Just Cause (video game)

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Just Cause

Developer(s)	Avalanche Studios
Publisher(s)	Eidos Interactive
Engine	Avalanche
Release date(s)	September 22, 2006 (EU) September 27, 2006 (NA) October 6, 2006 (PL)
Genre(s)	Third-person shooter/Action
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Mature (M) PEGI: 16+
Platform(s)	Xbox 360, Xbox, Playstation 2, Windows
Media	DVD-DL, DVD Steam

Just Cause was released on September 22, 2006 for Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 2 platforms in Europe. It arrived in North America on September 27, 2006. The game was developed by Avalanche Studios and was published by Eidos Interactive. The game takes the form of a third-person "sandbox" type. The game area is reported to be over 250,000 acres (1024 km²) in size, with 21 story missions and over 300 side missions to complete^[1].

1 Story
2 Gameplay
3 Demo
4 Reviews
5 Hidden vehicles
6 Trivia
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Story

Just Cause is set on a fictional South American tropical island called "San Esperito", where the player works as CIA black ops agent Rico Rodriguez in a guerrilla war to overthrow San Esperito's dictator, who may be in possession of weapons of mass destruction.^[2] The game draws its premise (and name) from the real-life United States invasion of Panama, code-named "Operation Just Cause", which involved United States military action to overthrow military leader and drug lord Manuel Noriega.

Rodriguez has been described by developers as being "the child of one thousand comic books and action movies. He is James Bond, Mad Max, El Mariachi, Wolverine, Punisher, Rambo, Tony Montana, Jack Bauer, Han Solo and Vincent Vega all rolled into one. With a touch of Enrique Iglesias to top it all off!".^[3]

[edit] Gameplay

Just Cause is structured similarly to the Pandemic Studios game, Mercenaries. The core gameplay consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, with a large, open environment to move around in. On foot, the player's character is capable of walking, swimming, and jumping, as well as utilizing weapons and basic hand to hand combat. Players can take control of a variety of vehicles, including cars, boats, aeroplanes, helicopters, and motorcycles.

The open, non-linear environment allows players to explore and choose how they wish to play the game. Although storyline missions are necessary to progress through the game, players can complete them at their own leisure. When not taking on a storyline mission, players can free-roam and create havoc. However, doing so can attract unwanted and potentially fatal attention from the authorities.

The player can also partake in a variety of optional side missions. These are generally quite repetitive but are necessary to gain points with certain factions.

[edit] Demo

A demo of the Xbox 360 game was released on August 24, 2006 on Xbox Live Marketplace. The PC demo followed in a premiere release at GameSpot. ^[4]

Some gamers have noticed graphical glitches and below average AI in the demo build, but it was later told by the developers that to keep the demo small in size, they needed to cut down on the less needed essentials. It was also reminded that AI and other fixes to the game would be included in the final build.

[edit] Reviews

There has been a variation of review scores by different media, however the games has received an average score of around 68% (PS2-version) to 76% (PC-version). ^[5].

In an online review, IGN US rated Just Cause with a score of 6.8 out of 10. They noted that the gameplay lacked depth and that the side quests are boring and repetitive.^[6].

However, IGN UK rated the game with a score of 8.8, and the Official Xbox Magazine UK gave Just Cause a score of 9 out of 10, praising it for "varied, consistent, imaginative gameplay". ^[7]

The game suffers from its share of bug-related issues though, as noted by many reviewers, who feel the game may have been "rushed" to market without sufficient time to fix certain problems. ^[8] The PS2 version, for example, suffers from a few 'game-killing' bugs that render certain missions impossible to complete, or the entire game unplayable until the game is reset.

xleague.tv rated the game 67% on their website

GamerNode rated the game 6.7 out of 10, ^[9] while GameBrite gave it 51%. ^[10]

PC Gamer (UK) rated the game an 85% must buy (PCG 167). PC Gamer US rated it 93% in their December 2006 issue.

The Xbox 360 version was well received, scoring 9/10 in Play Magazine (US) and 360 Gamer Magazine UK. The 360 version also stayed on top of the Xbox 360 sales chart in the UK for three weeks in a row. ^[11]

The graphics of the game on the PlayStation 2 version are not as detailed as other versions, with shorter draw distances and no reflection detail on water surfaces.

[edit] Hidden vehicles

Many players of Just Cause are intrigued by the description on the back of the games packaging that clearly states there is a mini-submarine available for free-roam exploration. As of yet, the closest people have come is in mission #17 (Sink the buccaneer) where there is an 'underwater scooter' available at a nearby dock. It disappears when the mission is over.

Also, an Xbox 360 screenshot shows a blue, triangular shaped jet being piloted by the player. it appears to be moving very fast and is also being hunted by many players. It is stated in the game guide that this jet is named the 'Stirling STL-3 Octavio'.

Also in the final mission, the player must board a passenger jet called The Excelsior, El Grande. It is possible to enter the jet by pressing the "enter vehicle" button while it is still on the runway. This is incredibly hard to do and is only possible if the game glitches and makes the jet spawn late. When this occurs, the player can only control camera movement and not where the plane flies. Unfortunately the player is also vulnerable to all forms of enemy attack and will quickly be killed while in the jet. This is also without question the largest vehicle in this game and quite possibly in any other game of the same genre.

[edit] Trivia

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Content in this section should be integrated into other appropriate areas of the article or removed, and the trivia section removed.

The box art for Just Cause imitates the famous photograph of Che Guevara taken by Alberto Korda. Guevara was a Latin American revolutionary who was instrumental most famously in the replacement of Cuban capitalist dictator Fulgencio Batista with Cuban communist dictator Fidel Castro.

The character President Mendoza resembles Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran.

On several posters President Mendoza wears a white uniform which is very similar to the Venezuelan Gala-Uniform Nr.1 worn by former dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez and current President Hugo Chávez.

If the nation of San Esperito really existed, its area would rank 182nd out of the world's 233 countries and notable territories. Its reported 1024 km² land mass would fall just behind Hong Kong and just ahead of São Tomé and Príncipe.

AI aircraft can often be seen diving straight towards the ground and exploding, especially near the large international airport near the centre of the map.

On the back of the game's booklet is a picture of President Mendoza defaced with graffiti. One of the lines in the top left corner reads "All in all you're just another brick in the wall" referencing Pink Floyd's The Wall.

The names of several characters in the game are based on real life individuals involved in Latin America; according to the Prima Games guide for Just Cause the former President of San Esperito was named Hernan Augusto, while Mendoza's first name is Salvador, this is a play on the names of Chilean President Salvador Allende, and Augusto Pinochet, the man who overthrew him with CIA assistance, only in the game the names are reversed. The main character of Rico Rodriguez is also based on CIA agent Félix Rodríguez, the man responsible for Che Guevara's capture in Bolivia.