Review : Just Cause

Your name is Rico Rodriguez. You're a CIA Black Ops agent sent to aid in overthrowing the military dictatorship on the South American island of San Esperito, aiding the rebel cause and bringing about a democracy on the island. How you go about it is up to you ... the island is 250,000 acres in size, and you have a whole arsenal of weaponry along with bikes, cars, planes and helicopters with which you can make your way around the island, fighting for a very Just Cause.

It does sound like a great Open World game, doesn't it? You have to ask yourself how far they could possibly go wrong with a concept like that. Well it turns out they can go a bit wrong, such is the world of computer games. But on the other hand, the parts that they get right are oh-so-sweet.

Since this game has alreay had so much negative press, I'm going to start off with the things that I actually liked about the game. Firstly, the graphics. The surrounding screenshots haven't been doctored or improved in any way; the game environment actually is that pretty. And what an environment it is ... a massive and gorgeous South American island, sandy beaches and elegant jungles all dotted with settlements and outposts, and you are completely free to travel through it as you please.

Also, the game does have its share of interesting innovations, such as the sky diving. It's surprisingly how much fun you can get from stealing a plane from an island airport, climbing up above cloud level, jumping out of the plane and hanging off the wing before letting go and falling down to earth ... the physics here are quite remarkable, and it makes you wonder why they didn't inject the same sense of realism into the rest of the game.

But probably my favourite thing is the combination of the grappling hook and the parachute. What have these two got to do with each other, you ask? Well, look at the screenshot below. The grappling hook is something you get after you complete the first few missions, and you can be airborne with your parachute at any time and use it to latch on to any vehicle; be it a car, helicopter or boat. Then you can just chill out and enjoy yourself a free ride around the beautiful island.

You've probably got the impression so far that I had a lot more fun exploring the game environment and playing around with the grappling hook then I did actually playing the game, and you'd be very right in that assumption.

The game itself is poor. The characters are absolutely awful, the combat is arcadey and not for one minute are you at all convinced or immersed by the purile, derivative story. It's all just a bit silly. I don't understand how they could go to all the trouble of creating such a brilliant environment and having so many clever innovations, and then spoil it all by clearly spending no artistic effort on the actual game itself.

It would also have been nice to have some more varied stuff to do on the island, like the interesting sub-missions that you find in Oblivion and Grand Theft Auto. And why not some nice shops or something where you can alter your character and get more of a flavour of the people who occupy this island, the people you're supposed to be fighting for? And well we're on the subject, where the hell is the wildlife? How does this island even function? If you ask me, there was a severe lack of ambitition in too many areas of this project.

Just Cause is half a great game. They've got the environment down, and they've chosen a wonderful, original setting. They've come up with some clever, appealing innovations, but then they go and waste it all by putting little effort into the game itself ... still, I did have fun for a few hours just exploring the island itself and ignoring the missions, so there's always that. Overall, though, it's all extremely frustrating.

A sequel has recently been confirmed as being in development, so lets just hope they make it a little more Grand Theft Auto and a little less House of the Dead this time round.