Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #851 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Eidos
• Released on: 2006-09-22
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Platform: Xbox 360

Amazon.co.uk Review:
In a nutshell:
Grand Theft Auto might give you the freedom of a whole city or county but in Just Cause you’ve got the task of overthrowing a 250,000 acre island all on your lonesome in the world’s first Che Guevara simulator.

The lowdown:
Taking inspiration not just from Grand Theft Auto but also Mercenaries and old Amiga classic Midwinter you play CIA black ops agent Rico Rodriguez as he attempts to overthrow the evil dictator of the fictional island of San Esperito. Despite the huge island and the complete freedom of movement you have on it the game actually only has 21 story missions. There are over 300 side missions but it quickly becomes obvious that these fall into only a very small number of different styles, not all of which are all that entertaining. What makes the game fun though is just wandering off and doing your own thing, which invariably involves upsetting the local military or drug lords and instigating a massive, impromptu firefight. The game may lack depth and variety but it offers a freedom to explore and cause chaos that few others can rival.

Most exciting moment:
As impractical as it may seem you’ve always got a grappling hook and a parachute, which allows you to lock onto any vehicle and commandeer it whenever you want. It also lets you perform some utterly outrageous stunts as you parasail behind boats and jump from a moving aircraft straight onto a road convoy miles below you.

Since you ask:
Instead of storing the island of San Esperito as a gigantic map the game uses a new technique called procedural synthesis to create the landscape on the fly. This is the only way to make such large scale graphics work on the PS2, especially when you’re flying miles above the island.

The bottom line:
Che Guevara meets James Bond in this shallow but satisfying sandbox game.
HARRISON DENT

Manufacturer's Description
In Just Cause, you take on the role of the flamboyant Rico Rodriguez - an undercover CIA operative specialising in regime change - as he tries to overthrow the corrupt government of San Esperito. This rogue South American island is suspected of stockpiling WMDs and it's your job to negate the threat to world peace. It could be to your advantage that this tropical paradise is about to implode as various factions vie for power - it just needs a gentle nudge in the right direction.

Just Cause offers the freedom to tackle your assignment however you want: play the island's factions off against one another; incite a rebellion among the masses; or build alliances with rebel forces and drug cartels. The incredibly detailed game world consists of 1,225 sq. miles of mountains, jungles, beaches, cities and villages which can be explored by land, sea and air. And you will have at your disposal one of the most varied and exciting array of vehicles, planes and watercraft ever seen in a video game.

Customer Reviews

Somebody make me a strong coffee!!!
I'm bored. Given up. Too many police chases. Crap cars. Grappling hook is always bloomin' selected when you need your gun, and makes you look like a right berk. Too much traveling to get to absolutely pathetic missions. I spotted this game recently. i bought the 360 in christmas 2007, so have started off playing games like Assassin's creed, which was breath taking!! So playing a two year old game at a cheap price, I expected it wouldn't be up to par with Creed on the graphics side. And it isn't. Nice views blah blah blah, but ultimately - there's no meat on this chicken.

Not good enough
After waiting awhile for GTA4 to come out a friend and I tried this game to pass the time and what a disappointment. The one major factor to this game is that they have put way too much effort in the scenery and not into the game physics, the way the guy runs is just retarded, all the vehicles are just stupidly designed. If your thinking about buying this game, don't waist your money, go buy GTA4 instead or Saints Row(i also saw it says on the game cover the game is better than Oblivion and GTA, Ha ha what a joke!)

I would love to like this game
I like this game or at least I think I do, it might be that I just want to like it. Its got so many nice touches and tries really hard to build on a lets face it a very repetitive formula. I like the idea of liberating the island in a mock revolution style, but the story is so painfully boring, it should be so exciting and so involving but I have skipped all apart from the first 5 cut scenes because frankly I just don't give a damn. Its so easy as well, I haven't used anything but the pistols throughout the game and the missions could be completed by Big Brother contestants after they have had thier weekly supply of alcohol, they really are that basic.

Plus what really gets me is the achievements for completing the 7th mission doesn't come til you have completed the 8th mission and the one for completing the 14th mission doesn't come til after you complete the 16th or 17th mission.

Also the island, great it is massive, but I once went on a two week holiday of the Norwegian fjords, the first day I was amazed by the glaciers and beautiful countryside and fjords, the second day I had unpacked my Dreamcast and did not leave it for the rest of the two weeks, its great having beautiful scenary but don't make it look all the same if you don't want people wishing they had never bothered.