What do you get when you mix a huge game world, more explosions than Michael Bay's filmography, and suave, unstoppable, government agent Rico Roduiguez? You get the Just Cause franchise. And while Just Cause 4 improves many things over its predecessor, there have also been some compromises. For instance, the water in just cause has always been one of the series highlights but in 4 it has been dialed back. Overall I would not say that the game has been downgraded because while the water doesn't look as good, there is much more going on in this game and a Just Cause game has never performed so well. Whether you're blowing up an enemy base, hightailing it through a river during the middle of a lightning storm, or chasing tornadoes the frame rate remains smooth on Xbox one x. Driving vehicles has also been dramatically improved over Just Cause 3. Not that you ever need to drive a car because Rico still has his trusty grapple gun, parachute, and wingsuit to help you fly across the map without ever touching the ground. Gunplay feels as satisfying as ever although they removed Rico's legendary dual pistols from the game that he has had since the original title. Frankly I was a bit disappointed at first but after trying out many of the other weapons and finding my favorites, I no longer missed them. As for additions to the game, they have added a Frontline mechanic, which means that there is now a constant battle going on between two factions and as you do missions and take over territory the Frontline of the war constantly shifts, which adds to the immersion and sense of progress in the game world. As for the story...it has its charm. It's not as in your face silly as previous titles but it is not mature and grim either. It is a popcorn flick type story with fun characters doing crazy missions. Rico is more of a superhero at this point than a top secret agent, and he doesn't disappoint in this sequel. The game has a sense of adventure like the uncharted games, a unique open world that Just Cause is known for, and some incredible gameplay and action sequences that rival anything from the previous entries. I have waited until last to talk about the music because it is my favorite part of this game. It has a large variety, and a unique sound compared to what many other action games aspire to achieve and it works incredible well with this game. In the end, the game has imperfect graphics, stable performance, smooth controls, and an insane combination of action, charm, and breathtaking vistas which makes it a must play if you enjoyed previous entries in this series, or are wondering if it is worth checking out.
