If you didn’t know already, Just Cause 4 will be launching on December 4, 2018 and it is looking to be the best game in the franchise yet by a long mile.
In this article, we share everything we know about Just Cause 4 so far. From new weapons and an improved grappling hook, to a larger open world and extreme weather mechanics, there is a lot to get excited about.
A lot of this information comes from the Square Enix Just Cause 4 E3 trailer, so if you’re interested in watching that, we’ll provide a link at the end.
Just Cause 4 Will Take Place In Fictional South American Country Called Solis
Solis is a fictional country inspired by South America. It will be the biggest world seen in a Just Cause game yet and it’ll be filled with life and bustling activity.
To give Solis more life, they started with 500 years of backstory for Solis. This helped the team working on Just Cause 4 to shape the world and the buildings and scenery within it. Expect large floral areas and wildlife as well as a mix of colonial style and contemporary buildings.
New Bad Guys, Tougher AI
Just Cause 4 will feature a range of new AI archetypes that will make fighting AI enemies more challenging and ultimately more enjoyable.
These new enemies will be part of the Black Land, a private militia that has been seen in previous Just Cause games. There is a lot we don’t know about the bad guys in Just Cause 4, but we do know that the leader is named Gabriela Morales, an antagonist that honestly looks as badass as her name sounds.
Apparently, there’s some kind of personal vengeance involved – Gabriela believes that Rico, the main Just Cause protagonist, was part of a movement that killed her mother.
Besides that, this is all we know about Gabriela, but we do know that there will be a variety of enemy archetypes that have unique abilities.
Examples include stealthy units that go use active camouflage, tankier units with riot shields with built in light machine guns, and riot police style units. From the trailer, we saw five different unit types, but there may be more in the final game.
Expect Destruction and Crazy Physics Taken to a New Level
Whilst there is a layer of seriousness to the Just Cause 4 story, the developers know that players have found a creative playground within the physics that come with the grappling hook, explosions, and other elements found in the franchise.
As a result, Square Enix has made doubly sure this time around that there are even more ways to have fun and mess around within Just Cause 4. The grappling hook has been upgraded so that it is easier to use for newcomers to the series, but more adaptable for those looking to do more interesting things with it.
You can now grapple more things at once, attach rocket booster and balloons to items, and I’m hoping there will be plenty new fun features to find in the game once Just Cause 4 launches.
The vehicles have been overhauled massively in Just Cause 4. Firstly, cars and bikes have had performance overhauls so that they are now easier to control and more importantly, incredibly fun to race around Solis.
More vehicle types are added to allow players to cause ultimate carnage. Whether it’s a jet ski, a jet, a bulldozer, a crane, a wrecking ball, or something else entirely, there’s a lot on the table.
New Extreme Weather Mechanics
I’ve seen people get excited about dynamic weather systems in video games before. If you’re this kind of person, you’ll be blown away by Just Cause 4’s extreme dynamic weather.
And by extreme I mean blizzards, thunderstorms, tornadoes, you name it. The new extreme weather mechanics in Just Cause 4 will not only provide an interesting element of challenge for players, but it will also open up the opportunity for more destruction and more fun.
Playing games with the eye of a tornado, for example, is something that we are very rarely able to do in video games and Just Cause is just the perfect franchise to have such a feature made available.
New Apex Engine
Just Cause 4 will be powered by a brand new game engine called Apex. The Apex Engine will be responsible for allowing the game to support things like new physics, extreme weather, brand new terrain and wildlife.
The Apex Engine will essentially mean that Just Cause 4 will always look beautiful and there will always be opportunities for absolute chaos. Thanks to the Apex Engine, Solis will be bigger, brighter, and more detailed than we’ve ever seen in a Just Cause game before.
Just Cause 4 Release Date Details
Just Cause 4 will be launching on December 4, 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PC.
There are three versions available for sale so far – the standard edition, the Gold edition, and the digital deluxe edition. If you pre-order the standard edition, you also get a free Neon Racer supercar, wingsuit, and parachute in-game. This version is $59.99.
The Gold edition gives you the same, alongside the expansion pass for future content and the Golden Gear pack, which features a Golden Gear shotgun, a Golden Gear parachute, and Golden Gear Wingsuit. This version is $89.99.
Finally, the Digital Deluxe Edition gives you the Deathstalker Scorpion Pack, an exclusive Steam wallpaper, the Black Hand Stealth Micro Jet, and the Black Hand Prototype weaponized wingsuit. This version is $69.99 and exclusive to Steam.
Want to learn more about Just Cause 4? You can check out the E3 trailer here:
What are your thoughts on all of this? Are you excited about Just Cause 4? If you are, what will you do when you first get the game later this year? Will you play the story or get straight into playing around with the new physics and grappling hook mechanics?