When the sandstorm sweeps through a base I just happen to be attacking it creates a whole new, exciting playspace. But this is one instance in 15 hours of playing.įor similar reasons, the weather systems are a let down, too – they so rarely collide with my unscripted activity. It’s a blast, weaving the humvee between mortar shells and tank fire. When taxiing a group of recruits between villages destroying Black Hand supplies, I take a direct route and drive through the frontline to reach one of the towns.
Occasionally the frontline factors into play. This all happens on the map screen, and it’s not an invasion you can see or take part in. The battle line only moves when you complete the mission in the next region over and deploy a squad to take it for you. If you drop behind enemy lines to help out your Army of Chaos on the battlefield, no matter how many Black Hand soldiers you kill or tanks you destroy, your forces won’t move forward and engage in the fight. Yes, the edges of regions you control are in constant war against the Black Hand, the frontline forever shrouded in smoke and shrapnel.
However, in practice I found the new metagame to be disappointingly static. I can’t decide if it should be fixed or embraced by Avalanche. I came across a warship stuck on dry land in the jungle, firing its cannons at a helicopter. Sometimes this won’t even happen on the coast. You’ll sometimes arrive at the sea to see a flotilla of boats spawn 20 metres up in the air and fall to the surface of the water. While technically a bug, Just Cause 4’s spawning adds surreal fun to the game. You’re still Rico the rebel of previous games, but Just Cause 4 pushes to make you more than a one-man army. Each region has a Black Hand base that can be conquered by completing a mission and, once the sector is under your control, you receive a new item or vehicle which can be delivered as a supply drop from a cargo plane. Whenever you fill the chaos bar you’re assigned a new squad which you can deploy on the map screen to take over one of the thirty or so regions Solis is carved into. As you create chaos, destroying marked structures such as fuel tanks, radar dishes, antenna towers, and enemy vehicles, you’re rewarded with new recruits. Just Cause 4 introduces a new system to the mix, that sees you building an army to take Solis from the grip of the Black Hand. Though, if you would like to skip ahead, you can fast travel to any settlement from very early in the game, whether it’s in a region you control or not. It’s one of the few open-world games where I rarely fast travel because the journey to the next objective is its own fun. In theory, and with a lot of practice, you can stay airborne for minutes at a time. All of this this means that after half an hour of playing I’m reminded of the simple joy of gliding over a luscious land, tipping my arms and swooping between the supports of a bridge.Īs in previous games, you can use your grappling hook to pull yourself along, building speed and gaining height. Unlike Just Cause 3, that attached a progression system to your mobility gear, in this game your parachute and wingsuit both arrive fully-upgraded.
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As soon as you’re through Just Cause 4’s opening missions you have the entire island of Solis open to you and you’re free to wingsuit, grapple, and parachute across it. Tools and terrain aren’t drip fed to you through the campaign, but are instead immediately available.
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To me, the Just Cause series has always seemed more generous than other sandbox games. However, those moments when all the parts of the sandbox come together are crushingly rare, and what’s left is a game that’s less coherent than its predecessor.
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When Just Cause 4 works as advertised it’s an incredible show, marrying an explosion-filled open world and the stunts and gadgets of a Mission Impossible movie with truly awesome extreme weather systems. It would take me ten minutes and a ton of explosives to do what the storm has done in 30 seconds. When the weather settles down, the enemy base is a wreck. Fuel tanks shred and explode in the gale, Black Hand vehicles and soldiers whip past in the wind – anything without concrete foundations is fair game for the storm.
As I hunker down I can see the glimpses of the base’s disintegration through breaks in the dust. I struggle to run to shelter in the strong winds so grapple hook the short distance to a protective wall. The sky darkens and the air browns as the sandstorm comes in.