It’s a good thing too that there are so many ways to get around because the game is massive, I think it’s the largest game I’ve ever played, the scope is just staggering. With 400 Sq miles to explore, over 350 locations to visit each one with numerous property to destroy, 300 hidden items throughout the word and 1000 upgrades this game will keep you busy for a very long time if you’re going for 100%. As an example I started a gaming session at 34%, 2 hours later I had found 10 locations, got 100% on five of them, completed 2 sub-missions and found 2 hidden items and by the end of that I had 36%. After playing this game for 30 hours I’m still under 40% completion. In a way the game is just too big, miles and miles of glorious scenery just becomes another obstacle when you’ve got to get from point A to point B. The locations are often just copy and paste of another one too meaning you will soon become tired of exploring.

 

Sub-missions are interesting and vary quite a bit. From stealing chemical research to blowing up cars, from storming a coronel’s private home and killing him to taking to the high seas and taking out pirates. The main missions are a little less varied, most of the time it involves you storming a large location while escorting a technician to the control panel, firstly open a large door to let them in, then walk through a hail of bullets while all your allies die, reach the control panel and grab the mini-gun that is always nearby before proceeding to wipe out the waves of enemies that will appear. If you were just playing through the main story you could probably complete the game in less than 15 hours but I think you would be missing out on the fun that is the general chaos you cause.

 

 

Another down note is weapons and ammo. The game has a woeful ammo capacity, which is a bit odd as you have such a large area to blow up. As such you’ll always find yourself running short and the enemies will never be carrying the right gun at the right moment. So you’ll find yourself switching weapons often only to run out of that ammo too before finding yourself at the wrong end of a rocket. This is even more annoying when you’ve got something that can only be blown up with heavy weaponry or explosives and you’ve just used up the last one.

 

Getting a replacement seems easy enough, just call the black market dealer and he’ll drop whatever you want off but it involves tedious cut scenes and you’re only allowed to purchase one time at a time. You can carry 5 different types of weapons at once and if you want a shiny new attack helicopter too that means 12 cut scenes and 6 visits to the menu. Oh and that’s only if you can afford it. While those that take their time and destroy everything will always have enough money, those that just want to rush through the missions will often find that their funds aren’t enough to cover the bill.

 

 

Just Cause is an extremely fun, over the top Sandbox game that is just too big for its own good. The gameplay is very fun but it soon becomes repetitive and a long slog if you want to get anywhere near 100%. While if you just focus on the missions the game just fails to capture that crazy vibe it’s got going on. That said the game more than makes up for its various small flaws and certainly delivers a trilling experience.