Just Cause 3 Review

Technical issues galore hold back a joyous action movie experience

By: Ryan Ramakrishnan

Reviewed on PlayStation 4

Avalanche Studios’ goal to let players explode everything in sight makes “Just Cause 3” an extremely fun game to mess around in yet the developer’s failure to fix plentiful bugs and glitches create a less than stellar experience post-opening despite that exciting gameplay.

“Just Cause 3” was always too ambitious with its ideas of triggering explosions in every possible way, causing ultimate destruction to everything from vehicles to water towers. The game at its best is like living out your favorite action movie, playing as a charming killing machine in Rico Rodriguez. At its worst however, “Just Cause 3” will lose your interest through lengthy loading screens, significant frame rate drops and bugs in general, all far too unfortunate due to the quality in sheer entertainment Avalanche Studios offers in its gameplay.


Story
“Just Cause 3” is the type of game you play for the fun, mindless combat and not the plot. Save for a few thrilling moments in the plot’s execution, Avalanche Studios’ story of a dictatorship being overthrown is fun and relatively interesting on paper but with every cutscene, despite them looking and sounding pretty good, I just wanted to get back in on the action. Rico Rodriguez’s adventure of overthrowing said dictatorship with his friend Mario’s resistance is overall fine; it isn’t the most amazing story I have experienced in a game but it’ll do.

Gameplay
Where “Just Cause 3” succeeds when it’s not experiencing technical issues is the entertaining action. It is a joy to play once getting behind the somewhat odd controls and aforementioned technical issues.

“Just Cause 3” is all about taking the action to new levels by focusing greatly, if not entirely, on explosions. First and foremost, Avalanche Studios provides the player with an unlimited amount of C4. With the ease of a button press to stick your C4 anywhere and then another click to explode it on your cue, you’ll be able to blow things up anytime anywhere.

Besides the C4, “Just Cause 3’s” artillery of weapons and explosives include but are not limited to multiple assault rifles, machine guns, shotguns, rocket launchers, grenades and grenade launchers. The weapon variety is fairly open overall; however, with those options at hand, I rarely wanted to change it up.

The problem is the gunplay doesn’t feel as good as the rest of the action “Just Cause 3” offers. Aiming by pushing in the right joystick and an oddly lacking amount of power you feel with standard guns make it far less ideal than you’d hope.


Fortunately the explosives you can throw have quite the impact and quickly too, similar to that of the C4. Coupling those with your ability to pull things down and break them apart using tethers makes for some of the most fun an action game has offered me. “Just Cause 3” lets you attach two tethers to enemies, vehicles and plenty of things in the environment. From there, you can easily pull them to wherever you wish and more often than not, thanks to the game’s decision to make everything fragile, blow them up instantly.

These tethers work alongside the grappling hook and wingsuit, making for some amazing experiences in the game’s world. You have the ability to launch yourself from anywhere, using distance and height in the world to your advantage to get a nice gliding trip in instantaneously. The wingsuit allows for some smooth gliding, which is great for a multitude of reasons. For starters, it allows for a beautiful flight over the waters of Medici; however more importantly and progressively, wingsuit gliding lets you escape a tough firefight or explosion quickly or get from point A to point B in a decent amount of time in comparison to more traditional means of travel like cars.

Speaking of cars, there are vehicles driving around “Just Cause 3” all of the time that you can steal easily or call in for yourself. Once speed is picked up, driving can feel pretty good; however, in comparison to many other open world games with driving, it is just fine. I rarely wanted to be in a car though thanks to the pure fun that gliding around the world brought, acting as something a lot more fresh than driving average vehicles.

“Just Cause 3’s” mission structure is, as you’d expect, all about blowing things up more often than not. You will be tasked with tackling the militia and their strongholds, liberating outposts and towns and more. Most in-mission tasks, especially those of the outpost liberations, call for things like blowing up radars, towers, radios and propaganda posters, all resulting in some glorious explosions should you so choose to, and you’ll more than likely choose to do just that. Unfortunately this design of missions and things to tackle in Medici will grow repetitive with long, frequent play sessions. It is simply the case due to how any of the same things you’re asked to do, despite how fun they are at first.


