The Rise and Fall of Just Cause | Documentary

[00:01] What I do best: cause chaos.

[00:14] Not too dissimilar from a B-tier action  movie franchise, Avalanche Studios’s Just   Cause series never rose far above its  station. It earned varying degrees of   success across four entries, thereby enjoying a  comfortable status quo that many of its Double-A  

[00:29] counterparts would aspire to. However,  such comforts came and went liberally,   especially with the launch of a  fourth installment in December 2018.   The first Just Cause made an attempt at raising  the stakes for the open-world genre popularized  

[00:44] by Grand Theft Auto III. Gorgeous vistas and  a ‘go anywhere and do anything’ mantra meshed   perfectly with Avalanche’s goal of providing  players with tools to instigate chaos as they   saw fit. But Just Cause's stunning environments  and freeform gameplay could only pull so much  

[01:00] weight in a digital world that felt as unpolished  as it played. Great strides were taken to improve   upon the core mechanics in subsequent outings,  which Avalanche realized rested squarely on the   back of the havoc players could unleash with  explosions, vehicles, high-powered weapons,  

[01:16] and the constantly evolving grappling hook.  Some would argue it was never enough.   yet Just Cause 2 swung onto store shelves and  sold like hotcakes in 2010. Unfortunately,  

[01:31] sales tapered off from that point forward.  Nonetheless, the development crew never wavered,   pushing the envelope in terms of its technical  prowess at every turn. But with Just Cause 4   performing below expectations, franchise faithful  were left to ponder whether protagonist Rico  

[01:47] Rodriguez had many more adventures ahead of him. This is the rise and fall of Just Cause.  

[02:20] Frustrated by the thought that their bosses  at Paradox Interactive prioritized money over   creating games, developers Linus Blomberg and  Christofer Sundberg left the Europa Universalis   team and founded Rock Solid Studios in  2001. The Stockholm headquartered outfit  

[02:36] quickly inked a deal with Vivendi Universal  to produce a tie-in game based on Tremors,   the comedy-horror film franchise and TV series.   Rock Solid entered production on the tie-in during  the spring of 2002, then unveiled the project  

[02:49] that August with plans to eventually release it  across PC, GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox.   Despite licensing IP for its market  debut, the studio built many software   tools from scratch by crafting a proprietary  RRSTech graphics engine to power the unnamed  

[03:06] Tremors adventure. The technology most notably  boasted an advanced geometry system for detailed   landscapes and smooth transitions into indoor  environments, which garnered the attention of   Codemasters who licensed the engine for  its canceled MMORPG, Dragon Empires.  

[03:21] Amid all this excitement were rumblings that  Enclave developer Starbreeze Studios had expansion   ambitions involving the acquisition of Rock Solid.  Starbreeze ultimately breached the acquisition   agreement, allowing the deal to fall apart and,  thus, thrusting both companies into bankruptcy.  

[03:36] The failed merger resulted in financial ruin  for the Blomberg and Sundberg-founded firm;   worst still, shortly after the Starbreeze  deal went cold, Vivendi pulled the plug   on Tremors and left Rock Solid with no  choice but to permanently close up shop.  

[03:50] Sundberg later admitted in a Game Informer  sit-down that their biggest mistake with the   first development house was in “trusting the wrong  people.” But with so much more to give, the pair   started anew by founding Avalanche Studios several  months after Rock Solid’s sudden shuttering.  

[04:17] Blomberg and Sundberg established Avalanche  Studios in 2003 on the heels of Rock Solid’s   collapse. Despite having only a handful of  other developers on board, work on what would   later become the Avalanche Engine kicked into  high gear early on. The patented game engine  

[04:32] spawned from technology Blomberg had spent years  iterating upon, technology tailor-made for the   sandbox adventures the team dreamed of creating.  They described as an “advanced landscape engine”   capable of rendering huge settings that  showcased everything from small insects to  

[04:47] volumetric clouds. An intricate weather system  targeting realistic and moody settings further   facilitated the path towards an open-ended opus. Speaking with Game Informer, Avalanche’s founding   members insisted their interest in sandbox games  predated the meteoric rise of Rockstar’s Grand  

[05:02] Theft Auto. Blomberg, in particular, mentioned  the Frontier: Elite series when addressing a   desire to build worlds that ventured far “beyond  the boundaries of the physical hardware.” Such   ambitions held firm even though no one on the  crew had any experience with the then-burgeoning  

