What is the just cause? (Just Cause (Xbox 360))

Member Name: mchitty

Product:	Just Cause (Xbox 360)
Date:	08/01/09 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ace graphics, great to watch, smooth action

Disadvantages: I thought I'd done this mission before? Ten times?

One of the first games that was available on the Xbox 360, Just Cause is highly impressive on paper. Freeform sandbox gameplay? Check. A huge island to roam around, bigger than basically anything seen before on a game? Check. Beautiful next gen graphics with the mandatory pretty vegitation? Check. Superb levels of interaction, allowing you to comandeer any vehicle you see in the game? Check.

And it looks good too. In fact, starting up the game you're treated to some seriously impressive action gameplay. Plummeting from the sky, you are instantly treated with a magnificent vista of the island stretching out in front of you. On the road below, cars look like ants, whizzing around the island's rural highways.

Soon you find yourself landing on a car, hijacking it and pursuing a badguy, ending up at his own military installation. After 'doing your thing', you walk away from the ensuing chaos, among huge explosions and searing flames, hop on a motorbike and speed off to your next encounter.

Within the first hour of gameplay you're treated to skydiving, jeep driving, helicopter piloting, as well as driving an incredibly powerful military speedboat that seems to be armed with an infinite supply of missiles.

I mean, it's undoubtedly loads of fun. The problem is that games are supposed to be fun, yes, but they're supposed to be fun for more than an hour. And after this, Just Cause has very little to give.

The same gameplay is repeated again and again in tedious missions. The storyline is shallow and just plain poor. Yeah it's fun in a high-octane action hero sort of way, but after that first intense burst of action, it has nothing new to offer, no more surprises in store.

The island itself is beautiful, and also built on a massive scale. But it's bloody boring! It's just scenery, and although the scenery is undoubtedly pretty, there isn't really much that'll make you go 'wow'. The whole area is bland and generic, and there isn't much to differentiate one enemy encampment from another. Although the opportunity is there, the motivation to explore is just not present.

Bar a few glitches here and there, the gameplay here is remarkably fluid. The controls are not clunky, and watching the game is like watching an action movie. It's a shame really, because a bit more time spent on the content itself could have made this a great game.

As it stands, somewhere Just Cause is a great game. Unfortunately the lack of variety really hurts any longievity it might have had, making it closer to a tech demo than anything else.

Summary: Mixed bag but ultimately falls flat. Play the demo.