A bombastically enjoyable action game with serious performance issues gets spread too thinly over a vast map.
Spotlight
VideoWatch: When friendly NPCs are the absolute worst
Plus more from Outside Xbox.
VideoWatch: Just Cause 3 DLC Sky Fortress turns you into a human F-14
Plus more from Outside Xbox.
Digital FoundryFace-Off: Just Cause 3
Cause and effect.
Splosion, man.
Key events
10th January 2019
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 surprise launches on Xbox Game Pass
9th January 2017
3rd March 2016
17th December 2015
Just Cause 3 receives patch to "significantly improve" load times
5th December 2015
1st December 2015
2nd December 2015
15th September 2015
16th June 2015
18th November 2014
11th November 2014
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has surprised launched on Xbox Game Pass.
Capcom's Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, which first launched back in 2011, is superb, chaotic fighting game fun (and much better than the disappointing Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite).
Avalanche's Just Cause 3, which came out in 2015, was supposed to launch on Xbox Game Pass today, 10th January, but it surprise-launched a day early. The open-world blast is available now.
Just Cause 3's multiplayer mod is coming out of beta next week
1.0 launch set for Steam.
The long-anticipated Just Cause 3 Multiplayer Mod is finally getting a proper launch on 20th July. It will be on Steam and everything.
The mod by fan group Nanos GbR has been in beta since January, but it's worked out most of the kinks in the half-year it's been publicly available.
This multiplayer mod will allow players to create their own game modes, but it's mostly meant for futzing around as it supports hundreds of players per server - even if they all look like the exact same man. Now you can have aerial battles, vehicular races, or emulate the group skydiving scene in Point Break.
Aquaman Jason Momoa set to star in Just Cause movie
Ready, set Drogo!
Jason Momoa has signed on to star in the Just Cause movie, Variety reports.
Just Cause 3 multiplayer mod now available in beta
Rico's Roughnecks.
In 2012 Just Cause 2 fans collectively assembled an incredible mod that allowed 600-player multiplayer in Avalanche Studios' open-world action game. This mod was so successful that the developer gave the fan-made addition its blessing and earlier this summer Avalanche hired its lead architect, Cameron Foote. This meant that Foote and co.'s development on a multiplayer mod for Just Cause 3 shut down, but another fan collective, Nanos Team, has been working on a similar mod for Avalanche's latest, which just released its first beta build.
"Our modification opens the door to incredible multiplayer possibilities including racing, deathmatch, skydiving, roleplaying or freeroam," said the developer on the mod's site. "But it doesn't have to stop there: Thanks to our powerful scripting API server owners can easily create game modes on their own."
You can download the Just Cause 3 multiplayer mod from its official site. A 1.0 release is planned to launch in the next couple of months.
VideoWatch: When friendly NPCs are the absolute worst
Plus more from Outside Xbox.
Greetings Eurogamers. We're on the eve of Gamescom, the videogame uberconvention in Germany at which new games are announced, upcoming games are teased and the entire games industry becomes 80 percent currywurst by volume.
Just Cause 3's next DLC adds a "rocket boat"
Ship just got real.
Just Cause 3's third DLC expansion, Bavarium Sea Heist, adds a "rocket boat" to its roster of sandbox wonders.
Just Cause 3 dev hires multiplayer mod creator
To work on "projects present and future".
The developer of the Just Cause series of games has hired the chief creator of its popular multiplayer mod.
Just Cause 3's second DLC pack coming next week
Mech Land Assault packing a punch from June 3rd.
Just Cause 3's second sizeable add-on introduces an all-new, commendably punchy mech as part of the Air, Land and Sea expansion pack, which is coming to season pass holders on June 3rd with a wider release from June 10th.
A year after Watchdog, how's Sony's digital refund policy working out?
For one customer, not great.
Last year, the BBC's Watchdog programme investigated Sony's digital refund policy after it received a number of complaints from PlayStation owners who had struggled to get their money back following fraudulent purchases.
FeatureAn afternoon with Just Cause 3's Sky Fortress
Come for the jetpack, put up with the mission design.
