

Soaring above seas of yellow and purple flowers, tearing through a forest in an ATV, or screaming by a cold mountaintop in a jet it all looks great.

Sure there's a lot of trees and mountains, and you may tire of the look of many towns, but Avalanche made sure to add a splash of color to the game. Just Cause 3 looks amazing on PC at least. Over the course of the entire game, you'll jump from idyllic Mediterranean countryside to temperate forests and lakes, stripmined deserts, and snowy peaks. Then I realized that at full zoom, I was only looking at the smaller bottom half of the overall map. I zoomed out a bit and decided "Hey, this game is pretty big", only to realize I could zoom out farther. Once I liberated the first few towns and outposts, I checked the world map to see my overall progress. The story missions serve to break up the rest of the game and act as breadcrumbs, leading you from one region to the next. They're not particularly annoying characters - they do their job in an enjoyable manner - but you'll more likely to remember the time you surfed on a jumbo jet tethering fighter jets together or when you rode a missile into a lake. You'll remember the story missions for the things you do, not the people you interact with. Rico is nominally back to stop the Bavarium operation, while also freeing his home. Di Ravallo is mining Medici for Bavarium, a volatile and powerful substance he can use to build advanced weapons and explosives. There is a story to Just Cause 3, involving Rico interacting with his various allies: former best friend Mario, CIA handler Sheldon, rebels Annika and Teo, and disposed scientist Dimah. This is an older Rico, sporting a new gruff exterior, Ezio Auditore-like voice, and essentially the exact same method of operation that worked so well for him before. A Tale of FreedomĪfter freeing two other island nations, Rico has returned home to Medici, which is under the dictatorial control of General Di Ravello. (Fun fact: The series' name comes from the US invasion of Panama.) Squad goals. Rico Rodriguez is the living embodiment of imperialist colonization: free beleaguered citizens from tyranny by blowing up all the stuff around them. Like its predecessors, Avalanche Studios' latest is a sprawling sandbox of destruction. Just Cause 3 is probably the most goddamn fun I've had in a game this year.
