I recently had the opportunity to go to a Square Enix Press Event and got to spend some time with the upcoming open-world sandbox game, Just Cause 4, developed by Avalanche Studios. During my time with the game, I got to see a little bit of the story, explore the new setting, Solis, interact with the new extreme weather system, and most importantly, I got to spend the time doing what Just Cause does best, creating chaos and destruction with a new arsenal of weapons and mechanics.
Just Cause 4 takes place three years after the events of Just Cause 3, as players take on the role again of Rico Rodriguez, now on a personal mission investigating the death of his father. His investigation leads him to Solis, which is made up of four distinct biomes: Grasslands, Tropical Rainforest, Desert, and Alpine. Each of the biomes will have different types of extreme weather associated with them. These extreme weather changes will incorporate various gameplay mechanics throughout the game, and are procedurally generated, so the system exists in the world on its own.
Just Cause 4 is built in a way that allows you to do things how you want. You can follow the main path of the story which is focused on Project Illapa, something everybody believes is causing all the extreme weather. Avalanche Studios made an effort to give a history to their new world, so you’ll learn much about Solis during your time there. Alternatively, you can also take on various missions from different people throughout the world, and these will also reward you with different mods for the new tether options. Making a return from previous games is the chaos bar. You generate chaos to help fight back against The Black Hand and can advance the front line, which allows the rebellion to secure regions throughout Solis.
The biggest changes to Just Cause 4 are the many new additions and options for the grappling hook. The retractor makes a return, but there are even more ways to tether things together this time around, such as the airlift, where you can attach a balloon and have things float. Every type of tether can be tailored to how you want through mods, from how fast things retract to how high something gets airlifted. Different mods can change these aspects and they are obtained by completing different missions. There is even an option to choose how you want to activate a tether, from having it activate automatically or a tap of the d-pad.
The new tether options and mods can create so many different opportunities. One example that’s been highlighted is combining several airlift tethers together with booster tethers on a tank. The end result is the ability to fight a base with a flying tank. Tethers can also be used while in vehicles, so you are always in control, a core tenet of what Avalanche Studios wants to do: give players more control than ever before. With all these options and ways to customize them, I think they’ve done just that. Just Cause 4 releases December 4 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Check out some of the action-packed scenes from the game below: