<img src="https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p/?c1=2&amp;c2=10055482&amp;cv=4.4.0&amp;cj=1"> Skip to main content
PC Gamer PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • Hardware
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Video
  • Forum
  • More
    • PC Gaming Show
    • Software
    • Movies & TV
    • Coupons
    • Magazine
    • Newsletter
    • Community guidelines
    • links
    • Meet the team
    • About PC Gamer
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$32.49
View
Popular
  • PC Gaming Show
  • Summer Game Fest
  • Dune: Awakening
  • Elden Ring: Nightreign

Recommended reading

MindsEye third person shooter action game
Third Person Shooter MindsEye: All the key details on the new action game from one of the minds behind Grand Theft Auto
Protagonist Jason Duval in Grand Theft Auto 6.
Third Person Shooter GTA 6's preposterously gorgeous second trailer has me thinking 'no-one does it like Rockstar' isn't just a compliment, but an omen
A large illuminate structure explodes in the middle of a Super Earth city in Helldivers 2.
Third Person Shooter In my first hour with Helldivers 2's new city maps, I've caused millions in property damage, been to several Illuminate raves, and committed treason in the fog of war
Key art of Leonida Keys.
Grand Theft Auto The details and takeaways you might've missed in the new GTA 6 trailer
A chaotic battle in FBC: Firebreak.
FPS Electrified sticky notes and spontaneous combustion: Remedy's new co-op shooter FBC: Firebreak is built for chaos and 'joyful discoveries'
Revenge of the Savage Planet screenshot
Action Revenge of the Savage Planet review: A refreshingly cheerful dystopian metroidvania that just wants you and your co-op friend to have some laughs
Kliff, protagonist of Crimson Desert, clashes swords with his foe.
RPG Crimson Desert is an unrestrained feast of violence, with a toolkit of moves that's like a fusion of every action RPG protagonist of the past decade rolled into one
  1. Games
  2. Adventure
  3. Just Cause 3

Why you should be excited about Just Cause 3

Features
By Andy Kelly published February 13, 2015

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an commission. Here’s how it works.

Last month I visited Stockholm to spend some time with Just Cause 3, the next game in Avalanche’s chaotic open-world series. After half an hour of grappling, parachuting, wingsuiting, and exploding my way around Medici, the new Mediterranean-flavoured setting, I was impressed. It’s not a huge leap from Just Cause 2, but it’s more fun, more polished, and more over-the-top in almost every respect.

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
Medici

Medici

A crucial part of the Just Cause formula is an exotic setting, and the new game continues that trend with the sun-soaked Mediterranean archipelago of Medici. It’s a vast, beautiful landscape, with a lot more terrain variety than Panau. Along the coast I see natural arches jutting out of the rocks and a town perched on the edge of a cliff. There are fields of dazzling, colourful flowers and in the distance I spot a colossal snow-capped mountain. There aren’t any snowy mountains in the Mediterranean, of course, but Avalanche tell me they decided to take some artistic licence in the interest of fun.

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
The ‘Fire Leech’

The ‘Fire Leech’

The combat feels similar to the last game, but a little more chunky and satisfying. I tested a few weapons out—a pretty standard selection of machine-guns, shotguns, and so on—but the best was easily the Fire Leech, an absurd missile launcher that can fire eight rockets at a time. Hold the fire button and it locks on to any nearby destructible objects or enemies, then you let go and watch the fireworks. Avalanche told me that this particular weapon was dreamed up by a programmer, who brought it to the producers and suggested it be included as part of Rico’s arsenal. How could they say no?

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
The wingsuit

The wingsuit

Along with the parachute and grapple, there’s a third way for Rico to get around Medici: the wingsuit. You can transition into it at any time, and its physics are so exaggerated and floaty that it’s basically like flying. Seamlessly transitioning from the grapple to the parachute to the wingsuit feels really intuitive. I found myself ignoring my objectives and just floating around, flying gracefully through underground caverns and emerging at the other side. If you lose momentum it’s just a case of grappling onto something and giving yourself a boost. People are going to pull off some amazing stunts with this thing.