[05:17] open-world genre. Setting background limitations  aside, the main goal for Avalanche’s future   projects hinged on player freedom. Principle  Designer Magnus Nedfors told Game Brain as much   in a “Making of” interview, highlighting how,  barring a few scripted sequences, the original  

[05:33] Just Cause aimed to break the mold of simply  tasking players with following instructions.   The developers looked to classic arcade games and  sophisticated strategy titles for inspiration,   but were mostly influenced by other forms  of media—comics, action movies, and pulp  

[05:47] novels included. This amalgam of influences  converged to inform the creation of Rico:   Terror in the Tropics, the codename for an  action adventure game wherein Mexican-born CIA   Agent Rico Rodriguez infiltrated a South American  dictatorship to overthrow the ruling despot of the  

[06:03] fictional San Esperito. Later, Avalanche  fittingly landed on the Just Cause title,  

[06:23] based on a historical operation of the  same name in which U.S. armed forces   invaded Panama to remove President General  Manuel Noriega from power in December 1989.   Striking a deal with Eidos Interactive, the  UK publisher behind Tomb Raider and Hitman,  

[06:38] allowed for exponential studio growth. And  the Just Cause creators needed as many hands   on deck as possible to see their ambitious  vision through to completion. Sundberg told   IGN during E3 2005 that Avalanche’s overall  vision centered on providing a realistic world  

[06:53] where users could creatively dismantle a regime  with the help of nearly endless possibilities.   Player freedom factored into every facet of the  open-ended experience as a result, from completing   missions and traversing the island to performing  stunts using land, sea, and air-based vehicles.  

[07:10] Vehicles and weaponry weren’t the only tools  designed for navigating San Esperito’s various   obstacles. Midway through production,  the developers brought Rico’s now-iconic   grappling hook into the fray, mostly in hopes  of facilitating the use of parachute mechanics  

[07:23] that were fun but not widely practical  for the minute-to-minute action.   Nedfors couldn’t recall the grappling hook’s  inception during the Game Brain discussion,   yet remembered it evolved from one developer  mapping out the idea before building an in-game  

[07:37] prototype. Rendering the wire and figuring  out other intricate details such as slack   in the line presented quite the challenge. But  outside of balancing technical specifications,   Avalanche didn’t spend much time exploring  the grappling system’s full potential,  

[07:51] due in no small part to the mechanic entering  the fold so deep into development. Little did   developers know, it would later grow into  a key touchstone for the franchise.  

[08:21] In October 2004, Eidos Interactive advertized  plans to publish Just Cause in 2005 for PC,   PS2, and the original Xbox. The Head of European  External Development at Eidos, Martin Alltimes,  

[08:35] expressed confidence in the partnership  yielding a great game. To the publisher,   Avalanche seemed a good fit for its future  slate of original content; the public   wouldn’t learn why for several more months. The first details about the open-world project  

[08:50] circulated at E3 2005, during which time the  companies premiered a tech demo showcasing   forest landscapes, city environments, vehicular  travel, and the day-night cycle. Its promising  

[09:02] E3 showing aside, Just Cause wasn’t ready  for its previously scheduled 2005 release   window. Eidos announced a delay later that year  while reporting a six-month loss of $51 million,  

[09:15] which soon thereafter contributed to the  company’s stock hitting a record low.   Avalanche stayed out of the public eye until  early 2006, when word of Just Cause’s next-gen   version on Xbox 360 hit the airwaves. Slated to  launch alongside its PC and PS2 counterparts,  

[09:31] the 360 iteration promised “something  really special,” according to studio   co-founder Christofer Sundberg; however,  the added next-gen benefits merely provided   enhanced graphics and Achievements.  Irrespective of their platform of choice,  

[09:45] not many were impressed by Just Cause as whole. The game shipped in September 2006 after roughly   three years of production, inviting players  to assume the role of CIA black ops agent   Rico Rodriguez as he dismantled a fictional  South American regime suspected of stockpiling  

[10:02] weapons of mass destruction. Avalanche’s  engine earned praise for rendering a vast   open world accentuated by an impressive day-night  cycle and plenty of exciting ways to roam. Yet,   middling reviews and tepid player reception  showed few could ignore the emptiness of the  

[10:17] sandbox. Its lacking visuals and subpar animations  weren’t worthy of applause, either. Add to that   the repetitive missions and Just Cause’s first  outing felt bereft of polish above all else.  

