Just Cause 3 will give gamers a playground filled with insane stunts, powerful weapons and an endless amount of potential destruction. Nothing new for fans of the series. But the setting is different this time around, and so is Rico Rodriguez. Set in Medici, a fictional Mediterranean island, Rodriguez is on a hunt to find dictator General Di Ravello, a man whose blood lust yearns to take over the world.
iDigitalTimes spoke to Francesco Antolini, principle designer for Just Cause 3, about the upcoming title’s gameplay as well as what’s in store for Rodriguez. As with any Just Cause game, fans of the franchise can expect new weapons, tools and vehicles to cause all the destruction and chaos they desire.
“In Just Cause 2 the grappling hook was mainly an instrument for traversal. For Just Cause 3, something that we started asking ourselves was- since the very beginning- how can we build up on that so it can become an efficient tool for combat [and destruction],” Antolini said. “We came up with the retract mechanic where you can tether two things together…so that the things would smash [into] eachother.”
He added, “In Just Cause 3, you now have up to six tethers at once in the world…The infinite grapple was one of the first mods for Just Cause 2. We listened to the community, who we thank from the bottom of our hearts. [The community] input has been invaluable.”
It’s also not a Just Cause game without the large selection of vehicles. Antolini wouldn’t give up how many cars or other vehicles would be available, but he did stress there would be a lot to choose from. Developers are also introducing a new vehicle swap out model where your CPU will calculate how the damage you take would affect a car in "real life." This means the damage on your vehicles will look different every time it takes a hit.
“[The old vehicle swap] wasn’t enough anymore. We weren’t having fun,” Antolini laughed. “This time around we challenged ourselves. We managed to get everything you can destroy and built of individual parts [that] are tied together by real physics constraints. When they get destroyed the CPU is calculating and simulating how this would get [damaged] according to physics laws.
“Just Cause 2 vehicles were functional, they were cool," Antolini continued. "However, for [Just Cause 3] we pushed [the concept] a lot more. We had a group of designers who had a lot of experience with vehicle design this time around. There is a lot more depth in each and every vehicle. You can have fun immediately, but if you really want a challenge we give you opportunities cut corners and take turns in a perfect way.”
Just Cause 3 will give players goals, but never tell you how to play the game, according to Antolini. For example, there’s an option for Rico to get into a plane and get into some mischief. A goal might pop up and challenge the player to travel from one location to another without touching the ground or water. Sounds easy, right? You’ll have to play the game to find out and see what kind of situation Rodriguez has to get himself out of.
“In the previous game Rico was quite shallow,” Antolini said. “[Players] began to question who Rico really is, how did he get into the Agency, where is he from. So we’ve employed a classical narrative this time around and we’ve employed a classical narrative device, which is the hero goes back to his motherland…It gives us the opportunity to get inside [Rico’s past]. You’re not fighting for a nameless agency, you’re fighting for yourself and your people.”
Just Cause 3 is slated to hit PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC Dec. 1.