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
Tether-ism

Tether-ism

Tethering things to other things was one of the best things about Just Cause 2, but it’s even more fun in the new game. You can now use multiple tethers at once (a maximum of three, but modders will deal with that), and adjust their tension at the touch of a button. So say an attack chopper is on your tail. You can tether it to the ground, then tighten the wires so that it pulls it down and smashes it into the ground. Or maybe you just want to tether a few enemies to your sports car and do doughnuts as they scream in terror. The potential for physics-based mischief and mayhem here is huge.

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
Cascading destruction

Cascading destruction

This sounds a bit like one of those annoying game developer buzzwords, like Battlefield’s ‘levolution’, but it really is the best way to describe how things explode in Just Cause 3. Destroying one thing almost always sets off a chain reaction, and the ensuing parade of fire, explosions, and crumbling physics objects is a sight to behold. I launched a volley of rockets from the Fire Leech into an enemy base and it seemed to explode forever. I played Just Cause 2 immediately after playing JC3, and the destruction felt so weedy in comparison. It’s not as insanely granular as Red Faction: Guerrilla, but it’s close.

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
The visuals

The visuals

Yes, it’s a very pretty game. Of course it is. I asked Avalanche if they were giving any extra love to the PC version, and they said the water is being co-developed with Nvidia, so expect some very fancy shimmering and undulating. The idea, they say, is to make the water vehicles more satisfying to use, with realistic wave physics to battle against. Again, going back to JC2 just after playing JC3 highlighted just what a graphical leap the sequel is. Everything feels /bigger/ too. One enemy base is like a giant multi-tiered oil rig plugged into the side of a cliff. Blowing that to pieces was pretty exhilarating.

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
Supply drops

Supply drops

In JC2 you could call in vehicles and weapons, but for a cost. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve spent a fortune on a plane, only to screw up the take-off and slam it into the ground. That won’t be a problem in JC3, though, because supply drops are free. You can call in tanks, choppers, guns, cars, and so on at any time, and there’s no cost. But to balance things out, enemy strength will dynamically increase as your own firepower does. Get into a tank and you’ll suddenly be facing soldiers with RPGs, for example. So while calling in drops will be more convenient, it won’t make the game too easy.

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
Liberation

Liberation

Rico is fighting to free Medici (actually the country where he was born) from an evil dictator. Toppling dictators is, after all, his thing. The country’s towns have been smothered by propaganda and armed guards, and citizens slump around looking depressed. But once you’ve charged in, killed everyone, and destroyed all the propaganda, everyone is suddenly really happy. Giving Rico a more personal stake in defeating this particular dictator should, hopefully, make the plot a bit more compelling. Story has always been the weakest part of the Just Cause games.

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
Hijacking

Hijacking

The good news is, they’ve gotten rid of that tedious hijacking QTE thing. But there’s still a risk element when it comes to stealing military hardware. A short animation plays in which Rico slaps a bit of C4 on whatever he’s trying to nick and blows the bloody doors off. This leaves you open to attack, so it’ll be a bit of a gamble if your health is low. This, and the dynamic difficulty I mentioned in the supply drops slide, shows that Avalanche know that something can’t just be fun; it has to offer a satisfying challenge too. Getting that balance just right will be one of their biggest challenges in developing JC3.

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
Infinite C4

Infinite C4

To help in the process of blowing absolutely everything up, Rico has infinite remote-detonated C4. You can only place five at a time (again, expect the modders to make short work of that), and thanks to that cascading destruction thing I talked about earlier, the results are devastating. I spent a large portion of my playtime strapping C4 to bits of enemy base, then wingsuiting a mile away, detonating, and watching it explode majestically. Then when you discover that you can attach C4 to things, then tether them to other things, your mind races with ideas for creative chaos.

