Just Cause 3 Reviews
Predictably enjoyable, Just Cause 3 is as big and ballsy as its forebear, but doesn't push the envelope quite enough. Yet, if it's action and explosions you seek, then look no further. Just Cause 3 is still the most fun you can have with a gun, a grapple and infinite parachutes. Boom.
As long as you don't think too hard when playing Just Cause 3, there's still plenty to like. After three iterations, however, it's really time for the series to grow up a bit more and expand the nature of the world and its leading man. Just Cause 3 can be a ton of fun, but the lack of just a little more depth causes its appeal to burn out far quicker than it should.
In the end, Just Cause 3 does not make as much of an impact on the genre that it's predecessor did. But just because that is the case, that does not mean that this is a bad game, it's far from that, it's a good game that knows what it wants to be. There is bundles of fun here.
In a game wherein so much rests on smooth technical performance, Just Cause 3 feels like it could have used more time in development. It's an enjoyable romp bogged down by these issues. If you have higher than normal tolerance for long loading times, intrusive online connectivity, and erratic frame rate, you'll find Just Cause 3 worth its day one price tag. For the rest of us, waiting until there's clarity on these problems is advised.
Rico's back, with some nifty new tricks up his sleeve, and some great refinements, however, a couple of technical issues with frame rate and lengthy load times sully the fun experience that's waiting for you.
Avalanche Studio's creation doesn't care about the "are videogames art?" dispute, it doesn't give a dirty rodent's behind about realism, and it doesn't takes itself too serious. It's an unapologetic tribute to the best adolescent boy fantasy of all time, besides a gaming session with a young, black stockings-wearing Dolly Parton, which is none other than being a flying, bullet-eating cocktail of comic book superheroes, and all this with the sex appeal of a Mediterranean Nathan Drake. Sure, all this destruction and mayhem lacks the required depth and motivation inherent in other sandbox titles, and yes, it can all become extremely boring, but while this ultimately more of a somewhat flawed toy and not a "true" videogame, it's an extremely addictive and enjoyable one at that, nonetheless.
Long load times, sluggish frame-rate and awful shooting would usually be the end of an action game. Just Cause 3 just about gets away with it though thanks to the hugely open approach to carnage with the likes of grappling hooks, parachutes, wingsuits, rocket launchers, infinite C4, tanks, choppers and the freedom to do whatever you want with them.
Just Cause 3 really serves its fan base. It delivers on the cavalcade of destruction with a few new tools to make it fun. It also does this in a rather large open world that is more populated than before but not interestingly so. It can start to feel monotonous after a while, and the presentation may not exactly be top-notch stuff, but the load times really dampen the experience. If you can live with all of that and just want some mindless gaming fun, Just Cause 3 fits the bill.
Even with the long load times, annoying pop up messages from the ranking server login, having to play challenges to level up or even wondering why I am trying to free a country that from all appearances does not need to be freed, Just Cause 3 keeps compelling me to log in and play. Maybe it's the ability grapple onto enemy vehicles, toss the driver out like a wet dishrag and then drive it into a fuel depot.
Just Cause 3 is a great game to blast around in, due to the amount of fun, unrealistic antics the player can get up to. But constant technical issues - although most commonly just drops in frame rates during heavy-effect scenes - bullet-sponge AI, and repetitive missions, make the game a bit of a drag to play for long sessions. However those 1-5 hour stints when you get the time? Just a bundle of mad chaos, explosions, and genuine fun (though lightly sprinkled with small annoyances). Why do I like blowing up stuff so much? Just Cause..
IF you can run it, Just Cause 3 is an amazing experience, packed with big explosions, exciting gameplay, and enjoyment. But the IF is an actual question as this has performance issues.
Just Cause 3 is like fast food. The game has the potential to be addictive, but it's lacking in some aspects. Compared to the other open world games, it also lacks depth and variety, but on the other side provides a set of fun toys like a destructive environment and a physical engine designed to maximize bloodshed.
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But aside from some pretty sights and a mostly good storyline, this open world sandbox is disappointingly empty, and makes for a poor explosion simulator thanks to some seriously annoying frame rate problems.
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, if we were to go back several years, would have been a pretty darn good game. I mean just look at your predecessors. The problem lies in it being released in 2015, and the rules that made up open world sandbox games has changed pretty dramatically. Worlds are not just worlds for your chaos, but an interactive experience. It is too simple.
The explosions are amazing, and it's fun in short bursts, but Just Cause 3 is ultimately an unremarkable, shallow experience.
Just Cause 3 is okay. It's far from great, but it's not bad either. It's just a decent waste of time. You can expect to mine at least twenty hours from it, with far more on top if you get really into it. Personally, I feel there are far better ways to waste your time, but there are far worse too. The wing suit's cute, at least.
After a few hundred times, even the most fantastic version of blowing something up gets tiring. It's an appealing action because it isn't complicated, but the least complicated thrills become banal far more quickly than complex ones. Just Cause 3 is engaging because it gets the first half of this so fully.
Just Cause 3 had the potential to be a stunning and fast paced open world game, but the loading and frame rate make it frustrating to sustain a lengthy play session.
Just Cause 3's shortcomings are so painful because Rico Rodriguez was expected to become a modern superhero. He's not. He's just another guy who has grown complacent behind his extraordinary set of powers. On a base level his (and by extension Just Cause 3's) explosive areas of expertise remain impressive, but his application falls well short of expectations and ultimately becomes inert. What good are the world's greatest explosions when you stop caring to see them?