Just Cause

Just Cause
Developer(s)	Avalanche Studios
Publisher(s)	Eidos Interactive
Engine	Avalanche Engine
Aspect Ratio	4:3 16:9 (via mod)
Resolutions	640x480 800x600 1024x768 1280x1024 1600x1200
Platforms	Windows (XP and later) PS2 PS3 Xbox Xbox 360
Release Date(s)	EU September 22, 2006 NA September 27, 2006
Genre(s)	Action Third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player Multiplayer via modding
Ratings	ESRB: M PEGI: 16+
Media	DVD Steam download
Input Methods	PC: Keyboard and mouse Others: Gamepad
Languages	English Spanish French German Italian

Just Cause is the first game in the Just Cause game series.

For the last Agency mission in Just Cause 2, see A Just Cause.

Technical info

Released on September 22, 2006 for Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 platforms in Europe. It arrived in North America on September 27, 2006. The game was developed by the Swedish company Avalanche Studios and published by Eidos Interactive. It's a third-person "sandbox"-type game. The game map is about 250,000 acres (1024 km²) in size, with 21 story missions and about 35 different side missions to complete. See also: Game limits.

Setting

Just Cause is set on a fictional Caribbean tropical country known as "San Esperito", where the player works as an Agency black ops agent Rico Rodriguez, supporting a Guerrilla war to overthrow San Esperito's dictator, who may be in possession of weapons of mass destruction.

Gameplay

The core gameplay consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, with a large, open environment to move around in. On foot, the player's character is capable of walking, swimming and jumping, as well as utilizing weapons. Players can control a variety of vehicles, including cars, boats, airplanes, helicopters and motorcycles. Players can also perform stunts with their cars in which they can stand on the roof and jump to another car, or choose to open their parachute whilst still in motion on the roof. Other key features of the game include parasailing (grappling onto a car while utilizing a parachute) and skydiving.

The open, non-linear environment allows players to explore and choose how they wish to play the game. Although storyline missions are necessary to progress through the game, players can complete them at their own leisure. When not taking on a storyline mission, players can free-roam and create havoc. However, doing so can attract unwanted and potentially fatal attention from the authorities - "Heat".

The player can also partake in a variety of optional side missions, for example Races, liberating a village, or taking over a drug cartel plantation/villa. These are generally quite repetitive but are necessary to gain points with certain factions.

Game manual

The game manual is written in the form of an issue of a newspaper - "San Esperito Vanguardia" and, in addition to the usual technical info, contains interesting articles about life and recent events in San Esperito.

This newspaper costs "1.200 pesos". The game manual is the "Thursday April 20 2006" edition and it's the "No. 68834"'th published issue. The game manual doesn't support Mendozas government and it contains info that wouldn't have been known, or published, so the newspaper form is only there to get the reader in the right mood.

For the in-game national newspaper, see: Gaceta Nacional del San Esperito, which describes in-game events, that would have happened after the events in the game manual, but its issues were published in 2005.

The PS2 version game manual has a picture of Rico on page 11. In the picture, Rico wears a grey suit-like outfit while standing by a red Shimizu Tumbleweed. It could be a picture from the beta version.

Soundtrack

The game has A LOT of mostly very similar music in it. Link to youtube for it.

One of the different sounding ones is the "high altitude skydiving theme". Link.

Reception

As the first title in the Just Cause Game Series, this game was actually fairly underplayed compared to future installments in the series. Thus, it is not really known by many what fans of the series thought of this game. Those who did play this game however, have remarked this game is somewhat more difficult compared to future games.

Some review sites [which ones exactly?] have reviewed it positively, while audience reviews have been somewhat mixed, generally leaning towards positive.

