Ever wonder what video games are worth buying in the bargain bins? Lately they’ve been in a bit of a slump. The gems are all but gone, leaving behind the waste and detritus (The Getaway, Nightcaster, and nearly a decade of obsolete Madden football). It would be mournful were it not for the Xbox 360’s back catalog heralding a return to glory.
I picked up a used copy of Just Cause, and inside of twenty minutes from the start screen I hijacked a helicopter, ascended a vertical mile, and ditched it for a six-minute freefall.
Artistic liberties with gravity aside, it’s the best $14.99 I’ve spent in a while.
The player is cast as Rico, a full-auto modern Zorro with a taste for nickel plating and a green light to overthrow the vicious dictator of a fictional paradise. The plot is vaguely inspired by the CIA’s de-stabilizing antics in Panama, but that’s about as close to reality as it gets.
The rest is a gonzo cartoon interpretation of Hollywood violence. The hybrid free-aim has a generous lock-on that nudges chain-kills into the teens, and the wildly emergent game play hits a sweet spot between baffling and sublime. Part of that is owed to a laundry list of bugs and a dubious “stunt system” that heighten the experience with unintentionally awesome results. I’ve done things with a jumbo jet that can only be described with fits of maniacal laughter.
The reviews indicate a polarizing experience, but with games becoming so complex as to be hobbies unto themselves, a little fast and dirty action is welcome. The lack of polish, however, isn’t all fun. The driving is touchy, the cut-scenes are terrible, and Rico has a bit of a Johnny-Cash-via-Taco-Bell thing going on that’s corny, but as wish-fulfillment it will satisfy desires you didn’t know you had.
And put down the controller for a minute to check out Rico’s idle animation. It’s sacrilegious, but priceless.
Just Cause can be found wherever used games are sold.
Photo courtesy of wikipedia
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