Just Cause 3 Gamescom 2015 Preview

Just Cause 3 is coming out in December, so Square Enix and Avalanche are using every opportunity to show the game. Gamescom 2015 was no different. They had a booth with several machines running the game, and a bunch of different challenge-like bits on display. We’ve had some time with the game, and recorded a bit of footage.


One of the challenges was a wingsuit tour. You jump from a helicopter and glide through glowing rings – the closer to the center you are, the more points you get. The devs want to show the new gadget as much as possible, and I could see why right away. It’s as close as you can get to flying on your own, and it’s exciting. The wingsuit complements the parachute and grappling hook perfectly, giving us yet another reason to never sit behind the wheel in Just Cause.

The next challenge was an RPG frenzy – you get dropped into a designated area with a rocket launcher, and have to destroy as much as possible within a time frame. The area was filled with radio towers, radar dishes and such, all coloured in red and white, as per the ancient Just Cause custom. Watching the structures crumble is every bit as satisfying as it was in previous games.

Finally, there was a tank frenzy challenge. It works the same way as the RPG frenzy, but with a tank instead of a rocket launcher. Obviously, there’s no verticality to this one, since you’re stuck on the ground, so it was the less fun of the two.

The impression the demo left was decent enough, but I can’t help but feel it would’ve been much better if they let us fool about for a bit on a limited piece of the map. Just Cause was never strong when it comes to orchestrated content and set pieces, but it was a delightful toy, a place to go and be your worst self. The third one needs to up the ante, and not only with a few cool new gadgets.