The latest trailer for Just Cause 4 sports the tagline “Bring The Thunder”, and for good reason. One of the highlights of the video is the huge, physics-shifting world events that will occur in the new game, such as a giant twister that picks up cars, helicopters, and even tears buildings away into a hapless spiral around it. We get short glimpses of Rico gliding around the swirling beast, dodging cars and planes as he attempts to bear the full brunt of the coming storm. The trailer also briefly shows off a second environmental hazard: A giant, lightning-filled thunderstorm that impairs visions and will make soaring through the air a lot more difficult for any vehicular planes or human wingsuits. Then there’s the lightning, which crashes into the earth with reckless abandon, tearing apart all that would dare stand in its way.
The trailer also gives players a short taste of a new section of opposition that Rico will come face to face within the newest iteration: The Black Hand, a powerful and ruthless militia group that dominates the local populace with an iron fist. These new baddies don black and red tactical gear and can be seen using deployable walls for cover and blasting off with portable mortar launchers and railguns to eliminate their opposition. We also caught a glimpse of a larger, more mechanized looking member of The Black hand, who may serve as a miniboss of sorts that poses a greater challenge to Rico’s daring heroics.
But Rico also has a few more tools available to him this time around. In gameplay demos, we saw him able to place as many as twelve different connecting wires, with all previous options still there, in addition to some new ones. Now, Rico can combine his two-way grappling hooks with his remote bombs, remote rocket bombs, and even the all-new balloons to make for some interesting combinations. In one brief shot, Rico, attached four balloons to the top of a Humvee and two rockets to the back, creating a flying platform of destruction. The improved physics engine is sure to provide an even greater magnitude of high-flying stunt-slinging adventures for this latest massive open world adventure.
But in all of the footage and raw gameplay demos that have been shown so far, there’s one mechanical issue with the last game that doesn’t appear to have gotten any attention. With such a wealth of tools available to the player, the game certainly allows for the performance of some truly remarkable stunts and feats, but it wasn’t set up to encourage that sort of gameplay. The same was true in Just Cause 3: While you could stick a few explosive barrels onto a semi, hijack it and send it careening through the wall of an enemy base, you could just as easily stand on top of a faraway building and launch a few grenades into the base, accomplishing all the work in half the time. Options like hijacking helicopters and taking out key targets from range were almost always more effective than the more interesting choices, and the game lacked a system to encourage its more fun attributes.
Game developers understand that many gamers will opt for the most effective options rather than the most interesting ones, and many games in the past have come up with systems to counteract this. Doom 2016 used its Finisher system to encourage players to stay close to the action for a steady supply of health and ammo. Sci-Fi / FPS Bulletstorm used its “Kill With Skill” style system to encourage experimentation and rewarded players with upgrade points. The Batman: Arkham games and the Devil May Cry games give greater score bonuses when players incorporate a variety of options into their combos. Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War encouraged the use of the game’s Nemesis system through the option to “spare” a nearly defeated Uruk Captain. The spared captain would return with vengeful scars and a higher level, making them a greater ally or a source of more powerful loot when players chose to cash in on their investment. Just Cause 3, on the other hand, gave the player a plethora of options to choose from, but no systems or mechanics that encouraged players to push themselves to the limit.
But with the game still a ways off and with so little footage to go off of, there is undoubtedly more of Just Cause 4 that remains to be seen. Is there a mystery mechanic lurking in the works that encourage a riskier playstyle? Maybe rewarding close proximity to enemies or smart use of grapples with greater or more frequent access to the game’s signature on-demand supply drops? We hope so. For now, stay on the lookout to more Just Cause 4 content as the E3 show continues over the next few days.
Featured Image Via Flicker / Akshay
