14 DAY TRIAL // 
Out of the Swedish newly founded company of Avalanche Studios comes a promising free - roaming action based on the Latin experience of guerilla wars, drug barons and corrupted regime. Rico Rodriguez, the all-in-one American agent, is called to liberate the beautiful island of San Esperito and "fire" El Presidente, Salvador Mendoza. You are to be in Rico's shoes in the undercover "vacation" he takes in Just Cause.
Concept Just Cause offers 1,024 Km? of the tropical island of San Esperito to explore and 89 vehicles to go by (too much walking may be exhausting and dull). You'll be able to drive cars, ride motorcycles, steer boats, fly choppers and planes and, when you get tired of them, go on foot or make good use of your parachute by skydiving or paragliding. Take your enemies down using a wide range of weapons at your disposal. Make a lasting impression by performing stunts (of course you are the one that will be most impressed) which are also extremely helpful to complete many of your missions.
The whole island is at your disposal to discover, admire and make use of the inhabitants' vehicles. The view includes dense jungles, high mountains, beaches and, of course, cities and villages.
Rico has to complete a set of 21 main missions, but he can still take up any of the dozens side or bonus missions. There is no locked place in San Esperito - Rico can do whatever he wishes (well, what you wish actually - he doesn't do anything on his own). Help the rebels liberate the island one province at a time, take care of the drug barons' dirty business or be the delivery boy that runs from place to place, shoots a few bad guys and brings back the necessary goods. You do it all for respect and fun (lots of fun).
Story El Presidente's dreams of W(eapons of) M(ass) D(estruction) have come to the attention of the US Defence Department. Due to all sorts of secret deals, arrangements and embarrassments that could be exposed if any official connection became known, the help of the Agency is needed. In changing a regime, Rico Rodriguez is the specialist.
Your adventure in San Esperito starts with Rico parachuting on one of the island's beautiful beaches to help his former commander from the Gulf war, Sheldon, the top secret field operative that will guide him on his quest to take down the corrupted government. Once you meet Maria Kane, the girl that hands you all your gadgets and vehicles, the fun may begin. Viva la revoluci?n!
Killing a chief of state isn't easy, especially since there needs to be no connection between the "incident" and the US government. So what do you do? Here comes the hard part. You are to infiltrate the local liberating guerilla movement and give them a little help in pursuing their dreams of freedom. Just to be on the safe side, you also get in touch with the drug barons and encourage them to take some action against the president and his dirty business. Of course you can't just tell everybody that the regime must be changed. You have to keep a low profile, make good use of your abilities and advance in the ranks of the two groups. Rico does them a little favor, so they start liking and trusting Rico a little more; it's as simple as that. What Rico uses his respect for? Wrecking havoc (and getting high tech equipment)!
All through the main story quests you are rewarded with explanatory short videos, just to keep track of the news, your near objectives and the repercussions of your actions. Short, a little laughter involved, making lounge for Rico's skills, the videos add to the salt 'n' pepper of the game.
I'm not sure how exactly a revolution is started in real life, but the story in Just Cause gives a pretty good version of it (the bloody one evidently). To sum up, you'll see the battle for power through the eyes of the main character, the hero that brings a nation closer to freedom with his every action. Be there for Rico from the first day he arrives to the tropical island until his job is done.
Gameplay Just keep in mind that you are an undercover top secret agent (yes, like Bond, James Bond) and nothing will seem impossible. Aid him in making use of his macho charm, high tech toys, shooting skills and point out when it's stunt time. There is no conventional tutorial so be prepared to jump right into the action, but there are very useful tips and hints (you get the controls for everything you use for the first time - just before you start testing them and you still have a small list of the actions you can take while using/doing a certain something).
From the first minute you spend in the game you will learn how to use one of your best gadgets - the parachute. It's the ultimate model: no opening problems, can be packed up and unpacked any number of times with no worries whatsoever, no matter the height, very easy to use and efficient especially when used in combination with the other outstanding gadget - the grappling hook. Once you made it safely to the meeting spot, you get a few weapons off the ground and you start "cleaning" the streets (well, the beach first). This is how Rico gets together again with Sheldon.
From now on you travel around the island to the most secretive hiding places the two field operatives, Sheldon and Kane, can think about. To keep you safe, you can also use the operation camps/safe houses - the government's ones, the guerilla's and the Rioja cartel's (one of the local drug dealing families). These are the spots you'll like best as this is where you can regain your health (aside from the health patches the enemy sometimes drops on the ground when dying), you can restock on ammo, save your progress and - the best thing there is - get a hold of cool vehicles.
Of course you can highjack any vehicle you see - sometimes just firing a bullet or two does the job, other times you have to put in a fight with the owners (I guess they really care about their cars), but the bonus vehicles are the best - very uncommon on the streets, unique even. Oh, I nearly forgot to mention! Don't be too greedy or the police will get on your tail. On the bright side, you'll have more people to shoot at (not that they ever seem to disappear or at least get fewer, actually they seem to be some sort of Pheonixes as they keep coming), but they're just annoying when you need to get away (and your health bar is very low)?
The help you get from the Agency is limited. They give you a map of the islands, with all the missions pointed out of course, the same map concerning the relations with the drug cartel and guerilla troops and another with the status on the liberated villages according to the rebels. They also provide air support in terms of on the spot vehicle delivery (owned vehicles that are suitable to your current location) and extraction - delivery to one of the safe houses (when not under attack). They also keep a file on Rico regarding his statistics (that should be fun to read if you just scared a lot of people with your guns).
All through the game you are delighted with a wealth of missions to choose from. The island is anything but dull. With no loading times, the game runs smoothly and you get lots of action. I have been experiencing some lag problems - especially when the atmosphere gets really hot with dozens of guys shooting at me - but that doesn't really spoil all the fun, because it usually gave me enough time to think of a getaway option.