[10:30] Still, it would eventually enjoy lifetime  sales of a reported 1.1 million copies,   its debut performing well enough to  secure a sequel. And with that sequel,   Avalanche Studios finally understood how Just  Cause could differentiate itself in a market  

[10:45] brimming with free-roaming action titles. Avalanche began brainstorming ideas for Just Cause  

[11:13] 2 not long after deploying the original, fully  aware of the nascent franchise’s unfulfilled   potential. Taking the widespread criticism into  account, the crew outlined the trouble spots and,   in so doing, identified three key areas  of improvement. Lead Game Designer Peter  

[11:28] Johansson detailed all three during an interview  with VideoGamer.com, telling the publication   that an exorbitant amount of time went into  Rico’s new stunts, specifically in figuring   out ways to integrate them into regular in-game  actions. Johansson noted that while the first  

[11:43] outing featured a decent helping of over-the-top  tricks, most users ignored such exploits because   they never felt necessary. Permanently binding  the grappling hook to a dedicated button standing   in for Rico’s left arm movement supplied one  resolution to the stunts problem in question.  

[11:59] The enhanced grappling hook along with  an overhauled parachute mechanic, thus,   became the former CIA agent’s closest allies.  Arguably, this notion was best realized with   the so-called Slingshot maneuver, which could  be activated by hooking Rico onto an object,  

[12:12] reeling him in, then opening the parachute for  a boost that let the character seamlessly glide   through the air. Avalanche similarly inserted  this level of control into Just Cause 2’s   car-surfing stunts, tuning the movement so that  shifting between positions atop moving vehicles  

[12:28] enabled offensive and defensive maneuvers  during gunfights. As a result, car chases   gained a dimension of complexity that ventured far  beyond the standard and stale mounted-gun fare.   Refining combat occupied the second area of focus.  The studio placed special emphasis on ensuring  

[12:45] every enemy encounter felt “challenging  and tactical,” a feat accomplished with   an all-new aiming system and revamped AI.  While Just Cause included lock-on aiming,   its successor benefited from free-aim mechanics.  The developers approached free-aiming with two  

[13:00] objectives in mind—maintaining the  fast-paced action and adhering to   simplicity. These parameters begat a hybrid  system, whereby users controlled the weapon’s   crosshairs until a bit of assistance kicked in  whenever the reticle drew close to the target.  

[13:15] Understandably, refining enemy AI for the  sequel required more of a developmental   effort. As opposed to building upon their original  work, Avalanche rewrote the AI and based it on a   “sophisticated planning system” that supplied  Rico’s adversaries with a host of new tricks.  

[13:29] Just Cause 2 foes could, in turn, use their  environment strategically, call for backup,   and protect important objects and installations.  The AI advancements covered combat encounters as  

[13:41] fire off shots with greater accuracy, and force  players into evasive or cover-based maneuvers.   And it all facilitated the Adaptive Difficulty  System. Because of its non-linearity,  

[13:56] the Just Cause follow-up featured  a difficulty framework capable of   gradually scaling in accordance with a player’s  actions throughout the game. Late-game missions,   for example, included a heightened security  presence because the government battling  

[14:08] Rico had to adapt to the chaos he  unleashed in previous missions.   The structure and size of the open world  constituted the final pillar of improvement.   Rico’s debut adventure strung together missions  in linear fashion, with lots of ground to cover  

[14:22] between each objective and not much to  do while making the trip. To address this   uniquely open-world issue, developers removed the  disconnect between the main story content and side   activities by ensuring every task drove the game  forward. Side quests such as stronghold takeovers  

[14:38] and random free-roaming events like disrupting  pipelines all contributed to Rico’s efforts of   destabilizing a de facto dictatorship. Avalanche  banked on this marriage between story and side   quests guaranteeing that users never roamed too  far before finding interesting activities.  

[14:57] Just Cause’s creators set the second entry several  years after the happenings in San Esperito.  

