Come Out & Play

The people of San Esperito are desperate—following a recent coup by the power-mad President Mendoza, their island paradise has become a new hot spot in the global war on terror. According to recent CIA reports, Mendoza, eager to be a player on the world stage, could be secretly building weapons of mass destruction programs with the help of a shadowy terrorist organization. Overturning a regime and ferreting out a cabal of terrorists normally requires months&mddash;even years—of planning, but the CIA knows it doesn’t have that kind of time. So, they call in one of their most dangerous agents, Rico Rodriguez. An expert with most weaponry, a skilled driver, and a man with absolutely no sense of fear, Rico must infiltrate the island, ally with people who share the desire to bring down El Presidente, and return San Esperito to its peaceful people.

While the cast of Just Cause includes a host of colorful players, from Rico’s grizzled CIA handler to a jovial drug lord (who epitomizes the expression “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”), perhaps the most personable character of all is the island of San Esperito. A living creation, San Esperito spans no fewer than 250,000 acres, including such features as dormant volcanoes, white beaches, and dense jungle-filled canyons where even the most wanted man on the island can get lost. There are over 140 settlements in the island chain, from resort homes controlled by drug cartels to idyllic villages to major metropolises — each full of people with lives to lead.

And the best part? Once the game starts, you never have to see another loading screen unless you begin one of the game’s 20+ story missions. You can walk from one end of the island to the other (which would take a considerable amount of time) without a single delay. Every detail, from the butterflies that flit through the jungle to crumbling ads pasted to a village fence, is streamed as you move through the island. For the best example of this impressive sight, take a jet or helicopter to 25,000 feet above the island and jump out. (Don’t worry, Rico has a parachute to break his fall.) But as you spiral down to the ground, you will see mountaintops poke through clouds, rivers split the island chain, and what was once a speck on the horizon soon blossoms into a huge city full of towering skyscrapers. And you can touch all of it. You can land on top of one of those high-rises. You can swim beneath the waves. You can explore every single square inch of this paradise.

Over 85 vehicles — land, sea, and air — help you cover distance in San Esperito. From the family sedan to a thundering tank, you own the roads in San Esperito. Although bridges connect all of the islands in San Esperito, sometimes the fastest way to get from A to B is via the waterways, and you can choose from a variety of sea craft, including yachts, jet skis, and rare rocket boats. You can find aircraft at airports and most military bases, allowing you to command the skies. You can weave between skyscrapers in a gyrocopter, have aerial showdowns with Mendoza’s soldiers in missile-laden military choppers, or soar to the edge of the atmosphere in a jumbo jet.

While acquiring some of these vehicles may take a little time and talent, it’s important to note that they are all available from the moment you hit the ground in San Esperito. If you can fight your way to an airport, you can steal a jet — the game does not dole out vehicles in a specific order or tease you with the best rides only to take them away. Having all of these vehicles available from the start gives you the tools to overthrow Mendoza’s empire in various ways. Just Cause is a true open-world game that lets you choose your destiny. You can buckle down and lead a guerilla army to liberate a series of towns one afternoon, then enjoy a leisurely crawl down a river in a sailboat that night. And there are fewer sights more breathtaking in San Esperito than watching the sun come up while standing on the edge of the highest peak on the island. Once the morning pink gives way to brilliant blue, you can leap off the mountain and parachute right into the middle of a military base and start some trouble for El Presidente. All without a single loading screen.