Sandbox series Just Cause is releasing the third installment in their line tomorrow, Dec. 1st, for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. While many are gearing up for high flying, explosive, and chaotic open world adventures, others are hemming and hawing over whether or not this is worth the buy. Currently, on the eve of its public release, there are distant rumblings already reverberating around the internet. Videogamer.com reports, via NX Gamer, that it is possible for the game’s framrate to crawl at a lowly 17fps! Furthermore, they listed complaints on extremely extended load screen time (the longest recorded one clocked out at a staggering 15 minutes). NX Gamer discovered these errors on the Xbox One, and it appears these radical issues remain (mostly) only on the Xbox One.
These sources, however, are not the only ones to make this claim: during a comparison of the Xbox One and Playstation 4 versions of JC3, Gamespot found that the Xbox version ran at a native 900p, while the PS4 version performed at 1080p. During a frame rate comparison it was discovered that both versions were intended to run at a rate of 30fps, and while neither are meeting this expectation (the Xbox clocking out at 20fps, and the PS4 pushing it to 24fps), it appears the Xbox One is the guilty party underperforming. Gamespot went on to quote game testers at Digital Foundry, who stated:
“In between shoot-outs, both editions mostly hold at 30 fps, but once things kick off, it’s clear that Microsoft’s machine struggles to a more noticeable extent. It’s clear that PlayStation 4 has the edge in sustaining target performance more consistently. What’s particularly disappointing is that even in areas with little or nothing going on, Xbox One can still have issues–moving into a forest area and spinning around on the spot can cause the engine’s performance to drop to the mid-20s, while PlayStation 4 retains the lion’s share of its performance.”
Some find the issues too irritating to overlook and fear it might compel players away from the game. But fear not! It’s not all doom and gloom.Happily, there are no black rain clouds speculating on the performance issues on PC versions (at least, not yet). Fans can also look forward to an awesome Marvel Comics Easter Egg snuggly tucked away for those, like Arekkz Gaming, dedicated enough to stumble across it.
It appears someone sneakily tossed in Mjolnir, hammer to none other than the Norse god of thunder and war: Thor. NBD, guys. Sadly, Rico remains, like most mortals and beings lesser than the mighty Thor, unable to lift the hammer with his puny arms.
Just Cause 3 remains a single player, open world game at launch, without multiplayer. It releases tomorrow, Dec 1st, to kick off the season of “lock yourself in your room and play games to ignore your relatives” (wait, is that only at my house?) It is selling at $59.99, currently, for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. A word of caution to all our Xbox One friends out there: Just Cause 3 installs at a mind-boggling 42.49 GB, so start ruminating on ways to make space.