[15:13] On hiatus from the Agency, Rico Rodriguez had  taken a South American vacation cut short by   his old partner convincing him to accept one  final job—an objective that involved tracking   down and possibly eliminating his former mentor,  Tom Sheldon. But the premise of Rico pursuing a  

[15:30] suspected rogue agent played second fiddle to the  action-packed gameplay and massive open world.   The fictional island chain of Panau  served as Sheldon’s refuge of choice,   its topography primarily influenced by Hawaii  and New Zealand. Avalanche pulled inspiration  

[15:45] from the varied climate zones that comprised both  locales; as such, Panau included biomes ranging   from sandy beaches, jungles, and snowcapped  mountains to deserts and urban environments.   Just Cause 2’s setting additionally  created a melting pot of Asian cultures,  

[16:00] predominantly borrowing from Malay culture while  also tipping a hat to traditions across China,   Japan, and Thailand. The studio accomplished this  much and more courtesy of Avalanche Engine 2.0,  

[16:12] an advanced version of the old engine no  longer hindered by the restrictions of   sixth-generation hardware. Higher resolution  textures, upgraded destructibility, detailed   characters, and a brand-new animation system  were all powered by the advanced technology.  

[16:27] But even with remarkable tools at its disposal,  the crew faced challenges. Magnus Nedfors,   Game Director on Just Cause 2, divulged in a  GameZone interview that supporting free-roam   experiences across a 400 square mile map densely  populated with activities proved particularly  

[16:43] difficult. Playtesting only added to the grind  since no one player engaged with the world in   the same manner as their counterparts. Factoring  in hundreds of activities designed to facilitate   Just Cause’s theme of instigating chaos only  exacerbated the playtesting-related strains.  

[16:58] The creative process that fueled the project’s  production didn’t help, either. As Nedfors put it,   the team preferred ironing out the details  as production moved along, complicating the   day-to-day for producers who preferred when plans  were mapped out in advance. Features such as the  

[17:13] grappling hook received constant iteration as a  consequence, yet few would argue with the results.   The commercial and critical success of the sequel  showed Avalanche’s efforts paid dividends.  

[17:52] Eidos and Avalanche Studios formally  revealed Just Cause 2 in January 2008,   showcasing only a handful of screenshots at  the time but promising a 2008 launch across PC,   PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The announcement’s  accompanying press release described the new  

[18:09] interactive adventure as an “over-the-top  Hollywood blockbuster of a video game;”   the public would’t get to see it in  action for quite some time, though.   For reasons unknown, Eidos postponed Just Cause’s  sophomore effort to a nebulous 2009 launch window.  

[18:23] The project later slipped into March 2010, the  details of its second delay similarly shrouded   in mystery. A significant corporate shakeup  behind-the-scenes may have contributed to the   prolonged development period in some capacity.  In March 2009, Eidos Interactive’s shareholders  

[18:40] accepted Square Enix’s bid to purchase the  British publisher for approximately $120   million USD, a deal that included Deus  Ex, Hitman, and Tomb Raider assets.   Just Cause proved itself to be yet another  valuable property the following year when  

[18:56] the sequel’s free demo generated an impressive  two million downloads on PlayStation Network,   Steam, and Xbox Live. And despite arriving in the  same month as Final Fantasy XIII and God of War 3,  

[19:08] the full release of Just Cause 2 also fared  incredibly well on the sales charts.   Rico’s second outing drew praise as one of the  most exciting open-world games in years. Critics   labeled it a must-play for adrenaline  junkies, thanks to the huge open world,  

[19:22] ridiculous stunts, intense destructibility,  and, of course, the game-changing link between   the grappling hook and parachute which made  maneuverability an exciting adventure in its   own right. Panau provided the perfect sandbox,  too, featuring countless activities that waded  

[19:37] into the realm of redundancy but still gave  players a reason to regularly dive back in—be   it in short bursts or longer play sessions. Just Cause 2 boasted a few blemishes as well,   shipping with a number of annoying hiccups  that hampered the experience. For many,  

[19:53] the infrequent checkpoint system represented  the biggest stumbling block, considering how   longer missions threw exceedingly difficult  challenges at the player with no room for grace   in the save game department. The targeting system  similarly marched to the beat of dysfunction,  

[20:06] as it turned the franchise’s already  troublesome gunplay into a tedious affair.   Numerous technical woes, the occasional  frustrating mission, and a campaign that hardly   held player interest underscored the problem  areas. Yet, these flaws were easily ignored  

[20:22] given the myriad other victories. And those  in-game victories translated to commercial wins   that saw Just Cause 2 exceed sales expectations  and move over six million copies in four years.   The Stockholm outfit built from the ashes of  Rock Solid Studios finally had a bonafide hit.  

