Just Cause 3 is ridiculously delightful, and delightfully ridiculous. This is evident from the very beginning, which starts you off standing on top of an airplane using a rocket launcher to take out SAM sites. It only becomes more ridiculous from there.

Just Cause 3 thinks that running around is far too slow, and thus gives you a grappling hook, a parachute, and a wingsuit. The grappling hook lets you move around the battlefield in an ultra-fast version of the Vanquish slide. That same grappling hook combined with a parachute will launch you into the air. Get high enough, or jump off a great height, and switch to the wingsuit to fly across the islands. Keep using the grappling hook while flying to build up speed and you can navigate the island at speed without ever touching the ground.

But that's not all the grappling hook can do. Grapple an enemy, and launch yourself at them to deliver a flying kick. Grapple two items - like an explosive barrel and an enemy jeep, or an enemy and the ceiling - and use the tether to pull one into the other. You can also grapple onto vehicles to ride on top, or below, or hijack them.

The ridiculousnous continues as you fly into a town or base, run around causing chaos and mayhem, kill countless enemies while destroying their tanks and helicopters, liberate the area, and then be on your way.

The ridiculousnous extends beyond the combat. One of my favorite moments - as I was driving a prized car back to the garage to unlock it - was when my GPS malfunctioned and sent me driving off a cliff and into the ocean. I was okay, but my prized car was now at the bottom of the sea. But wait! Maybe if I... Yes! I was able to tether the mangled remains up out of the water, flip the car up onto the dock by the garage, and use the tether to drag the wreckage - sparks and debris flying off of it - to the garage. It was enough to make a copy, and unlock it. Success!

But my favorite moment was when my young son climbed into my lap and we flew over the island until we found an orange car (his favorite color), and then just drove around the island. No combat, no missions, just following the road wherever it takes us and soaking in the beauty. The driving is slick arcade style, drifting through tight turns, and AI cars are usually smart enough to slow down or get out of your way. In a game of chaos and destruction, we found peaceful relaxation in just driving around the beautiful island and watching the hills and ocean roll by.

[Update]
One significant negative, however, is the default always-online server connection. It's used to provide times for your friends, so you can see how you did in comparison and encourage competition. That part is fine. What's not is that the server seems unstable. The first week, I never encountered a single server issue. This week, though, the server seems to be down every day. You can play offline, but every time you pause the game or open the map / drop / mod menu it tries to reconnect, which results in waiting and watching a wheel spin for 20 second. It greatly interupts the flow of the game when you open the map for a sec, but have to spend 20 seconds doing nothing while the game tries to re-connect to a server that's down.

I had to block JustCause3.exe in the Windows Firewall to avoid the constant reconnections while they got their server issues sorted out. It let me play the game without interruptions, but it meant that any Feats I accomplished while off-line didn't count once I went back online.


In addition, there are a couple mods I recommend you get, one practically essential and one optional but fun.

First, pretty essential, is the No Intro mod, to remove the 30 second unskippable intro. The intro is cool the first time you see it, but the length and inability to skip it is inexcusable. Download the mod here: https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/download/863-just-cause-3-no-intro-mod/

Second, optional, is the double range grappling hook. I find it makes it more fun without breaking the game. Just be sure to only install the double range one, as the infinite does break some aspects. Download the mod here: https://justcause3mods.com/mods/grappling-options-infinite-range-double-range-etc/

Just Cause 3 is ridiculously delightful, and delightfully ridiculous. This is evident from the very beginning, which starts you off standing on top of an airplane using a rocket launcher to take out SAM sites. It only becomes more ridiculous from there. Just Cause 3 thinks that running around is far too slow, and thus gives you a grappling hook, a parachute, and a wingsuit. The grappling hook lets you move around the battlefield in an ultra-fast version of the Vanquish slide. That same grappling hook combined with a parachute will launch you into the air. Get high enough, or jump off a great height, and switch to the wingsuit to fly across the islands. Keep using the grappling hook while flying to build up speed and you can navigate the island at speed without ever touching the ground. But that's not all the grappling hook can do. Grapple an enemy, and launch yourself at them to deliver a flying kick. Grapple two items - like an explosive barrel and an enemy jeep, or an enemy and the ceiling - and use the tether to pull one into the other. You can also grapple onto vehicles to ride on top, or below, or hijack them. The ridiculousnous continues as you fly into a town or base, run around causing chaos and mayhem, kill countless enemies while destroying their tanks and helicopters, liberate the area, and then be on your way. The ridiculousnous extends beyond the combat. One of my favorite moments - as I was driving a prized car back to the garage to unlock it - was when my GPS malfunctioned and sent me driving off a cliff and into the ocean. I was okay, but my prized car was now at the bottom of the sea. But wait! Maybe if I... Yes! I was able to tether the mangled remains up out of the water, flip the car up onto the dock by the garage, and use the tether to drag the wreckage - sparks and debris flying off of it - to the garage. It was enough to make a copy, and unlock it. Success! But my favorite moment was when my young son climbed into my lap and we flew over the island until we found an orange car (his favorite color), and then just drove around the island. No combat, no missions, just following the road wherever it takes us and soaking in the beauty. The driving is slick arcade style, drifting through tight turns, and AI cars are usually smart enough to slow down or get out of your way. In a game of chaos and destruction, we found peaceful relaxation in just driving around the beautiful island and watching the hills and ocean roll by. [Update] One significant negative, however, is the default always-online server connection. It's used to provide times for your friends, so you can see how you did in comparison and encourage competition. That part is fine. What's not is that the server seems unstable. The first week, I never encountered a single server issue. This week, though, the server seems to be down every day. You can play offline, but every time you pause the game or open the map / drop / mod menu it tries to reconnect, which results in waiting and watching a wheel spin for 20 second. It greatly interupts the flow of the game when you open the map for a sec, but have to spend 20 seconds doing nothing while the game tries to re-connect to a server that's down. I had to block JustCause3.exe in the Windows Firewall to avoid the constant reconnections while they got their server issues sorted out. It let me play the game without interruptions, but it meant that any Feats I accomplished while off-line didn't count once I went back online. In addition, there are a couple mods I recommend you get, one practically essential and one optional but fun. First, pretty essential, is the No Intro mod, to remove the 30 second unskippable intro. The intro is cool the first time you see it, but the length and inability to skip it is inexcusable. Download the mod here: https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/download/863-just-cause-3-no-intro-mod/ Second, optional, is the double range grappling hook. I find it makes it more fun without breaking the game. Just be sure to only install the double range one, as the infinite does break some aspects. Download the mod here: https://justcause3mods.com/mods/grappling-options-infinite-range-double-range-etc/