Viva la Liberation!

Just Cause is a tricky game to review. On the one hand, there's something so satisfying about grappling onto the tail-end of a helicopter, then jumping THROUGH the rotor blades into the cockpit and taking command. On the other hand, the thrill wears off after you do it for the 20th time. See, once you play through the first few missions of JC, you know what's coming in the rest of the missions. The first tropical island you start on looks exactly like the rest of San Esperito, and the stunts you perform are the exact same stunts you're going to be pulling off for the rest of the game. Jumping out of cars and paragliding to your next destination becomes less and less exciting each time you do it. But if nothing changes, then why did I enjoy it so much? Perhaps it was the graphics, which honestly set JC apart from most next-gen games I've played. The lighting and shadow effects, particularly at dawn and dusk, will have you struggling just to pay attention to the action. Many times, I just stopped and marveled as the rays of sunlight were broken up by my chopper's rotor. Yeah, the graphics were gorgeous, but what really made Just Cause fun for me was the idea that you were actually liberating a country in turmoil. I really enjoyed starting an uprising with the militia and storming the government blockades. Province by province you'll take control of San Esperito, and as you make good with the local drug cartel and revolutionary forces, you'll advance in rank and earn new safehouses, vehicles, and weapons. And to be honest, storming the gates of a town or city or drug-palace is actually more enjoyable than most of the real missions in the game. I guess I liked Just Cause because I'm the kind of gamer that enjoyed the time spent in between mission more than the actual missions themselves.