[20:52] Longevity factored heavily into Just Cause 2’s  impressive sales figures, with it thriving based   on two noteworthy elements—the PS3 version’s  YouTube upload feature and the PC modding  

[21:04] community. The most popular videos uploaded by  PS3 players topped 12 million views; meanwhile,   modders implemented multiplayer features on PC  encouraging Avalanche to release an official   multiplayer mod in late 2013. Naturally,  the creative team felt it prudent to further  

[21:20] explore community features when crafting  Rico’s next dictator-dismantling endeavor,   but such an expansion wouldn’t happen under the  stewardship of the Stockholm-based firm. While the   group behind Just Cause 1 and 2 directed its gaze  towards the apocalyptic Mad Max universe, a new  

[21:37] satellite studio took the reins on Rico’s return. Former Atari executive David Grijns left the   company in 2010, harboring dreams of establishing  a game studio in his hometown of New York City.   Grijns chiefly envisioned a company that would  help turn the metropolis into a legitimate place  

[21:53] for growing the gaming business. The industry  veteran’s old friend, Christofer Sundberg,   assisted in bringing his vision to fruition. In  November 2011, Avalanche announced the founding   of its Manhattan arm where Co-Founder  David Grijns served as General Manager.  

[22:07] Speaking with Game Informer for the December 2014  cover story, Sundberg explained that he cast his   mind toward a third Just Cause game as soon as  production wrapped on the sequel. But the Chief   Creative Officer wanted a fresh perspective  and, thus, after months of brainstorming,  

[22:22] the Manhattan office entered pre-production  on what would become Just Cause 3. The goal   from the start was to amplify and enhance  all of the property’s disparate parts,   from world density and core mechanics  to destructive capabilities and Rico’s  

[22:36] personality. Just Cause 3 would usher in an  evolutionary shift for the brand, one made   possible by the Manhattan team’s decision to bring  the protagonist's character arc full circle.   The 2006 title painted somewhat of a goofy image  for the hero; he gained a sleeker edge for the  

[22:52] 2010 installment, taking on a persona consistent  with the Scorpion nickname mercenaries used to   identify him. Even then, Sundberg admitted the  worlds of Just Cause’s earlier outings constituted   the strongest characters, meaning Rico had long  been due for a deeper personality. This notion  

[23:08] manifested in the creation of Medici, a fictional  Mediterranean republic the protagonist escaped   amid a military coup during his adolescence.  The loss of his parents during the takeover   led by General Di Ravello marked the catalyst that  led to his CIA recruitment, thereby starting the  

[23:23] character on a path of dismantling dictators the  world over. At the behest of childhood friends,   that path pulled Rico back into Medici’s  borders where his knack for toppling   oppressive regimes presented him an opportunity  to liberate his homeland from Di Ravello.  

[24:02] A Mediterranean-esque locale seemed ideal for  examining both Rico’s past and the new technical   advancements rendered possible by the Avalanche’s  upgraded engine. Select Assassin’s Creed entries   aside, the Mediterranean boasted a lot of untapped  potential in gaming; thus, the developers borrowed  

[24:19] from the sights and topography of Sicily, Malta,  Greece, and Monaco. Each location provided a guide   for mapping out an world packed with more terrain,  denser areas, and air-friendly navigational   possibilities, all informed by the Manhattan  office’s vision of pushing for verticality.  

[24:36] Avalanche’s versatile terrain system constituted  the most significant improvement to its   engine between the seventh and eighth-console  generations. As such, though Medici bordered on   the same size as Panau, it featured small islands,  mammoth mountains, and cities spread across five  

[24:51] biomes, including coastal areas, pastoral fields  blooming with flowers, scrublands, forested zones,   and ice-capped mountains. Better yet, the new  heightmap system sidestepped merely emphasizing a  

[25:04] top layer of terrain to instead permit volumetric  terrain capable of realizing 3D formations.   Suddenly, Rico’s navigational prowess extended  to caves, overhangs, and tunnels. The newly  

[25:16] implemented verticality also engendered the advent  of another vehicle for air travel—the wingsuit.   Game Director Roland Lesterlin pitched wingsuit  mechanics early in development. According to   Lead Player Mechanics Designer Joe Ishikura, the  idea worked theoretically, yet its first iteration  

