Back in 2018, I was introduced to Just Cause 3, and it quickly became one of my favorite games of all time. I loved everything about it. The protagonist, the side characters, the villain, the country of Medici, the graphics, and the explosions. One thing I really loved about it was that it didn't take itself seriously. It doesn't try to tell an emotional story and make you relate to poor ol' Rico. The game promises fun, and it delivers.
Later that year, I read of an upcoming sequel to the game. Did I buy it? No. The graphics didn't look too good, and I guess I just wasn't that interested in it.
But for the past few months this year, I've been playing Just Cause 3 a lot. I eventually got desperate for new content, and ordered the Gold Edition of Just Cause 4. What did I think of it?
AHHH AAHHH WHHYY WHY?! WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU?! D:
On my first play session, I blew up a base, but nothing happened. I was pretty confused on what to do. I eventually found out that you don't complete bases by blowing it up. You have play Simon Says on every base. The formula goes like this: Simon finds out that a particular base is holding codes or something like that, and he tells you to destroy the generators to get to them. BOOORING. Why can't I just blow the entire base up? Destroying the Black Hand's resources sounds just as productive as obtaining information.
My second complaint are the characters. The person you hang out with the most is Simon, and he tells you what to do most of the time. Mira is pretty okay, I suppose. I love Sheldon. I love him because I don't know for sure what side he's on, and he was just very enthusiastic in Just Cause 3. He's still a good character in 4, but I was disappointed that he didn't have the same voice he did in 3. THE VOICE IN 3 WAS PERFECT.
Something I loved about 3 were the side characters. But the side characters in 4 just aren't the same. They don't have the same energy and chemistry to them.
My third complaint is the villain. Okay, the villain was fine. But we don't see him that much. I enjoyed cutscenes with Di Ravello in them. He was always overreacting, and it makes sense too. Rico is constantly taking out his men and resources. But we don't see that much of Oscar. We know he's in charge of a dangerous project, he worked with Rico's dad...and that's it. That's all, folks. We see him once in the beginning and once in the ending. The villain is one of the most important parts of any story, so it makes sense that they have a good amount of screen time.
My forth complaint, and it's a minor one, is that there's no announcer guy who explains to the citizens why the base was taken down. But still, you can only stretch a joke so far.
My five and final complaint are the graphics. Medici was beautiful and shiny. Everything just doesn't look as good in 4. Things seem to get a bit better once you leave the rainforest, I guess.
My sixth and final final complaint is that there's no epic final boss fight. Di Ravello had enough of Rico's rebellion, and he showed it by fighting him while inside a missile helicopter in a volcano. With Oscar, you kill some people, and that's it. BOORING.
My seventh and final final final complaint are the grappling hook mods. On the final mission, I was trying to pull something out of the wall so I could destroy it. But it wouldn't work, and I sat there forever until it finally opened. I later found out that I didn't have pulling turned on with the grabbling hook. Seriously? It's a grappling hook, how complicated does it need to be? -_-
I waited almost three years after the game came out until I played it. Did I miss out on anything? Eh, I don't think so. Everything I loved about 3 is gone from this game. One thing I loved about 3 was the amount of freedom I had. I don't get that in 4. I always do missions that Simon sends me on. The missions I hate the most are when you have to hack something and need to stand close to it, while enemies on all sides attack. It's pretty difficult to attack when I can't go anywhere to take cover. I also hate when you have to protect satellites while helicopters and drones are attacking it. When I was done with these missions, I destroyed the satellites to make myself feel better.
Doing missions like the ones I mentioned aren't as fun as just going into a base and blowing it up.
Another reason I loved 3 was just how simple it was. You go into base and make it go boom boom, and you can request weapons and vehicles to be dropped from the sky. When I played 4, it took me a while to learn how to apply a mod to the grappling hook and how to request a weapon or vehicle drop. It wasn't hard to request a drop, I just didn't know how to get to the menu at first. I didn't know I had to press a button twice. Eh, I'm at the end of the game, too late to have fun with that option now. Could have searched it up on the internet, but you know...too lazy.
I'll give Just Cause 4 probably a 6/10. It just didn't do it for me. Just Cause 3 was a great game, and I'm surprised 4 didn't take a few things from it.
And wow, they teased a sequel. Taking down the Agency? How is that going to work? I thought the main goal of Just Cause was to go into a country and take down it's leader. I see the Agency is located in the United States and does the government's bidding. Is Rico going to liberate all 50 states next? That sounds fun to me. I'd love to liberate my hometown, assuming it's Just Cause 3 style. The United States is very divided, and I'm sure a video game like that would bring everyone together again. The media is going to hate it if it does that.
Also, this doesn't relate to my review, but...why does Sheldon look like Superman in the original Just Cause? What happened to him between 1 and 3?
Eh, that's all, I guess. This was a review by a Just Cause 3 fanboy. What did you think of Just Cause 4?