The first time you take to the air in Just Cause is simply sublime. The work that Avalanche has done whilst you’re in the air is extremely impressive; we’ve never seen a game look as good as this when you are up above in the air. The draw distance from up above is absolutely incredible and with breathtaking views it’s certainly one of the best features of the game. Jumping out whilst high above is a lot of fun too, you feel like Superman at times, and having a limitless supply of parachutes is certainly handy. We do wonder though, why Rico Rodriguez runs the way he does, maybe the clothes he is wearing are a little tight.
If you’re a fan of double-entendres then you’re going to love the cut scenes, they are simply full of them. Then again it’s not surprising when your character looks like what James Bond would look like if he were in the adult entertainment industry. There seems to be a really irritating blur in the cut scenes, although we’re not sure if that’s just our overpriced HDTV. For those wondering whether they can enjoy the sights of San Esperito without having to starve themselves to buy a HDTV set, you can relax, despite looking better in HDTV the game still looks great on a standard TV.
Throughout the game you will hear the custom soundtrack play music that corresponds with what’s happening on screen. Although there doesn’t seem to be many different tunes it certainly keeps in with the feel of the game, and makes a change from other Sandbox games available. If the sounds of cars and rebels, rebelling isn’t your thing you can always pop down to the beach and have a listen to the sea, and watch as the speedboats go past. There are times though when there isn’t any music playing at all, this seems mainly when exploring on foot, however if something ‘exciting’ starts to happen, e.g. you decide to jump off a cliff, then the South American Latino beats start to kick in.
San Esperito is pretty huge, in fact its massive, making other sandbox environments seem miniscule in comparison at times. In spite of this the environments are pretty uninspiring down below at times. The city areas are pretty boring, with not much to do other than run around hijacking vehicles and look at the buildings there. The combat system doesn’t help much either, it really is one of the biggest let downs in the game.
When you’re just messing about is when Just Cause is in its prime. Whether it be grappling onto the cars to parasail in the air, stealing helicopters, or leaping from the top of a volcano and parachuting to safety. Not playing the game is in some ways the best way to play Just Cause, jumping out of a car at breakneck speed off a cliff, then jumping out and parachuting down while the car explodes is exhilarating. It’s just a shame there isn’t a lot to do on the Island. Perhaps with some more time spent on the gunplay and some more missions for the story side of things we could be singing the praises of Just Cause a little more than we have.
Just Cause isn’t a terrible game by any means; it’s certainly worth giving a go, even if it’s only a rental. If you’ve played the demo then you will have a good idea of what the full game is like. If you’re tempted to get the game but are unsure, it’s certainly wise to download the demo before you purchase the full game.
Perhaps with a little more time spent on the combat and a longer story, Just Cause could have been a much better title.
