Just Cause 3, wanton destruction in a beautiful open world! (Review)

Do you love open world games? Does wanton destruction and excessive explosions give you a feeling of wonderment? If so, Just Cause 3 is the perfect game for you! The 3rd installment of the Just Cause series, Rico Rodriguez is back to wrest control from another dictator.

Environment
The game is set in an island nation named Medici, where the tyrant Sebastiano De Ravello rules with an iron fist. The map is pretty huge, with dozens of settlements and military bases dotted throughout the map, not to mention the umpteen amounts of challenges waiting to be completed. The game boasts of having all land, air and sea vehicles, but to be honest, the sea part is pretty bland without the "Bavarium Sea Heist" DLC.

Gameplay
The possibilities are endless in this game, with your grappling hook, parachute and wing suit, you can choose to tackle a settlement or a base from all angles, you can even brig in tanks, helicopters and battleships!

Although, while there are a variety of ways to go about completing missions, the most basic combat is a bit lacking, in my opinion. There's no shooting from cover, nor are there any melee attacks you can pull off, other than the grappling hook kick. So basically, if you like gunfights, they're pretty basic in this game. But you do get to choose from a wide selection of weapons to carry around, you carry around 3 basic types of weapons, dual-wields like pistols or SMGs, a primary weapon like assault rifles or shotguns, and a special weapon like bazookas or sniper rifles.

The core gameplay of Just Cause 3 is liberating settlements and bases from Di Ravello's control by destroying "Chaos Objects" (AKA all the explode-able and destructible objects in the vicinity). You pretty much do it over and over again for the whole game until the whole island is liberated, of course, there are also the occasional full-scale wars and escorting missions from the main story line.

While this might seem boring, it is actually something I cannot get tired of! The bases are different in their own right and some are also built on unique landscapes. Liberating the bases and settlements feels very satisfying and makes you want to get to another spot ASAP! So, in this case, repetition is actually a plus.

Story
The basic premise of it is, well, to liberate a country from its all too tyrannical ruler, Di Ravello. there are a few twists and turns here and there, but the story is basically pretty straightforward. But there is one interesting part though, that is not actually part of the main story, instead, it is a story you hear from collecting the "Di Ravello Tapes" scattered throughout the map. It is the story of Di Ravello's ascent to power, a bit of Rico's origins and some other tidbits of information about the state of things before the beginning of the game.

DLCs
Let's look at the DLCs. mainly, the "Air, Land & Sea Expansion Pass" contents.

The content comes is a bundle of 3 different packs of missions and items. First, let's look at the Land part, or the Mech Land Assault pack. As the name suggests, the main selling point of this pack, are the mechs, which are really powerful, as they can destroy enemy vehicles like tanks and helicopters with ease. There's also a Rebel Mech Buddy and a Bavarium Power Core Rifle, which are pretty underwhelming in comparison. You also get to liberate a new province, and along with it comes new challenges too.

Next up is the Sea pack, the Bavarium Sea Heist, this one is a pretty good pack if you love naval warfare, because, as mentioned above, this pack hugely enriches your experience at sea. You get to unlock the most powerful and fastest boat in the game, the Loochador, which shoots homing missiles and a mini-gun, and there's a whole new province to conquer, set in the middle of the ocean. You can also unlock a special weapon, the Eden Spark, that summons a lightning strike, has an infinite charge and recharges very quickly, it crushes tanks and helicopters in mere seconds, with the disadvantage of being unable to use it indoors.

Finally, the Air pack, the Sky Fortress, this is definitely the one with rewards that hugely improved my experience in game, the Bavarium Wing Suit, it's a wing suit equipped with a jet pack, machine gun and homing missiles! This made traversal to huge distances so much easier and enjoyable! I really loved it! That aside, the sky fortress, an sir ship like the one the Avengers were on, was a pain to capture, the Chaos Objects are hidden, some at the side or bottom of the ship and some are in hard-to-see places, I suffered quite a bit to get through it, but it was worth it in the end, for the Bavarium Wing Suit.

Summary/Conclusion
Pros
+High level of freedom
+Wide variety of weapons
+Satisfying to liberate settlements and bases
+Pretty interesting story
+Likable cast of characters

Cons
-Pretty repetitive gameplay
-Limited gunfight options (No Melee attacks and cover shooting etc)
-Water areas are lack-luster without DLC

Graphics: 8/10
- A huge and vibrant world, but the water and ground graphics can seem very basic at times.

Gameplay: 8/10 
- A game with high level of freedom, but the limited gunfight options could be improved on.

Overall: 8/10 

Overall, this is a pretty solid game that should keep you entertained until the end of the game, which is at least going to be 20+ hours!

Where you can get the game:
Green Man Gaming: https://www.greenmangaming.com/games/just-cause-3/