The jetpack - or Bavarium Wingsuit - that you're given at the very start of Just Cause 3's new Sky Fortress DLC is quite a thing. Seriously. Hold a button to blast off from the ground, and then you're up, up and away, riding a trail of neon blue fog as you head for the stars. That initial boost won't last forever, but once you're gliding, you can top yourself up with toots on a recharging thruster, and you can even air brake to pull off fancy turns, or to screw up fancy turns and starfisj yourself against a tree. You have a machine gun and a rocket launcher, both available in-air and saved from spamming by their own cooldowns. Best of all is a barrel roll, which you can pull off just as an enemy missile is about to hit you. It's a beautiful thing, in-game text announcing your success as the golden contrail of the rocket with your name on it races past inches from an arm or leg. People talk about Sky Fortress as being the Iron Man mod, and you glimpse it very clearly in these moments. Swoosh!
Just Cause 3's Sky Fortress DLC now has a release date
Patch tomorrow to cut loading times.
Just Cause 3 add-on Sky Fortress launches on 15th March, publisher Square Enix has said.
But season pass holders get access a week earlier, from 8th March.
The pack includes a new Iron Man-esque wingsuit with machine guns and missiles, as well as a new aerial area to explore.
VideoWatch: Just Cause 3 DLC Sky Fortress turns you into a human F-14
Plus more from Outside Xbox.
If you've played Just Cause 3 you'll be familiar with hero Rico Rodriguez's wingsuit, with which he can glide and swoop gracefully around Medici. If that seems a bit sedate, you might be interested in the Just Cause 3's upcoming Sky Fortress DLC, which straps a missile-launching jet pack to Rico, transforming him into a human F-14.
Sky Fortress is the first DLC pack from the Just Cause 3: Air, Land and Sea expansion pass, and it's out in March.
Finally, tide turns in war with PC game crackers
"In two years' time I'm afraid there will be no free games to play."
I never thought I'd see this: video game pirates admitting defeat. But that's what appears to have happened. Notorious Chinese game cracker 3DM warned that "in two years' time I'm afraid there will be no [illegally] free games to play in the world". That was alias Bird Sister speaking, the founder of 3DM (via TorrentFreak).
Just Cause 3 receives patch to "significantly improve" load times
UPDATE: Digital Foundry road-tests patch 1.02 on PlayStation 4.
UPDATE 17/11/5 2:35pm: Digital Foundry has taken a look at patch 1.02 for Just Cause 3 and records that loading times - on respawns, at least - are indeed "significantly improved". However, those looking for performance boosts may be disappointed.
Original story: Just Cause 3 is getting its new patch 1.02 this week that should improve load times across all platforms.
As detailed on the game's official blog, patch 1.02 arrived this morning on European PS4s and will be rolling out across other consoles in the next couple of days before hitting the PC version on Friday.
Digital FoundryWhat does it take to run Just Cause 3 at 1080p60?
PC hardware testing in search of the fastest, smoothest gameplay experience.
One of the most eagerly awaited titles of the holiday period, Avalanche Studios' Just Cause 3 delivers almost everything you might have been hoping for - a lush, beautiful open world packed with adventure, wonderfully insane physics and colossal, immensely enjoyable explosions. There's just one problem: performance. The consoles fall some way short of delivering a consistent 30fps, and for many, that does diminish the fun factor - especially on Xbox One. Suffice to say that if you're looking for a truly transformative experience, PC is the way to go. 1080p60 gameplay is attainable, with equivalent levels of performance also possible at 1440p and higher. Although frame-rates are obviously lower, Just Cause 3 is even perfectly playable at 4K, completely maxed and using just one GPU.
Just Cause 3 beats Rainbow Six: Siege in UK chart
While Wii U exclusive Xenoblade debuts in 28th.
Open world explodathon Just Cause 3 has blasted into the UK chart in fourth place.
Digital FoundryFace-Off: Just Cause 3
Cause and effect.
Following on from Mad Max, Avalanche Studios throws out gritty post-apocalyptic landscapes for Just Cause 3 in favour of a vibrant and bombastic open world action title, where the emphasis is firmly on crazy stunts and rampant destruction. Spectacle is what this series is all about, and in this regard Just Cause 3 certainly delivers - the question is whether the underlying technology is capable of fully delivering the necessary pyrotechnics while retaining its 30fps performance target.
Of course, in theory, the Avalanche engine should be well suited to delivering this type of experience - in essence, that's exactly what it was built for. Going into this game, we had every reason to be confident that the studio would deliver. Mad Max handed in the goods on all three platforms, and remains one of the very few technologically challenging triple-A titles to deliver an almost entirely identical experience between Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with a consistent level of performance to boot.
