Just Cause 3 Reviews
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.
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.
JC3 is lethargic and dull – and while there's always something to do, there's no real desire to actually do it.
Maybe further down the road, or as part of a sale, it would be worth picking up just to mess around in the world and go crazy…and perhaps by then the technical issues will be fixed.
Attempts to break from the mould are met with technical issues, restrictive missions, and a severe lack of respect for your time. There's some genuine fun to be found among the wreckage, but the experience as a whole will likely leave you hungry for more than Just Cause 3 can ever offer.
Just Cause 3 quickly becomes repetitive and you will find yourself asking “Is it over yet?”. The potential for a great game is here but the end product leaves much to be desired.
Just Cause 3 is a toy box full of fun. However it won't take you long to realize a lot of these toys are broken.
Ambitious in both scale and scope but sadly is just too much for consoles
Fun in small bursts, but overwhelmingly mediocre
Rico Rodriguez goes back to his homeland for a massive open-world killing spree but you'll get bored before seeing it all.
The additions of the wingsuit, dual tethering grapple hook, unlimited C4 and regenerating health system are all fantastic additions that would've made Just Cause 3 a breakout game in the franchise, if not for the dull story, repetitive story missions and technical issues ranging from long load times, to poor framerate and to constant disconnections for a single player only game.
From its intense firefights to its wanton destruction and carmageddon, Just Cause 3 has all the hallmarks of a classic action movie - it's just a shame the end result is more Van Damme in quality than vintage Schwarzenegger or Stallone.
The latest instalment in the brash action series provides a whole Mediterranean country to blow up – but there are problems in paradise
When you liberate an enemy stronghold Rico sometimes says, "That was fun - let's do it again." This feels like a perfect summary for the game: it is 15 minutes of stupid fun on repeat. But that barely matters when you are firing remote-detonated cows at a military compound filled with the red stuff.
Frustrating controls, a bland world, and various technical issues stop Just Cause 3 from being the mindless action classic it clearly wants to be.
The core action is explosively silly in all the best ways, but the controls, missions, and story structure are all disappointingly underdeveloped.
A chaotic action romp, tragically let down by repetition and padding. There's fun to be had, but all too little variety in its huge open world.
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?
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.
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.