Game Review: Just Cause 4 is a fun game despite all its faults

Rico finds himself in a situation that he has been in before, leading a rebellion in a small country called Solis. This time, the villain is Oscar Espinosa who leads the Black Hand, an evil organisation that has created Project Illapa, a device that can control the weather. After failing to take down the device in the very beginning of the game, Rico now has to build a resistance and take down the bad guys, one region at a time. Of course, everything owned by the Black Hand is marked with a distinctive red colour to make it easy for you to identify and take down.

The overall story is to create some sort of tangible story line so that Rico can go around destroying bases and shooting down bad guys. As Rico, you have at your disposal, an arsenal of weapons and gadgets that will put James Bond to shame, your trusty wing suit, parachute and the awesome Grappling hook.

Almost every weapon now has an alternative shooting mode, which is mostly something explosive making it easier to take down larger structures without depleting bullets, not that Rico even needs any bullets. In fact, he is near immortal, his recovery and ability to take on damage are just crazy.

We often found ourselves taking on entire missions without guns, purely using the Grappling hook to get by. The Grappling also has three modes, which lets you add jet boosters to random objects, or balloons so they can fly away or the contracting grappling line that can bring things close to each other. All sorts of hilarity and combat is possible with these three in place.

Not to mention, your access to weapons and transport is almost unlimited, thanks to drops. Want a fighter jet, guns or combat drones? Just call for one and it will drop right beside you. The combat is mostly lazy, but when the game kicks it up a notch during missions, it can get intense, especially in the later phase of the game. The combat is also over the top, in true Just Cause fashion; you can grapple yourself to jet fighters, jump off airplanes and open your parachute just as you are going to hit the ground - in short Hollywood grade stunts that are too crazy to believe. This is amplified by the fact, that the game doesn't take itself too seriously poking fun at itself and Hollywood throughout.

There are also many references to popular movies and music in the game. For example, if you go around with a helicopter machine gun, just blowing up a base by continuously firing, Rico will mouth The Ride of the Valkyries as a reference to the movie, 'Apocalypse Now'. There is also a hilarious Easter egg in the form of a place in an abandoned building that transforms into the 'Take On Me' music video with the music playing in the background, though we never found it, videos of it are online.

The weather effects and overall graphics are decent for the game but it is nothing compared to what people have put out this year. Just Cause 4 has many flaws, for one, the game cut scenes almost always had texture issues. The story is pretty thin, very hard to emotionally identify with any of the characters or even with the nameless and faceless rebel army that's fighting alongside you. As it should be with a Just Cause game, you are here to blow things up and do impossibly insane stunts. Despite all its faults, Just Cause 4 is a fun game, mostly because it remains true to what it is.

The new gadgets, graphics and additions add to the entertainment, but at its core, it is still an iteration of Just Cause 3. If you are a fan of the series and already played and loved the last one, go ahead and get this. However, if you are a first time player get Just Cause 3 first to test the waters; it is still available at a discounted price, then move on to this when the price gets lower.

Just Cause 4
Rating:
Developer: Avalanche Studios
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: PC, PS4, XBO
Price: PC: Rs 2,999, XBOX: Rs 3,499

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