Article by Samuele Zaboi
Sooner or later, for everyone, the desire to go home returns, to embrace their roots and to see their hometown once again, breathe in the old scents and see places already known. Sometimes you don't need great reasons to make this return trip, you just want to do it. Stop. Broadly speaking these are the premises of Just Cause 3, the new explosive (literally) chapter of the series developed by Avalanche Studios.
Home Sweet Home
After the events of the second chapter, Rico, our protagonist, will have to return to his native land, the Medici archipelago, to put an end to the power of the ruthless tyrant and dictator Di Ravello who will remind you of the most famous despotic figures of history. The archipelago is set in the Mediterranean, with connotations and elements taken here and there between Italy, Spain and Greece, with crystal clear waters, headlands on the sea, vegetation, mountains and kilometers and kilometers of uncultivated nature. All in all, Medici's creation is pleasant, with luxuriant landscapes that, if on the one hand they will initially surprise and amaze, on the other they will soon fall into monotonous and repetitive, with few significant differences between the various elements. This is one of the major flaws of the game, as we will see a little later also with regard to the gameplay and the structure of the missions. The premises to make Rico return to that of Medici, in the company of Mario Grifo and Tom Sheldon (just to name some of the well-known faces) are fleeting and mostly classic and in a matter of minutes it will be possible to get acquainted with all the basics. of game for Just Cause 3 to then be able to try their hand at the real and only purpose of the game: to put everything possible to fire and sword.
Fire and flames
As most fans of the Avalanche series already know and expect, the plot and story of Just Cause 3 they will surround a concentrate of action, explosions and destruction. The game structure is extremely simple, perhaps even too much: the good Rico will have to slowly regain outposts to steal them from the evil Di Ravello until he completely eliminates any source of his power. In a not too lively archipelago (few characters make the different islands livable, just to give an example), our protagonist will have to destroy strongholds, petrol stations or sources of energy, essentially everything that can be useful to the dictator for reinvigorate their forces and their army. Each conquest will not correspond to a particular and precise increase in Rico's abilities, who will soon be forced to repeat the same missions over and over, with only a few slight differences as regards the primary quests. However, the choice adopted by Avalanche was not completely random since the variety is provided indirectly: it will be up to the players to choose the strategy with which to attack the different outposts, whether through an offensive by land or by air, thus being able to carry out missions differently. While underlining the goodness of this factor, it remains undeniable that a greater variety of base for the missions of Just Cause 3 it would undoubtedly have enriched the game by increasing its value.
As already mentioned a few lines above, Rico will be able to choose from time to time how to overcome his obstacles but whatever the choice made there will always be a common thread that will accompany the player throughout the adventure: action and destruction. Thanks to the ability to ride missiles, use fully equipped weapons, helicopters and the much loved grappling hook and wingsuit (the use of which, once you have thoroughly learned the commands, is truly spectacular), in Just Cause 3 one of the key elements of the series will be found: the ability to destroy and blow up anything in a whirlwind of explosions, fire and flames. The best things can be done by combining the grappling hook and the wingsuit, such as hooking up two missions or a helicopter with a building, although this will require a certain familiarity and precision but the time spent honing your skills will reward you.
The size counted
The game map of Just Cause 3 it is decidedly vast, since we are talking about more than 1000km² and it is also fairly dense even if perhaps less than what one might expect. The possibility of being able to explore it freely without any constraints is however an extremely positive fact which however tends to run out very soon, when knowing the most disparate places will lead you to have to repeat, de facto, the same missions, structured in the same way and with the same objectives to be achieved. A partial variety is provided by some online rankings that will be unlocked every time an outpost is conquered: here it will be possible to participate in races of all kinds (speed, glide, destruction, etc.) where you can challenge other players in order to reach the top of the rankings. Thanks to this system it will be possible to purchase Mods, elements that will allow you to improve and level up the tools available to Rico. However, the incidence of these gears is not as massive as one might think and for this reason only the passion for the game and for the online rankings will lead you to face these "missions" and not the real need to overcome them to advance in the game. From a graphic point of view, the work done by Avalanche is good, especially when it comes to explosions and destruction, but the overall feeling, also adding the gameplay and the contents, is that Just Cause 3 not the final chapter but only a new step towards perfection where still many (perhaps too many) elements still need to be revised and improved.
Final comments
If you love destruction and explosions, frenzy and action, Just Cause 3 is the title for you. Having said that, however, there are still some well-marketed defects that ruin the overall result of the product, such as the lack of variety for the missions and a game map that fails to involve and excite like after the very first hours, even risking becoming monotonous. . Just Cause 3 is a good product but one that perhaps needs to be taken in small doses, with not extremely long game sessions, to avoid being forced to repeat the same type of actions, despite the fact that they are spectacular.
