Just Cause - Action-Adventure PC Game | Open World Exploration & Combat | Perfect for Thrill-Seekers & Sandbox Fans

I typically buy Eidos games for their originality. Unlike all the other GTA clones where you play a thug looking to make money and street cred, the goal of the story in Just Cause is to topple a corrupt President's regime. And like most Eidos games, this one is full of bugs that can ruin the fun for meticulous players.Positives: The environment is huge, and there is plenty of help from the agency to help you get around. Parachuting and hijacking helicopters is very satisfying. Although side missions are pretty worthless, liberating settlements and cities is challenging and rewarding. The main story missions contain enough variety to keep you coming back. Graphically, the tropical setting looks very convincing and eye-pleasing.Negatives: The environment is huge, but very empty. Besides the capital, the cities and settlements are disappointingly small and all look the same. On top of that, the main story only contains about 15 missions (possibly due to budget constraints). Almost the whole western half of the nation is not used as part of the story. It seems kind of strange that you can finish the story while only a fourth of the country supports you.Now the bugs deserve a separate paragraph. Eidos never released a patch or update, so even with newer hardware, the game will stutter and lag after playing for a while. Graphical artifacts are very noticeable when you are not busy. Object rendering is okay, but when you are flying, the game easily gets confused over whether to render certain things or not. The most frustrating bugs in this game are with the AI. After completing a mission and the police stop chasing you, helicopters may still fire at you and continue to follow you. On many occasions I would get run over and killed by an ally at the worst possible moment. As you progress through the story the police and military go insanely aggressive with explosives. If the AI decides to starts firing rockets (which is often), you're screwed and have to reload the previous checkpoint.Despite all these flaws, I really enjoyed Just Cause. The heart of this game is in the main missions and liberations, which are fun and varied. Although the game has every bug known in entomology, it deserves recognition for its novelty.As someone who has played a good half of the game, I would like to add a few things to what other people have covered in this review section:The whole game has a love it or hate it quality to it. If you are willing to ignore a few glaring flaws, you will find a lot to like about Just Cause.Both story and side missions get significantly harder and more fun about mid-game. Do I assassinate these two political figures close up with a rocket launcher, pick them off with a sniper rifle, or blow them up with a well-placed remote explosive? How do I get out safely after doing so? Do I take part in intense tank battles within a big city, skyjack a helicopter and bombard the bad guys with missiles, or pick off foot soldiers on the edge of the battlefield? You may die a few cheap deaths, but overall having to actually think like a guerrilla and not a gorilla makes the later-game missions much better. It's a shame that these types of thinking missions don't appear in more shooters.One often-overlooked bit about having vehicles air-dropped to you is that you actually have to be in the water to request a speedboat(duh!). It's unlocked at the start of the game, despite the 'vehicle not available' message you get when on land.And if you are looking for trouble in free-roaming mode, there are a few high-security areas around the island, moreso then the military bases. Just driving into (or even past) one of these areas will stir up a hornet's nest of armored vehicles and gunships with as many as ten(!) weapons. Epic chase sequences ensure right afterwards, just come in prepared and with a plan!Picture the craziest things you can imagine in a game, then multiple by 100! We are talking jumping out of planes, snatching moving vehicles, using your grapple hook to do moves that would make Batman puke, it is total insanity! My only complaint would be that I came to this game from the also excellent Just cause 2 and the controls are different between the two and thus will need some tweaking if you prefer one layout over the other, but it is well worth it!To me this is what GTA SHOULD have been. A huge world, tons to explore and do, the whole world opened from the start, the size of the world...wow. We are talking over miles and miles of jungle, forest, deserts, you name it, it is a huge and breathing world! Try it, you won't be sorry!This is the best game I have. I do not purchase the latest game as soon as they come out but am an avid PC gamer and fell in love with this one. I plan to purchase the Just Cause 2 as soon as the price comes down, which with this particular game may be a long time because it is such a great and capable game, but it will be worth the wait.OLD GAME, PLAY A COUPLE TIMES IS ENOUGHexcellentThe game is fun but a bit buggy. Very large sand box to play in but very simple AI and limited in what you accomplish. Still, all in all, good fun.Another good one.