Well folks as promised, here is my Just Cause 3 review. I hope you’ve read some of my impressions of the game so you have an idea of what to expect. After I’ve finally spent a significant amount of time with Just Cause 3, I’m ready to give a full review. One thing I want to mention is that the game is available for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC so you can choose which one is more to you’re liking.

Now one of the things I had talked about when I first bought and tried the game, were the long load times and the constant disconnection from the online servers from Square Enix. It got to the point where I didn’t want to play it for awhile and instead played Need For Speed for a bit. The game developer had finally released a patch to fix (though not everything) a number of issues some of which were the long load times.

I would have to say though that they are still a little long, but just not like what they were before. Another thing to note is that unfortunately for the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game, framerates were definitely an issue often dipping well below the stated 30fps and it just made the game not fun to play because you really wanted to cause so much mayhem and chaos that the developers of JC3 have touted.

If you are fortunate enough to have a powerhouse of a PC and were able to get the PC version of this game, you wouldn’t experience the problems of  the console versions and get to enjoy the game in all its glory.

Now as I mentioned above, the patch released for the console versions did fix some things and did help with some of the severe framerate drops, but didn’t completely get rid of them. You will still encounter them when the action on screen gets very heavy, but it is not as bad as before which is good because I wasn’t entirely sure I could still play the game in its original state when it was released. Ok, I think I’ve talked enough about some of the technical issues here so I’ll get back to the meat and bones of the game.

If you’ve played the previous Just Cause games in the series, you will definitely feel right at home here with Just Cause 3. The game’s main hero is back which is Rico Rodriguez. Now the game supposedly takes place close to 6 years after the events of Just Cause 2.

Rico goes to the fictional island of Medici which is a Mediterranean island and also happens to be Rico’s home. His home unfortunately has come under a very brutal dictatorship which is being run by a General Sebastiano Di Ravello. There is a rebellion on the island that has formed to try and overthrow this evil dictator and some of Rico’s closet friends are part of it. This is basically the main plot of the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are some things that do make a return for this sequel which are the grappling hook and the parachute. I did mention in my impressions of the game that the grappling hook does get upgrades. I love the fact that you can hook onto objects and people and launch them into the air or at other objects.

For example you can take an explosive barrel, launch the other end of the grappling hook to another object (say a transformer), hit the L2 button on the PS4 controller and launch the explosive barrel at the transformer causing a massive explosion. You’ll get to do things like this fairly often in the game as you start to liberate cities, towns, and other infrastructure on the island.

The graphics for Just Cause 3 are not too shabby, but they do look best on a PC (consoles are always behind PCs graphically). Nevertheless, the draw distance is really good and you can see mountains that can be reached way off into the distance. The explosions in the game are spectacular when they happen and the water seems lifelike as well.

The character models are not bad and Rico does look more lifelike than what he did from previous iterations, but there is always room for improvement and I certainly think the developers could’ve done a little better with the character models of the game considering an upcoming game for the PS4 (Uncharted 4) has one of the most impressive and redesigned character’s ever to grace a console.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The island of Medici is quite large and mountainous as well. It is said to be over 400 square miles which include high mountain tops, forests, cities, and towns and even caverns you can explore. That’s not to mention the water which you can swim in and under as well, kind of similar to GTA 5.

The island is divided into 5 different areas each with their own unique terrain and cities and towns. There are random things happening on the island and you’ll sometimes encounter rebel forces taking on some of the dictator’s forces and you can help the rebels out at anytime. There are NPC civilians in the game and unlike the GTA series, you can take out the civilians usually without any serious repercussions.

You can also steal vehicles in the game and there are a decent variety of them that range from scooters, to higher end sports cars and aircraft as well such as helicopters and jets. The vehicles are arcade in nature making them easier to control, but if you don’t want to drive to a location you can fast travel to a location instead (as long as you’ve been there before).

One thing that is very cool is that once you can gain access to certain vehicles and weapons, you can request that they be delivered to your location! That makes it very helpful especially if you’ve been in some big firefights and weren’t able to get more ammo for your weapons or you need access to an attack helicopter for some heavy firepower that is needed before heading into a dangerous area. Be careful though because if you are not near a flat open area, the items may be dropped down a ravine and if you requested any kind of vehicle, it could get heavily damaged.

I forgot to mention about the newest addition to the series which is the wingsuit. It is awesome to use and cool to see Rico fly/glide over long distances. To be honest, it is just much more exhilarating to use combinations of the upgraded grappling hook, parachute, and wingsuit to get around the island. I prefer it much more than driving or even using aircraft (unless I need heavy firepower). Trust me, using all three of those comes in very handy and can get you out of intense situations quickly especially when you are liberating areas or doing some missions to get you closer to removing the dictator from power.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The controls of the game are pretty straightforward and with the press of a button, the grappling hook comes out, or another one will bring out the wingsuit and one more for the parachute. You also have access to a weapon wheel which is the directional buttons on the left side of the controller. You can only carry 4 weapons at a time which can range from handguns and grenades, to bigger explosives, to bigger guns and a rocket launcher.

The R2 trigger will fire whichever gun you choose to use or throw a grenade. R1 is used for other explosives such as planting them and then pressing R1 again to detonate them. You’ll definitely have to use them in order to take out some of the bigger infrastructure the dictator is in possession of.

Should you get this game for the PS4? I will be honest here. If you have a PS4 and also have a good gaming PC, you would do better to get the PC version. The graphics are more impressive (as long as you have a very good graphics card capable of the highest graphical settings) and the game is more stable than the versions on both consoles. My graphics card unfortunately is too old to be able to handle today’s games on the PC so the PS4 version is what I go with.

The graphics though are still not too bad, and the recent patch has helped but not totally eliminated the severe frame rate drops, but it does make it playable and a lot of stuff can happen on screen sometimes without any severe frame rate drops. I am overall glad that I bought it for the PS4 and I love the freedom and exhilaration of using Rico’s tools and contraptions at hand. The wingsuit is a very nice addition to the series and you’ll be using it quite often to glide nicely across the massive island. I give this game 3 out of 5 stars. If it were just as polished as the PC version I wouldn’t hesitate to rate it higher.

Where should you buy this game? Amazon right now has Just Cause 3 for the PS4 going for $27.98 and if you’re a Prime member, you get free 2 day shipping. GameStop and Best Buy are also great places to buy Just Cause 3.

I do like Best Buy’s Gamers Club membership where if you are a member, you can get 20-30% off of new titles and even a percentage off of used games. GameStop has good deals too and a membership of its own where you can also get a percentage off of new and used games.

The nearest GameStop and Best Buy to me is about 30 to 40 minutes away so it is more convenient for me to purchase it online and have it shipped to my house.

I do plan a video series of Just Cause 3 that will be a walkthrough of sorts from beginning to end and the different things you can find and do on the island as well. You will hear commentary on some of it from me as I go through the different areas of the island to liberate them and gain access to new vehicles and weapons as well as new challenges that can be unlocked. I’ve also got a 6 minute video below where I try to liberate a town and the action starts to get intense! Stay tuned as I will be posting my first video in the series very soon! If you already bought JC3, feel free to post your impressions or review of the game.