I was pleasantly impressed with the control of the vehicles. Although they are a little ruff and unpolished, the means of transportation respond well to your commands and you get used to them quickly. What's even more to appreciate is that they respond a little different, in example it will take you longer to turn a military jeep around then a bike let's say. Also some cars are faster then others and they accelerate differently. Try to drive a truck and then a convertible and you'll see for yourself. The only nasty part is that vehicles keep popping around out of nowhere (so you are advised to stay on your side of the road or off road). The funny (good and funny) thing is that they usually see you coming and they steer off the road to avoid a collision (but they're coming right at you if they have a quarrel with you).
I was telling you earlier about the grappling hook. Well, this is a state of the art gadget. Shoot it at any vehicle and be prepared for an on the spot skydiving round. You can use that to get on the vehicle in case or on another one, depending on the lengths to the target. Unfortunately, you can't get a grip on anything but vehicles (it would have been nice to hang from one of the high bridges? maybe next time), but it's still fun.
Speaking of stunts, I have to tell you this is the best stuff of the game. Rico is able to get on top of any vehicle and jump from there to the ground or on to another one. He can even get on top of choppers and planes - he can't shoot from that position though (too bad). What's more is that he can use his parachute to take off (told you it's the most useful gadget). I used that a lot when jumping over a fence or taking the enemy by surprise from the air (if there was no helicopter available).
The Agency sets no bounds to Rico, he's the expert afterall. You can do your jobs any way you find fit as long as the result is the same with the objective. What's more you can choose what your next action is - take on whatever available quest you feel like. One little word of caution: you can only take one mission at a time, otherwise you only end up with the sightseeing from the unfinished one/ones.
Well, although it's an action game and your main occupation is shooting holes into the enemy, it would have been nice to be able to speak to some more of the NPCs on the island. I guess diplomacy is not listed as one of Rico's skills (he's only talkative when it comes to girls, usually dangerous ones). Also all the closed doors give a faint frustrating feeling, but there is more than one way to get on top of a building (ladders or, my favorite, the chopper).
The gameplay blends well with the story. You distribute bullets everywhere you go, you hop on to any car, bike, boat or chopper you like (and succeed in getting on), everything in the most latin Rambo way there is (you do remember the movies where Sylvester Stallone was fighting a war on his own and he was winning, now it's your turn). It doesn't involve too much tactics (although you can put it to use if you want to), it's a pretty easy fight and there are fun things to do every now and then.
Video Free - roaming action involves of course freedom of movement and you've got plenty of it. The Avalanche EngineTM offers a huge game world with a high level of details. The only things that suffer a little are the buildings (not the bridges though - the work on the bridges is outstanding) as they seem a little ruff comparing to the natural landscapes. While taking your daily walk through the jungles you'll notice the grass and the leaves swinging, as you explore the beaches please take a look at the water hitting harmoniously the shore, caressing them. True, there's still a definite line over which the water stands still, but the effects applied on the surface compensate for that. Further more the swimming is quite a pleasure (accepting that there is nobody firing on you while in shallow waters) as the bottom of the rivers is covered with underwater plants and corals (they look like corals, I hope I haven't messed them up with some stones or something).
It may not be cutting - edge graphics, but the overall impression is extremely good. If you care to take a short break from the revolution business, I recommend checking out the beautiful sunrises and sunsets, even better if you are surrounded by the jungle or out sailing. Breathtaking are also the landscapes of the high level bridges that connect the different islands (high enough to squeeze under them with the chopper or take a giant parachute jump).
In their quest to offer the much desired movement freedom, the guys at Avalanche allowed Rico to pass through some of the thin trees on the map (don't worry you'll smash into the bigger ones) and foot climb some very steep hills (not all portions of it though). I'm not sure whether to consider it a wise decision as it looks a little unnatural (maybe Rico in an excellent climber as well), but in the same time it serves its purpose and ads to the fluidity of the gameplay.
Every vehicle in the game can be wonderfully blown up or wrecked one smash at a time (although the paint doesn't look very good at first, it goes very well once the car starts taking damage). Speaking of cars - and implicitly of velocity - once you gain some speed you can notice a wonderful blurring effect to the landscape (of course not while driving a truck).
Just Cause is played, by default, from a third view perspective, but you can rotate the camera 360 degrees whenever you feel like it. Yet the default view is the most appropriate for taking care of the jobs you are entrusted.
Sound The music fits the atmosphere of the game perfectly. Guitars are predominant in every song. Castanietas, trumpets and tambourines make their presence felt in the main theme. The combat music is alert, keeping up with the speed of the action. For a short demonstration of the in - game music, tune in to the official site.
Dialogues are a little sparse, but they make up with their humor. As I already told you there are only a few people that will engage in a conversation with you and that only happens in the videos. Probably Rico is tired after all the running around and doesn't feel like talking to just anybody. In spite of this you can't complain there is no voice acting, there are people speaking around you everywhere. Well, most of them will just shout to their friends to kill you, but there are also some funny NPCs that will try to make cheap talk with you (there are some ladies that try to hook Rico up for example).
Multiplayer Sorry, it's a one top agent mission and Sheldon and Kane are too busy to play around with you, busy tasting new cocktails and sun bathing that is.
Conclusion Just Cause has everything it needs to be a relaxing pass time game. Whenever you feel like spreading bullets, training your stunt abilities or just take a walk on the island of San Esperito and admire some of its landscapes you are most welcome to take Rico Rodriguez on a "cruise".
The game is a little unpolished and could have used some more finishing touches, but it's still a remarkable proof that a newly formed company can enter the games market with its head held high - thumb's up for Avalanche Studios.