[25:33] crashed and burned, failing to befit the action of  Just Cause 3. Ishikura said that in its infancy,   activating the wingsuit with the press of a  button felt like sudden transportation into a   different game altogether. Several rounds of  trial and error supported the mastery of the  

[25:48] feature’s final glider-like controls, opening the  door for a second slingshot grapple maneuver.   The boosted Avalanche Engine's approach  to destruction similarly elevated the   core tenets of Just Cause gameplay,  especially since explosions had long  

[26:02] become an integral part of the experience.  Tearing down statues and blowing enemy   airplanes out of the sky produced detailed  visual feedback, but the upgraded scale of   destructibility benefited the action  in far grander fashion. For instance,  

[26:15] players chased across a bridge by an enemy convoy  could blow up the bridge with the right tools,   then escape while leaving their pursuers  behind in the literal dust and rubble.   Reactivity played its own part in Avalanche’s  vision of a living, breathing open world,  

[26:29] such that it extended to how Rico responded  to player inputs and how civilian NPCs reacted   towards the protagonist’s behavior. Lesterlin  noted in a VentureBeat interview that a reactive   world meant players would never feel the need  to halt their movements—each button press was  

[26:44] intended to elicit some kind of reaction. As for  the game world itself, reactivity evolved in a   way that ensured Rico couldn’t wingsuit across  a field without farmers down below pausing to   catch sight of what soared above them. Avalanche had taken the simplicity of the  

[26:59] original Just Cause and dialed it up to 11. Yet,  saving space for the growth of Rico and its world   design chops didn’t prevent the company’s  Manhattan firm from staying true to the zany   tone of the franchise. Rico’s tragic backstory  may have been the backbone of the third game,  

[27:13] but developers insisted Just Cause 3 in no way  constituted a story-driven romp. The overarching   narrative represented a tool for teaching players  the rules and tricks embedded in the world around   them. Lesterlin told Game Informer the team  hoped users would learn about the likes of  

[27:29] duel-tethering during the campaign, then  feel motivated to test the same mechanic   by duel-tethering something outrageous along  the lines of a helicopter and ground vehicle.   A brand-new upgrade system supplemented  the over-the-top action, inspired by the  

[27:42] dedicated modding community on PC that contributed  so significantly to the sequel’s longevity. Simply   referred to as mods, the upgrades weren’t aimed  at enhancing Rico, per se—as Avalanche saw it,  

[27:54] the action hero had already become plenty  powerful. Players would instead start the   game with a number of preexisting abilities,  then build upon those skills with mod unlocks.   Interestingly, the unlocks were tied to a range  of challenges; completing wingsuit challenges  

[28:09] begat wingsuit mods, destruction-based  tasks awarded grenade mods and so on.   All in all, this approach offered player choice  beyond that of past Just Cause installments,   leaving developers certain they’d produced  the ultimate sandbox—a “gamer’s game”  

[28:25] as Lesterlin once described it. If the  2010 title had raised the IP’s profile,   its successor seemed poised to reach greater  heights. Many would argue it came up short.  

[28:55] Barring a brief tease, Just Cause 3 entered  the limelight in November 2014 when Avalanche   partnered with Game Informer to announce the  magazine’s December cover reveal. Such news   combined with the Stockholm office’s planned  rollout of Mad Max suggested 2015 would be  

[29:12] the company’s “biggest year since inception.”  The team especially drove home that point upon   debuting gameplay footage of Just Cause 3 during  Square Enix’s E3 2015 presentation. Viewers were  

[29:24] in awe of the high-octane action and explosive  fun. If nothing else, the Just Cause brand knew   how to entice audiences with masterful showpieces.  And the anticipation that blessed from the reveal   held public interest through to the game’s  December 2015 launch on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.  

[29:41] But when compared to its universally beloved  predecessor, the third release struck out.   Rico Rodriguez’ Mediterranean-set mission was  met with middling reception from critics and   fans alike. There arguably existed no better  sandbox on the market at the time. The tuned  

[29:58] gameplay mechanics and genuine sense of freedom  intersected to unleash picture perfect chaos,   such that players could replicate their most  bombastic Hollywood blockbuster dreams. It may   not have hit the same standards of quality that  other major 2015 titles such as Bloodborne and  

[30:13] The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt set in place, yet  crisp visuals and an almost unmatched fun   factor compensated for several shortcomings. Still, the hiccups proved far too distracting.  

