Five Reasons You Should Be Playing Just Cause 3

Square Enix’s open-world adventure Just Cause 3 has seen a bit of a resurgence lately. Not only has the game been given a free trial on Steam (where you can try out the whole thing on the house), but it’s also been added to the PlayStation Plus line-up for August, though you’ll need to pay extra when it comes to accessing the bonus DLC, including Sky Fortress and other packs.

Still, the core package in itself is pretty awesome, as you guide the heroic Rico through a series of scenarios, attempting to liberate an island-filled city from a corrupt general and his army. Freedom doesn’t come easy, but the gameplay style set up by the developers at Avalanche Studios sure makes it feel like fun, as the game is ripe with destructive possibilities.

We could think of countless things to try within the game, but when it comes to playing Just Cause 3 again, here are the five things we absolutely can’t get enough of.

SLIDE 1/9

Immersive Destruction

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First off, the explosive possibilities in Just Cause 3 is endless. Whether you’re thinking on the lighter side of things by driving a truck into a gas station (while parachuting out of it and watching the sparks fly), or getting even more creative and putting rockets onto a car while seeing it fly into a motorcade and setting it ablaze, the possibilities are near endless. The real fun comes with the large gas canisters that are included in the game, as you can set them ablaze and really throw enemies off. For good measure, you can also use a rocket launcher to get the point across, and even set off chain reactions amidst traffic to see what kind of explosions come from it. Once you set up a tremendous meltdown, you’ll be hooked.

SLIDE 2/9

Fly Like an Eagle

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Just Cause 3 makes proper use of Rico’s wingsuit, as you’ll be able to jump out of helicopters and make your way to another location with ease, with a little bit of suave flying. But that’s just the start of it. You can also fly off cliffsides and set up a surprise attack on an unsuspecting enemy team; you can jump from a helicopter and fly your way over to another helicopter or a plane (if you can grapple it at just the right time); and you can even do some daredevil tricks, like flying through some open spaces on a building and landing with ease on the other side – or doing a Wile E. Coyote and going splat into the side of it. Ouch. Regardless, it pays to fly around in this game.

SLIDE 3/9

Fly Like an Eagle

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Just Cause 3 makes proper use of Rico’s wingsuit, as you’ll be able to jump out of helicopters and make your way to another location with ease, with a little bit of suave flying. But that’s just the start of it. You can also fly off cliffsides and set up a surprise attack on an unsuspecting enemy team; you can jump from a helicopter and fly your way over to another helicopter or a plane (if you can grapple it at just the right time); and you can even do some daredevil tricks, like flying through some open spaces on a building and landing with ease on the other side – or doing a Wile E. Coyote and going splat into the side of it. Ouch. Regardless, it pays to fly around in this game.

SLIDE 4/9

Objectives, Objectives, Objectives

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Whether you feel like running around like mad and creating havoc or following the structure of the story, Just Cause 3 has a lot to offer. But we were surprised by the amount of objectives that are available in the game, especially when it comes to liberating large areas. For instance, trying to overtake an army base that’s laden with soldiers and being dive-bombed by planes from above. These can be daunting tasks, but they provide new challenges for players to take on, and it gets you that much closer to total liberation – and getting back to launching exploding cows at helicopters. No, really, you can do that – and it’s way better than launching cows in Earthworm Jim.

SLIDE 5/9

Objectives, Objectives, Objectives

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Whether you feel like running around like mad and creating havoc or following the structure of the story, Just Cause 3 has a lot to offer. But we were surprised by the amount of objectives that are available in the game, especially when it comes to liberating large areas. For instance, trying to overtake an army base that’s laden with soldiers and being dive-bombed by planes from above. These can be daunting tasks, but they provide new challenges for players to take on, and it gets you that much closer to total liberation – and getting back to launching exploding cows at helicopters. No, really, you can do that – and it’s way better than launching cows in Earthworm Jim.

SLIDE 6/9

Vehicular Madness

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One of the best things we truly enjoy about open-world games is getting into a car and messing around with not only enemy forces, but also civilians. Just Cause 3 provides these vehicular possibilities with ease, whether you prefer motoring over people on Vespas with your tank-like vehicle, or flying through the air and doing daredevil tricks, only to escape as your chopper comes crashing down, thanks to a well-timed leap from it. We’ve seen this kind of destruction in games before, but Just Cause 3 really bumps it up a notch, and playing with traffic has rarely been this fun. Plus, you can jump around from car to car with your grapple cable like a boss, even as cars explode – and you can frickin’ do it in the air, too!

SLIDE 7/9

Vehicular Madness

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One of the best things we truly enjoy about open-world games is getting into a car and messing around with not only enemy forces, but also civilians. Just Cause 3 provides these vehicular possibilities with ease, whether you prefer motoring over people on Vespas with your tank-like vehicle, or flying through the air and doing daredevil tricks, only to escape as your chopper comes crashing down, thanks to a well-timed leap from it. We’ve seen this kind of destruction in games before, but Just Cause 3 really bumps it up a notch, and playing with traffic has rarely been this fun. Plus, you can jump around from car to car with your grapple cable like a boss, even as cars explode – and you can frickin’ do it in the air, too!

SLIDE 8/9

The Grapple Cable Is Your Friend

SLIDE 9/9

The Grapple Cable Is Your Friend

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God, we love the grapple cable. It’s one of the best accessories we’ve seen in an open-world video game, and it provides a ton of possibilities here. Whether it’s tying up a civilian to a street light (and then watching as the thing collapses and they fall to their death – no, we’re not sickos), or grinning like a Cheshire cat as a helicopter forcibly crashes to the ground via an attachment, it’s just a lot of fun. On top of that, you can re-enact your best Bionic Commando moves here, swinging across chasms, grappling your way up to a helicopter to steal it, or simply watching cars crash into each other. The fact you can tether objects is a thing of beauty – and another reason we love Just Cause 3 so damn much.

Just Cause 3 is available now for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.