However, Just Cause 3 is a somewhat different animal - as our initial analysis revealed. While there's little doubt that the core action delivers, the surrounding technology is clearly feeling the strain on console, and our first tests on our budget gaming PC platform suggested that the computer version may well offer the best available experience. The only problem is that there's a sting in the tail there - specifically, a notable level of instability. Avalanche has promised a patch and asked for patience in its delivery. Having spent a week with the PC version, the almost random nature of certain issues is very annoying - and that's a shame. It's a beautiful game, offering limited but effective visual enhancements over the two console releases, but the ability to iron out the performance issues and hit a sustained 60fps clearly elevates the gameplay.
Just Cause 3 developer promises PC bug fixes, asks fans for patience
"We need a little bit of time."
Just Cause 3 developer Avalanche Studios has said it is committed to improving the game's PC version, but will need some time to do so.
Splosion, man.
Just Cause 3 starts as it means to go on. Following a winking credits sequence soundtracked by a crooning cover version of The Prodigy's Firestarter, you're dropped into the game standing atop a speeding plane, using a rocket launcher to take out ground targets as flak explodes all around you.
Just Cause 3
Publisher: Square EnixDeveloper: Avalanche StudiosPlatform: Reviewed on Xbox One, also on PC and PS4Availability: Out now
Digital FoundryPerformance Analysis: Just Cause 3
UPDATE: The Digital Foundry budget PC hands in a good experience at close to max settings.
UPDATE 2/12/15 9:00am: We're still working on our Face-Off coverage for Just Cause 3, but in the meantime we've updated the article with how the game runs on PC - specifically our budget computer, featuring a Core i3 4130, 8GB of 1600MHz DDR3 plus an Nvidia GTX 750 Ti.
Original story: Available to some ahead of time, initial reports on Just Cause 3 console performance haven't been particularly positive - with an Xbox One preliminary analysis causing much concern. Going into our testing, we couldn't help but wonder - is the console version of Just Cause 3 really in bad shape? After all, Avalanche's recent cross-platform work on Mad Max was exemplary. Additionally, with the pre-release focus on Xbox One, what of the PlayStation 4 version?
We managed to grab the game ahead of release from a local retailer, and our analysis is based on both releases patched up to version 1.01. In terms of core image quality, we can confirm that the PlayStation 4 version is indeed running at native 1080p, while Xbox One operates at 900p. Initial comparisons of art assets, effects and lighting suggests that both versions are operating with the same visual feature set. Avalanche clearly felt no need to adjust GPU-intensive elements such as shadow quality - in this respect, both look equivalent to the high setting on the PC game.
VideoVideo: The games within games that could have ruined everything
Plus more from Outside Xbox.
If you find a game hidden within another game, and you're as easily distracted as us, chances are you'll wind up playing that instead of getting on with saving humanity or your family or whatever the mission was supposed to be before you got sidetracked.
Just Cause 3 PC system specs leaked
UPDATE: Dev releases official specs, differ slightly.
UPDATE 24th November 2015: Avalanche has released official specs for the PC version of Just Cause 3, and they differ slightly from the leaked specs below.
Job losses at Just Cause 3 developer Avalanche Studios
"The transition between major projects is always challenging."
Around 24 staff have been let go from Just Cause 3 and Mad Max developer Avalanche Studios.
You may have already seen a couple of videos that we've published featuring Just Cause 3 - one of which gives you a sense of the game's scale, whereas the other one is just, well, a bit weird. It involves a cow and a makeshift catapult and it's probably the fairest representation of what people will actually spend their time doing in a game like this.
VideoWatch: How big is Just Cause 3?
It's hard to grapple.
The release date for Just Cause 3 is fast approaching, which is all very exciting, but there are still so many questions about Square Enix's latest that have yet to be answered.
Open world explosion simulator Just Cause 3 has blasted out a new gameplay trailer, which includes more fireballs than our EGX curry house on vindaloo night.
EGXVideo: Just Cause 3, PlayStation VR & David Braben's face at EGX 2015
It's this week's Eurogamer show.
It's day three of EGX 2015. The halls are hot, the games plentiful, and right about now our editorial team is running on nothing but an unhealthy mix of caffeine and sugar. In between filming and sneaking off to watch the odd developer session, Chris, Ian and I even found the time to play some games, so here we are talking about them (and our favourite kids TV show puppets) in this week's Eurogamer show. Special shout-out to Johnny, who we had to bundle on a train back home to London due to ill health. We'll bring you back a hat or something.