[30:25] Repetitive missions often got in the way of the  thrill ride, for example, particularly when it   came to the much-loathed escort objectives.  Unintelligent friendly and enemy AI caused   a fair few problems as well. Egregious bugs and  mostly console-based frame rate issues added to  

[30:42] the symphony of errors that revealed Just Cause  3 as an unpolished cut below its forerunner.   Square Enix never disclosed concrete sales numbers  for Just Cause 3, yet the publisher’s early 2016  

[30:54] earnings report said its so-called “solid”  performance, along with that of Rise of   the Tomb Raider, helped boost revenue  considerably. It evidently performed   well enough to warrant Square Enix signing  off on a fourth chapter in the saga.  

[31:35] Not unlike other sequels, Just Cause 2 and 3  fleshed out what had come before in terms of   gameplay and world design. Avalanche Studios  essentially relied on the same approach when   crafting the fourth game, but deviated in ways  that longtime fans may not have anticipated.  

[31:50] Marketing speak for previous entries notably  drilled home the notion that Just Cause by   no means offered a story-driven experience. Studio Co-Founder Christofer Sundberg shared   insight into why story played a secondary or  tertiary role in a series of tweets in 2013,  

[32:06] wherein he questioned why games should focus on  storytelling when the data proved that consumers   didn’t care. Just Cause 2 provided one such  data point, with the developer divulging that   only 18 percent of players completed the second  game’s campaign. Bearing those numbers in mind,  

[32:22] Sundberg argued story-driven AAA games no longer  made commercial sense, though the likes of The   Last of Us were the exception. Evidently, this  train of thought held firm throughout Just Cause   3’s production cycle. It changed by the time the  2018 installment entered development, however.  

[32:39] Game Director Franchesco Antolini noted  during an interview with Variety that,   in terms of storytelling, Just Cause  4 marked Avalanche’s attempt at being   “more plausible rather than campy.” The game  itself still built on the sandbox gameplay and  

[32:53] other core strengths of the franchise because  developers knew what audiences wanted. Yet,   they also tried their hand at delivering  a relatively in-depth narrative, thereby   allowing players interested in the story to deeply  explore Rico Rodriguez and the new foe he faced.  

[33:08] To a certain extent, then, the crew set out to  deviate from the brand’s classic structure. The   first step manifested in the formation of a  “proper narrative team,” which devised the   villainous Gabriela Morales and the mercenary  outfit she ran, The Black Hand. For her part,  

[33:23] Gabriela represented the perfect foil to  Rico—his penchant for chaos matched against her   orderliness; where he prioritized intuitiveness,  she thrived on strategy. Avalanche wanted an  

[33:35] antagonist who could competently challenge their  leading man to approach obstacles differently,   perhaps with more thoughtfulness.  As a result, Gabriela’s Black Hand   operation bore a lot in common with real-world  Private Military Companies like Blackwater.  

[33:49] The development team insisted, however, that Just  Cause 4 featured an apolitical narrative—hence   the creative decision to disguise militant enemies  with face masks. When questioned by Variety about   the ideals separating Rico’s mission from that  of The Black Hand, Antolini said freedom sat at  

[34:04] the center of the conflict. Rico aimed to relieve  the fictional South American nation of Solís from   its oppressor, Oscar Espinosa; meanwhile, the  private army enforced Espinosa’s rule without   oversight. According to the Game Director, not  even the player’s actions inspiring a homegrown  

[34:20] revolution wore the stench of politics-influenced  storytelling. Ignoring the history behind the Just   Cause name and the newer game’s stated goal of  conveying a deeper story campaign, it seemed   Avalanche had its sights set on marketing an  experience focused squarely on pretty explosions.  

[34:35] And once again, the studio reengineered  its technology to pursue such ends.  

