Hero Rico Rodriguez drops into Just Cause’s fourth South American country, and the fourth run by a cruel dictatorship. Going by Just Cause’s suggestion, no one lives free in the southern end of the continent. Those who do live in ramshackle towns, seemingly held together only by their poverty.

For Rico then, it’s an effort to save these people. That means wiping out an impossibly scaled army. Where these government agents spend their time off isn’t clear. Because Just Cause 4’s country is made up of one town and infinite, government-owned power stations, there’s no sense of life. Either citizens live in terror of their ruling class, or they stand around government-owned gas mains, assault rifles in hand, waiting for payday. There’s nowhere else to work.

It’s supposed to be in good fun. Maybe it is with a blank context. Rico’s arsenal denies the existence of physics. He can blow up anything or tear down walls with a wrist contraption. He flies around on a parachute or wing suit. That’s nifty. Just Cause 4 serves as a playground for asinine antics, with clumsily designed tools designed to torment this southern regime. Surely it’s possible to topple the government using only wrist-based weapons, like a Mexican Spider-Man, one fighting against awful, derogatory tropes.

To note, if Rico destroys sources of energy (having fun while doing so), the population loses electricity, along with their only jobs. Imagine the economy when Rico leaves. No wonder caravans march northward seeking asylum – everyone is running from the swell of fire created by Rico.

The creative murder methods (in a far too large landscape) takes place within an ugly scenario, and one that Just Cause 4 never cares for beyond screwing with it. The name Just Cause is especially brutish considering context. “Just” in the sense of eradicating a dictator, not so much in devastating the entire energy economy of this area because explosions look cool.

2/5