One other kind of mission in “Just Cause 3” is the side activities in which you are tasked with doing anything from racking up explosive damage or kills, gliding through checkpoints or beating a clock in a helicopter or even your wingsuit. These activities can be a fun time-waster but also add to the thrill that is the open world to play with. I liked trying to get the best scores on each of these when I wanted a break from getting killed by the tough A.I. or when I wanted to lay off the explosion for a minute.

It is also worth mentioning a problem I personally ran into at a regular basis. I found the A.I. to be quite difficult, even at a lower difficulty setting. Unloading full clips on enemies left them alive and standing yet they’d barely shoot at me and I’d see myself nearing death and desperate for cover, something hard to find in an action game like this.

The gameplay that Avalanche Studios crafted in “Just Cause 3” is overall a lot of fun to partake in, even when the guns seemed off and the mission structure grows repetitive. All of this is unfortunately not permanent in your play sessions thanks to some technical problems. More on that next.

Graphics
Visually, “Just Cause 3’s” world of Medici is beautiful in its natural appearance through small towns and large bodies of water. With that being said however, the game doesn’t exactly maintain its beauty when the intense gameplay truly kicks in. “Just Cause 3” struggles in the scenes and instances of greater action. As everything around you explodes, said explosions start to slow things down. Watching the frame rate drop in a game is sometimes hard to notice by default; however, “Just Cause 3” proves it can be a really important factor when it drops enough that the game feels like it’s actually slowing down. “Just Cause 3” also comes with its fair share of glitches, ones you’ll never see coming but once they do, you’ll have no way around them besides closing the game.


Sound
A soundtrack fitting for all of the action that comes with playing “Just Cause 3,” the music certainly helps add to the immersion of said action when the game isn’t experiencing technical difficulties. I oftentimes found myself all in on the action thanks in part to the way the music plays out; however, “Just Cause 3” is by no means a quiet game what with all of the gunshots, towers crumbling down and things blowing up in general. Because of this, the music isn’t always as apparent.

The sound effects of “Just Cause 3’s” most prolific action movie-like sequences of sheer insanity, as mentioned previously, are loud. Explosions sound as they would, as do the guns. Very much so in the vein of what Avalanche Studios was going for, “Just Cause 3” sounds a whole lot like an over-the-top action movie might.

The voice acting of “Just Cause 3” is fine. Rico Rodriguez’s charm comes from his voice-work from Kevin Collins. Other characters have some of their own moments to shine in this department, though never enough to be as recognizable for the better like Rico. If the story was given more prominence in its execution and narrative overall, the voice actors would have stood out more; however, due to the lack of focus on story that “Just Cause 3” sacrifices for gameplay, no voices stood out for more than a moment or two overall.

Content
With a large amount of settlements and enemy bases to tackle plenty of objectives within, “Just Cause 3’s” map of Medici is not one you’ll cover in its entirety very quickly. The game has everything from stunts and challenges to earn the most stars in to a seemingly endless amount of explodable towers, signs, buildings and more. Personally, it was exploring the world by way of the wingsuit that brought with it the most satisfaction and time thanks to the, once mastered, natural flow of said traversal.

Conclusion

“Just Cause 3” ultimately fails to maintain the excitement and thrills its gameplay provides thanks to the poor technical performance. When it does work, the joy “Just Cause 3” provides is quite a thrill indeed though. With unlimited C4, a grappling hook and wing suit and seemingly endless aspects of the environment easily destructible, if it isn’t slowing down or freezing, “Just Cause 3” can be a fun time-killer. The open world adventure is at its best when ignoring the average story and just escaping reality with a mindless action-packed ride.