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
Andy Kelly
Andy Kelly
Social Links Navigation

If it’s set in space, Andy will probably write about it. He loves sci-fi, adventure games, taking screenshots, Twin Peaks, weird sims, Alien: Isolation, and anything with a good story.

Read more
MindsEye third person shooter action game
MindsEye: All the key details on the new action game from one of the minds behind Grand Theft Auto
Protagonist Jason Duval in Grand Theft Auto 6.
GTA 6's preposterously gorgeous second trailer has me thinking 'no-one does it like Rockstar' isn't just a compliment, but an omen
A large illuminate structure explodes in the middle of a Super Earth city in Helldivers 2.
In my first hour with Helldivers 2's new city maps, I've caused millions in property damage, been to several Illuminate raves, and committed treason in the fog of war
Key art of Leonida Keys.
The details and takeaways you might've missed in the new GTA 6 trailer
A chaotic battle in FBC: Firebreak.
Electrified sticky notes and spontaneous combustion: Remedy's new co-op shooter FBC: Firebreak is built for chaos and 'joyful discoveries'
Revenge of the Savage Planet screenshot
Revenge of the Savage Planet review: A refreshingly cheerful dystopian metroidvania that just wants you and your co-op friend to have some laughs
Latest in Adventure
The Alters screenshot showing a clone of Jan.
The Alters review: A masterclass in high tension gaming
Robert, the protagonist of AdHoc Studio&#039;s dispatch, stands in a crammed elevator full of superheroes.
Dispatch is the first Telltale-style game I've played that's delivering on the promise of playing a TV show, and it's even got a compelling management sim tucked inside, too
Three figures stand nervously in an elevator, two of them dressed for skiing.
If you've ever wanted to play an NPC in a Hitman level then do I have the Steam Next Fest demo for you
A woman in an astronaut suit looks down with a vexed expression.
Dontnod's next game looks like Uncharted's platforming bits as its own thing, in space
A man in sunglasses is set against a glowing city backdrop.
A noir take on Yakuza is love at first sight: Stranger Than Heaven's reveal trailer is a head scratcher but I'm already in
Tire Boy
PC finally has its own Breath of the Wild killer, and it's indistinguishable from the Nintendo game except that you are a boy who is also a tire
Latest in Features
A girl in a school uniform pilots a giant robot
Steam review bombs can be harmful, says Mecha Break dev, but it had a positive takeaway after Chinese players hammered the beta: 'We underestimated players' ion to get into our game'
Directive 8020 sci-fi horror
'We encourage you to live with your choices, but if you want to change it, you can:' Supermassive explains why it's adding a flowchart to its narrative horror with Directive 8020
Famous half-vampire Blade unsheathing his sword
Summer Game Fest no-shows: 9 big games that were absent from 2025's showcases
Dune: Awakening promo image - sexy man with sword
Dune: Awakening's dungeons are so atrocious that I'd rather get slowly digested by a sandworm than fight through another one
Pipistrello racing along with his yo-yo in Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo.
Fight predatory capitalism with a yo-yo possessed by your aunt's spirit in this brilliantly bizarre metroidvania
Date Everything
Date Everything turns everyday household objects into gorgeous love interests, and now I can't look at my refrigerator the same way
  1. Annapro carrying case, GameSir Nova Lite controller, SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds, and Asus ROG Falchion RX Low Profile keyboard on a blue background with PC Gamer Recommended logo
    1
    Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
  2. 2
    Best graphics card for laptops in 2025: the mobile GPUs I'd want in my next gaming laptop
  3. 3
    Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
  4. 4
    Best 14-inch gaming laptop in 2025: The top compact gaming laptops I've held in these hands
  5. 5
    Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I've tested
  1. The Alters screenshot showing a clone of Jan.
    1
    The Alters review
  2. 2
    AndaSeat Novis gaming chair review
  3. 3
    8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless review
  4. 4
    Kinesis mWave keyboard review
  5. 5
    MSI MPG 322URX gaming monitor review

PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • Future's experts
  • and conditions
  • Cookies policy
  • with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please or to comment

Please wait...