Just Cause 3 WingSuit app offers interactive 360 degree VR videos
The future of gameplay trailers?
Just Cause 3 - WingSuit Experience is a new free app that allows you to see snippets of exciting Just Cause 3 footage where you control the camera.
Just Cause 3 Expansion Pass adds three DLC packs
Costs £20, add-ons unlock a week early.
Just Cause 3 has revealed its Air, Land and Sea Expansion Pass that includes eventual access to three add-on packs for £19.99 / $24.99.
It's 10 per cent off if ordered prior to 30th November.
The expansions are described on the game's Steam page as "three new game-changing explosive experiences including new action-packed missions, new enemy types, weapons, gadgets and unique vehicles that transform the Just Cause 3 world."
Square Enix working with Just Cause 3 developers on Final Fantasy 15's airship
High hopes for collaboration.
The people behind Final Fantasy 15 are talking with the people behind Just Cause 3 in a bid to get the fantasy role-playing game's airship off the ground.
Just Cause 3 release date confirmed for December
Features over 400 square miles.
Just Cause 3 is set for a 1st December release on PS4, Xbox One and PC, developer Avalanche announced during Square Enix's E3 2015 press conference.
It will give players over 400 square miles to swing and glide around via their grappling hook and parachute.
We'll add in further gameplay footage as it becomes available.
The Just Cause series is defined by the purest kind of action-hero thrills: adventure, exploration and anarchy. In one sense the games provide a sprawling playground for almost pornographic free-form violence, yet in another, they're a celebration of technology and artistic ambition, providing sumptuous tropical worlds from which to drink deep. In their best moments, they are both at once.
A new Just Cause 3 video has revealed the game in action for the first time.
Vote for what you want in Just Cause 3's Collector's Edition
Fancy a grapple hook replica, destructible statue puzzle or 9-inch Rico?
Just Cause 3 publisher Square Enix is letting players vote on what they'd like to see in the game's Collector's Edition when it launches later this year on PS4, Xbox One and PC.
"A lot of people are using the open world as a big level and putting their single player experience through it," says Just Cause 3's director Roland Lesterlin as we huddle in the warmth of Avalanche's Stockholm offices away from the lashing cold of a January snowstorm. "That's great - I love playing open world games. Just Cause is something a little bit different from that, though.
VideoVideo: Just Cause 3: What we want to see
Why? Just cause.
Just Cause 3 is, if rumours are to be believed, on its way this year, leaving us wondering what will be added to the open world series in the third instalment. Looking back on the parachute-heavy pandemonium of Just Cause 2, Johnny grapples (get it) with our most wanted features.
Just Cause 3 screenshots show off explosions, wingsuits
Hard to grapple.
A selection of new Just Cause 3 screenshots have popped up online, showing off the game's aerial and land-based gameplay.
New Just Cause 3 screenshots show parachute, grapple, explosions
Looks like a blast.
Developer Avalanche Studios has released 20 new screenshots of its upcoming sandbox action game Just Cause 3.
Just Cause 3 won't have multiplayer at launch
But Square Enix's cloud-gaming company strongly hints that it's coming later.
Just Cause 2's fan-made multiplayer mod was a thing of beauty, but the game's official sequel won't launch with this feature.
Developer Avalanche Studios broke the bad news to GameInformer. "The mod is absolutely fantastic," said Avalanche CCO and co-founder Christofer Sundberg. "We owe those guys a lot. They have actually supported the game and helped it stay alive so many years after it was released. We don't expect the fans to make the multiplayer for Just Cause 3, but at some point you have to make a choice on where your focus is. Our strength is the sandbox experience, and we want to deliver a great Just Cause 3 experience."
Sundberg then noted, "Maybe sometime down the line, we'll take Rico into the modern world of multiplaying."
Just Cause 3 has finally been officially announced
UPDATE: Won't be free-to-play or contain micro-transactions.
UPDATE 11/11/2014 10.17pm: Just Cause 3 won't be free-to-play or contain micro-transactions, developer Avalanche Studios has confirmed.
Early leaked screenshots suggested otherwise, but Avalanche co-founder and chief creative officer Christofer Sundberg explained that those were early prototypes and not indicative of what the final product will be.
"Those leaked screenshots were taken from an ancient version of Just Cause 3," he said on the official Avalanche blog. "Like most games, this one went through an exploratory phase where we looked at different control schemes, different technologies, different business models. Those leaked screenshots show aspects of that process, and in no way reflect the game we are making today."
