Just Cause (Xbox 360)

Graphics

Just Cause is a great looking game, it has a nice bloom effect on the characters and soft lighting/shadows bring the world to life. It’s a tropical island paradise that makes the one in Far Cry look a little dated. It has a dynamic day/night cycle and the use of lighting effects and shaders really produce some spectacular scenery.

The view distance is spectacular and the engine delivers without a loss of frame rates (or any loading thanks to the procedural technology), even when things get pretty intense. There’s a little bit of popping now and then but it’s only to be expected since the game is actually creating a complete island chain, as mentioned before of some 250,000 acres in size with breathtaking draw distances and amazing atmospheric effects.

Sunlight burns through the clouds, the water looks gorgeous and the actual weather in the game is created via the use of weather forecast systems and complex weather algorithms that create a virtual water table, and weather effect. Most weather is just an effect in a game, clouds are a texture pasted onto a canvas of the sky and the script tells it when to rain.

Just Cause actually creates clouds in real time, weather is calculated in real time and if it rains – it’s because the atmospheric conditions are prevalent enough to cause rain. The only downside is that the storms and the rain effects are pretty bland, where they should have been absolutely amazing – they feel a little tacked on and it’s a shame considering the trouble Avalanche went to create the weather in the first place.

The colour palette is vibrant and dynamic; it lends a certain pastel feel to the island thanks to the lighting and bloom effects.

Explosions and special effects are likewise of a high quality and give the game an almost graphic novel feel.

Models

The models in Just Cause, from the enemies to the cars and various vehicles are all of good quality. I especially like the look of Rico, his clothing and his details are excellent. He has a definite personality that has been defined by the graphic artists and it comes through nicely.

The same can be said of the weapons and the in-world items/equipment; it’s all been made to a high standard.

Animations

The animations in Just Cause vary from good to a little bland, there could have been more done with the whole stunt system in that respect. Getting in and out of helicopters is another gripe, Rico seems to pass through closed doors and they really should open, cockpits need to slide back and so on.

The idle animations for Rico are however great, he crosses himself, he plays with his handguns and changes his posture in a dynamic way.

Over all I liked the animations and they’re not at all bad for the most part.

AI

The AI in Just Cause is a mixed bag of bolts. There’s some good AI going on that simulates the world, but the people are often dumb as rocks, they throw themselves under your car or get in the way in a firefight. Rather than running away from a grenade, your revolutionary buddies will charge right at the enemy and usually end up blown sky high.

I have also witnessed some comedy moments where the police fly their copters into solid walls or obstacles. All in all though, it’s passable, just not anything ground breaking.

I will say that the AI that governs the world itself however, through the engine, is phenomenal – the AI that drives the weather system is truly a great innovation and a fantastic feature.

Physics

The physics in the game are just as over the top as the stunts: the engine delivers ragdoll and object interactive physics without breaking a sweat. Bodies fly in a truly Hollywood style and the explosive effects from rockets/missiles are great fun to watch.

There could have been more made of the vehicle crash physics and the fact that grenades do very little damage to them, is a mind boggler to be honest. Especially after playing something like Saint’s Row where vehicular explosions are truly excellent.

They still do a good job, so no real gripes here.

Sound

I have to say that the sound engineers have done a marvellous job in Just Cause. The ambient atmospheric sounds, the vehicle sounds, especially the way the rotors on a chopper change in pitch as the collective is applied and the bird moves through the air are excellently done.

When Rico freefalls and you can hear the wind rushing through his clothes, around him and over him, it is that moment that you know the audio for the game is spot on. The island itself comes to life with noises from the jungles and the higher you climb up the side of a mountain or feature; you can really hear the wind begin to howl around you.

Gunfire, rockets, shouts and screams permeate the quiet island the closer a province gets to a revolt. Most especially as the AI goes about trying to pacify the revolutionaries and dangerous citizens.

Music

The music in the game matches the island atmosphere very well; it is context sensitive depending on your action, if you’re on foot or in a vehicle and what mission you’re on. It is a little repetitious and does grate on the nerves after a while, but that’s what custom sound tracks are for.

I recommend Die Another Day whilst playing the game if you really don’t like the music.

Voice

It’s not stunning voice acting by far and it’s not famous voice actors, it’s got a decent script and dialogue as well as some good performances. Rico is very like Antonio Banderas and has some nice one liners that he cracks out from time to time, this keeps things interesting, especially in an intense gun battle or when just exploring San Espirito (especially by parachute)

Viva l’Revolution

It’s not revolutionary and it’s gloriously over the top in places. It’s got a few graphic glitches and some cases of popping, sloppy controls now and then. But it’s a fun game and it’s what matters to me. There are side missions and a whopping big island chain to explore, there’s not much in the way of life compared to other games of this type and the level of destruction isn’t as impressive as Mercenaries but Just Cause wins bonus points for:

A fun inventive stunt system, totally mad physics and a secret agent theme that allows us to be a sky-diving, gun toting, lady-killing guy with a penchant for wearing black and sounding like El’Mariachi.

More vehicles than you can shake a stick at.

Atmospheric real-time created weather and gorgeous graphical effects.

If you can suspend your disbelief and get into the theme and groove of the game then you’ll probably like Just Cause, the developers have done a good job for their first game and despite the dodgy animations at times, some of the clipping bugs and the lack of a climb function it delivers a fun and great experience.


Even if it does have a short story mode there’s lots of side missions and other things to do, if you like exploring you can find some impressive views and places to go in the island chain.

I certainly won’t stop until the whole of San Espirito is pacified, and then we’re told the game allows you to continue playing in the sandbox. I don’t think I could get bored of stunting from vehicle to vehicle to get from A-B not with action this fun.

Give it a blast.