Just Cause 3 Will Be the Game to Judge The New Gen By

There’s a lot of talk, always, about maxing out consoles, about things that were impossible only a few years ago, and the conversation always ends up in the same way. Console wars, endlessly arguing over exclusives. With the current line up though, the pressure is on an innovative favourite to show how originality should be done.

Just Cause is something of a slow burner. Both the first and second games released with only a little excitement, talk of sky-high escapades and unheard exploration. Neither sold exceptionally at first, but somehow have become one of the must-have PC games. It was one of the titles that helped Square Enix realize that PC gaming is where it’s at, and they’ve since begun offering dirty cheap titles at every opportunity.

This is mostly because of the long tail that older games have on PC. The Xbox 360 version of Just Cause 2 has most likely sold more copies at CEX in the last week than it has brand new copies total in the last year. New Xbox 360 games of that age are hard to stumble across and stupidly expensive compared to the used option, so it becomes easier to just get the first readily available option.

On PC, it’s been on offer dozens of time, available for less than the price of a cup of coffee, and every time the number of purchases go through the roof. Mods have allowed it to thrive, to grow to the point where if you have a Steam account and you don’t own Just Cause 2, you’re probably in a minority. You’ll probably even rectify the issue over the next few months.

And that’s despite it’s age. It’s not a particularly beautiful game when you get too close to the nitty gritty, but that’s where Just Cause 3 will come in. This is a franchise that’s entirely unique, completely unlike any other franchise. And that’s why the third title will be the true judge of what this new generation can do. Avalanche studios will absolutely push the PS4 and Xbox One to the limit, and the PC version will be mind blowing, at least if the developers keep up the quality of their work.

But because of that reputation, I find it hard to believe that they’re going to rest on their laurels. It seems far more likely that they’ll push far beyond what we have come to expect. The graphics and animation will be better, yes, but it’s not beyond the realm of imagination to think of the new vehicles and stunts available on the new systems, or the explosions. Beyond the third person action exploration title that forms the baseline for the game, the sky is literally the limit, and perhaps even that won’t stop you (if you want to get into crazy speculation).