What was the worst glitch or bug you experienced in “Just Cause 3?” Did you enjoy the game’s emphasis on blowing everything up? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Mad Max Review

A post-apocalyptic playground chock full of brutal vehicular and melee combat alike

By: Ryan Ramakrishnan

Reviewed on Xbox One

Thanks to a beautifully crafted wasteland, violent combat, both in vehicles and on foot and a bevy of vehicles to test your skills in, “Mad Max” is one of the most fun open world games I have spent my time with this console generation.

Thanks to “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the George Miller-directed action film brought the franchise back to relevance. Just a few months after, the developers behind the “Just Cause” series brought another glorious action game to the table. “Mad Max” is an open world game as well. Like their previous work, Avalanche Studios provides many instances of high-octane action and excitement. The combat is brutally satisfying, particularly whilst driving. “Mad Max’s” story is nothing short of interesting, on paper, but it does often take a backseat to the rest of the game’s offerings.


Story

You are Max Rockatansky, once a highway patrol officer but now living in new world, a wasteland where you can trust nobody, a world where resources are scarce. Max has to tread across the post-apocalyptic Australia to get back what's his, a V8 interceptor, stolen by a group of warboys. Their leader is Scrotus, far too powerful for Max at first. This leads him and his doh on an adventure through the wasteland in search of new parts and resources to evolve and survive with the hand they’re dealt.

Long story short, Max, with the help of a mechanic he meets, Chumbucket, fights his way through plenty of ruthless factions in hopes of their own survival, all to get back what’s his and prove his worth.

Max himself lacks the intrigue at times but by the end, I sort of felt for him. He went through hell and ultimately was thrown both into a world where everything is out to get him but also into a story where he wants some sort of vengeance for a close death. I found Max’s personal journey to be interesting as a whole but every time we got a lot of story, I couldn’t help but want to get right back to gameplay.

“Mad Max” does a fairly good job at world-building. We get to see people walking around, dying for water, camps being run by only a select few tough enough to take over and the pure sense of survival in a world where that is anything but easy.

I ultimately just wish the plot was better crafted overall to keep me engaged with the interesting and emotional moments few and far between.

Gameplay
The Magnum Opus is your main vehicle, upgradable and customizable to your liking. Personally, the use of the Magnum Opus is what made my time with “Mad Max” stand out the most, for the better that is. Whether you wish to invest in better armor for defense or you desire an offensive vehicle, “Mad Max’” vehicle customization has you covered; however, it isn’t overly deep. With time, your Magnum Opus does in fact become quite the beast and will leave you feeling more than a little overpowered, easily my favorite part of the game.

Like his vehicle, Max himself can be customized to your liking. This is more or less limited to the choice of a beard, bandanna or goggles in any combination. Some non-cosmetic aspects of Max do get upgraded though; these upgrades don’t have much of a variety for choice, as they are simply just improving upon the last with no stat declines.

The main draw for “Mad Max” is its vehicular combat. Fast and intense, this combat is done with your Magnum Opus but other vehicles aren’t out of reach either. You can hop into any enemy vehicles. Unfortunately the vehicles that aren’t your own Magnum Opus are limited to offensive attacks.

Actions like a shotgun, the Thunderpoon, a rocket launcher-like weapon, a harpoon and side-burners are available to use at any time when driving for taking enemies out. This makes for a great time; I personally found launching the Thunderpoon at oncoming or escaping vehicles an instant kill loaded with instant satisfaction. Vehicular combat also includes the likes of ramming, whether straight into or on the side. After picking up speed, you can do some solid damage to less defensive enemy vehicles with a simple press of a button.

Healing in “Mad Max” isn’t natural; you will have to pick up food or drink from your canteen to regain health. Resources are few and far between so if you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself doing everything in your power to avoid taking a hit.