Trivia

• The game is largely a parody of the United States foreign policies from the late 1940s to the present, drawing on the phrase "the enemy of the enemy is a friend".
  • The game draws its premise (and name) from the real-life United States invasion of Panama, code-named "Operation Just Cause", which involved United States military action to overthrow military leader Manuel Noriega.
  • The box art resembles a poster of Che Guevara, a famous guerrilla leader.
  • The Agency finances the Rioja Cartel, who manufactures coca for the continental United States market. This is done only because they are the rivals of the obviously identical Montano Cartel, who happen to be friends with Salvador Mendoza's government.
  • The mission Sink the Buccaneer is about destroying a ship because it is said to have nuclear missiles, which it does not.
  • The Agency supports the left-wing Guerrillas (ideological enemy of the capitalist west) and provides them with money for weapons (mission: Brothers in Arms).
• According to this site:
  • Originally Rico Rodriguez was a tattooed guy with dreadlocks. As the focus testing showed that players wanted a handsome hero rather than the stereotype games hero character, his looks were changed.
  • The original plot of the game involved a kidnapping of the pope, threat of WMD’s and drug trafficking – all at the same time.
  • The original game world was 64 x 64 km (10486 square miles), which would have been about 4 times as big.
  • Rico was deliberately not given much of a persona, as they wanted the players to create their own Rico.
  • There are over 10 million trees on San Esperito.
  • The game is not based on the US military operation in Panama, labor union contracts, or the 1995 movie.
  • The original idea was to create an over-the-top parody of action movies.
  • The Xbox 360 version was developed over the course of six months and was approved on the first submission.
• Minimizing the game has different results depending on the operating system and possibly also depending on if it's an old disk version, or Steam version. Disk + XP seems to be the most user-friendly combination.
  • On Windows XP, depending on your software combination, you may be able to minimize it with only the windows logo button, but if that doesn't work, Ctrl-Alt-Delete should do it.
  • Minimizing the game on Windows 7 does not seem to be possible.
  • On Windows 10, the game can be disabled into a sort of window when using Ctrl-Alt-Delete to bring up a Task Manager. This allows the user to navigate to an internet browser. Reportedly however, this does not work for everyone.
• Windows XP (or at least some XP-equipped laptops) have one more advantage for this game: The game can be stretched/set to cover the whole screen, to support aspect ratios other than 4:3. On Windows 7 and 10, there are wide black bars on either edge of the screen, if the screen is not 4:3.
• The PS3 version of the game is not listed on many sites. That's because the PS2 version is unofficially supported by some PS3s.
• As spoken by game developers during a promotional interview for Just Cause 3, the official abbreviation for the name of this game is "JC1", so as to eliminate confusion over "Just Cause" (the individual game) and "Just Cause" (the Just Cause game series).
• While every subsequent game in the series obviously has its differences, this is the only game so far in the series to feature a police force. Until Just Cause 3, this was also the only game to have a weapon with infinite ammunition that Rico carried consisting of Rico's Holdt R4 Pitbulls. This is also the only game to not have any female antagonists, unless there are some in side missions.
• This game is the only game to lack a vehicle ferry or landing craft. Subsequent games in the series had dedicated vehicular transportation nautical vehicles. Just Cause 2 has the Zhejiang 6903 as a civilian ferry. Just Cause 3 has the Urga Hroch as a military landing craft. Just Cause 4 has the Barco Roro Ferry as a civilian ferry, and the Spearhead Transport as an military landing ship. This game lacks any kind of vehicle ferry or landing craft.
• See Just Cause 100% completion list for things to do.

Gallery (screenshots and promotional art)

A Yamada 37-14 Vaquero making a Stunt-jump into a village.

Chevalier Supernova, a modern sports car.

A Montano Cartel version of the Fukuda Bluebolt.

Town Paradiso Bay.

Town Paradiso Bay.

Generic town street at night.

An average bridge, of which there are many in the countryside.

A Civilian woman is driving the protagonist around the city of Nuevo Estocolmo in a classic looking high-performance sports car.

Swimming is an option in the game. There's even an Underwater Scooter.

Stunts are a major part of the gameplay.

Parachuting is a major part of the gameplay.

Aerial combat with multiple different kinds of aircraft is an optional part of gameplay.

Promotional art. Hijacking a Cutler-Randall Conquistador.

Promotional art. Skydiving from a Huerta SPA Ocelot.

Promotional art. Hurst Dagger explosion.

Promotional art. Note the Giant statue of Salvador Mendoza on the right.

A very early artwork of Rico and Esperanza. Ricos design was later updated.

13th birthday of the game, as pointed out by one of its creators, Christofer Sundberg.

The first mission of the game, Devil's Drop Zone, with Rico skydiving to the first island.

Gallery (game box designs)

The earliest PC, Xbox 360 and PS2 box covers had Rico with a mullet haircut and the game logo had a black scorpion. On some most eariest box covers, the star was horizontal. This was later rotated a little.

A later box cover with updated hair and a golden scorpion.

A "sealed" promotional copy of Just Cause. Technically sealed.

The Certificate of Authenticity. Sealed by technicality, but not "sealed." Someone knew what they were doing when they sold this.

Not looking so sealed now, huh?

Much like the Just Cause 2 Promotional cover, look at where the barcode would be.

Sold-Out Software rerelease.

Pure rerelease.

Alternate PC boxart

Old Xbox 360 cover with the mullet hairstyle, horizontal star and black scorpion.

Xbox 360 back.

PS2 cover.

Xbox cover.

Videos

Trailer 1:

Trailer 4:

A little about the early development: