blowing things up as loudly and as frequently as possible. Just Cause 3 doesn't have the depth or richness of the year's big open-world blockbusters, but it has a fantastic set of toys, some great destructible environments and a physics engine designed for maximum carnage. More importantly, it seems hell-bent on making sure you have a blast while everything goes bang. You'll love it, feel slightly guilty about loving it, but keep on coming back for more.
Rico Rodriguez goes back to his homeland for a massive open-world killing spree but you'll get bored before seeing it all.