When on foot, Max partakes in hand to hand combat, borrowing heavily from the likes of other Warner Bros. titles like that of the “Batman Arkham” series. “Mad Max” plays it out slower but each heavy punch is nothing short of satisfying. The combat lets you get light hits or a heavier hit by holding the melee button. You will also roll around and parry hits with a perfectly timed button press. Enemies of course come in different variations; some have shields in need of breaking, while others will sprint towards you in an unparryable rage. Fortunately, you can also pick up these melee weapons and allow them to be even more violent in execution. There are also melee weapons that you can pick up from enemies to use against them, as well as shivs, perfect for a quick execution.

Max has access to a shotgun at all times. It is able to be shot with a quick button press that will aim automatically but is also able to manually aimed, both while driving and on foot.

I found the general movement in “Mad Max” to be a little clunky at times. While Max could run, it never felt very fast and the ability to jump didn’t mean much, as it is a very small jump, rarely even able to scale the environment.

Mad Max's mission structure will turn people away if they’ve been drained of open world games like Ubisoft’s. Personally, I didn’t at launch, and still do not today have that open world fatigue so the world of “Mad Max” was one I was all for exploring and wasting time in. The wasteland is full of snipers, minefields and more to take care of in between story missions. Activities like burning fuel depots, taking down convoys and killing top dogs of camps all make for a good time, both on foot and behind the wheel, thanks to the engaging combat and ugly beauty of the world.

Graphics
The wasteland of “Mad Max” is surprisingly beautiful. I found the environments and locales of the desolate world to look very good. Avalanche Studios certainly put a lot of work into making an open world full of nothing into one of great appeal. Some locations and moments I had in “Mad Max” left me wanting nothing more than to take a picture. Fortunately for gamers like myself, there is a photo mode. Altering things like basic filters to exposure and contrast allow you to craft stunning pictures of what the savage world of “Mad Max” has to offer.

Of course, I can’t ignore the fact that this game comes with a few glitches. I ended up having to close the game a few times thanks to myself getting stuck in a room, unable to move, as the room’s textures weren’t even there. The game also chugged during some instances of combat with a lot of enemies on screen coupled with explosions and more.

Sound
With a great deal of yelling and the sounds of vehicle engines, combat and more taking center stage, the music of “Mad Max,” while certainly not bad, never stood out all that much, getting lost in the background.

Overall, the voice acting was quite good in “Mad Max.” The game has many characters here and there in addition to the main cast of Max and Chumbucket. The voice acting was delivered well enough to really establish the personalities of each character.

In terms of sound in this game, it was the aforementioned vehicle engines and what not that made an impact. The melee combat was made more brutal with every punch or kick thanks to the sounds of it all coming off as very raw. The same can be said for the explosions you cause and shots you fire from the shotgun, sniper rifle or Thunderpoon. Revving my Magnum Opus engine and taking off at high speeds with continuous boosts made for some of the most satisfying sounds of my “Mad Max” experience, some of which may top that of even supercars in traditional driving games.

Content
What personally kept me playing Mad Max was the open world's checklist of things to conquer, collect and destroy. Many people today will argue this is a flaw due to the repetition in what must be done being admittedly generic at times. A complaint “Assassins Creed” has come to get, I don’t per se find this to be a problem with “Mad Max.” There are multiple regions in the world and each comes with a multitude of things to take care of, most of which allow you to get the most out of the entertaining gameplay. I'm the type of person who won't leave an area until I have all the collectibles gotten and can see 100% on each location. There is a good feeling of satisfaction that comes with each 100% completion.

Conclusion
I wanted the story of a post-apocalyptic wasteland full of despair and the struggle to survive among the rest to be my motivation for completing “Mad Max.” While the story had some powerful moments and interesting character along the way, it was the gameplay that kept me along for the ride. “Mad Max” doesn’t execute it’s plot and character development nearly enough to stand out among the plot heavy games of today. Fortunately, what does succeed, at least for me, was the violent combat. Both on the road and against other vehicles and on foot in hand to hand combat, “Mad Max” has a brutal and satisfying combat system. Top that with a visually appealing wasteland and “Mad Max” is a joyous open world game worth your time.

Did you enjoy the vehicular or melee combat more? Did you complete everything the wasteland had to offer? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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