[34:51] After spending years modifying the Avalanche  Engine, the company shelved its old technology   and started anew with the bespoke Apex Engine. As  stated by Franchesco Antolini, Avalanche didn’t  

[35:03] want the action series returning to market with  the same troubles that plagued the 2015 entry;   he particularly highlighted Just Cause 3’s  console-specific issues as one motivating   factor behind the overhaul. Engineers, thus,  equipped Apex with a brand-new animation system,  

[35:19] physics-based rendering, better HDR  lighting, then-unrivaled draw distances,   increased fidelity of destruction, and a trove  of bells and whistles that facilitated Just Cause   4’s most daring feature—dynamic weather events. Impressively, the engine’s extreme weather system  

[35:36] simulated tornadoes, blizzards, lighting storms,  and sandstorms, none of which were scripted.   Senior Game Designer Robert Meyer described the  events as “real physicalized simulations in the   world” during a late 2018 preview, noting that the  weather-centric technology demanded the most team  

[35:53] effort since it involved cooperation from all  internal disciplines. Every detail had to work   as players would expect. For instance, the sight  of a tornado tearing across an airport wouldn’t   alone sell a sense of realism; sitting airplanes  needed to be sucked into the vortex’s orbit,  

[36:08] then subsequently tossed around. Enemy forces  were similarly designed to exhibit appropriate   extreme weather behaviors. And balancing it  all counted as a key part of the equation,   otherwise the supposedly dynamic moments could’ve  rendered the game unplayable and unpleasant.  

[36:24] The open world naturally went hand-in-hand with  the weather design baked into it. Rico found   himself exploring Solís in Just Cause 4, the IP’s  biggest playground. Beyond the map’s massive size,  

[36:36] variety additionally played an integral  role in world design—a response to the   relative homogeneity that pervaded Just Cause 3’s  Mediterranean-inspired setting. Solís contained   four different biomes, including the harsh and  Andes-like alpine environment, a rainforest,  

[36:51] grasslands, and a desert locale. Each climate  zone included an extra layer of diversity,   designed in hopes of regularly conjuring  up new discoveries for players.   Story missions underwent an overhaul between  games, too, marking what Robert Meyer called  

[37:06] a “return to form in some respects.” The  fourth title adopted Just Cause 2’s open   mission structure, yet still fell in line with  the deeper narrative. Following the first set   of introductory objectives, then, users would  start Operations, a series of missions revolving  

[37:21] around each biome and extreme weather event.  One biome-specific operation may have tasked   Rico with unearthing the cause of tornadoes  in the region. And the open-ended nature of   even pausing the tornado arc to get a head start  on, say, the sandstorm branch. In keeping with  

[37:40] the theme of variety, Avalanche embraced  this structure so players never felt forced   to remain in one climate zone for too long. As was the custom for Just Cause, player choice   came first; thus, the community’s influence never  wavered. Many gadgets and vehicles were inspired  

[37:56] by the gameplay footage fans shared online from  previous installments. Avalanche’s dedication to   providing a greater sense of freedom additionally  engendered the advancement of the beloved   grappling hook. In the third game, adding up to  six grapple tethers came by means of progression;  

[38:11] developers believed accessing all six right off  the bat served as a good starting point for the   fourth title. Grappling hook mods generated  about twice as many tethers, which could be   outfitted with retractors for sticking targets  together, booster rockets, and air lifters that  

[38:25] worked like the balloons in Metal Gear Solid 5. It appeared as though Avalanche left no stone   unturned in its pursuit of elevating the  marquee brand. While efforts of this kind   had paid off handsomely in the past, Just  Cause 4 ultimately sold below expectations.  

[38:51] Just Cause 4 landed on PC, PS4, and Xbox One in  December 2018, six months after its reveal during   Microsoft’s E3 conference. The game’s quick  arrival failed to garner much critical praise,  

[39:04] evidenced by Metacritic scores whose averages  sank lower than the 2006 debut. Explosive action,   neat weather effects, and fresh customization  tools offered only so much in a game that  

[39:16] fans and reviewers felt employed none of these  features to their fullest extent. Avalanche’s   attempt at weaving a worthwhile tale didn’t stick  the landing either, nor did the revised mission   structure solve the issue of bland and redundant  objectives. Performance hiccups and technical  

[39:31] glitches compounded the myriad shortcomings,  and presumably had an adverse effect on sales.   Square Enix withheld specifics, but confirmed  Just Cause 4’s sluggish start amid a February   2019 Q&A session with investors. It sold  below expectations, enough so that launch  

[39:47] sales couldn’t offset development costs. The  publisher further attributed its operating loss   of 1.7 billion yen in the HD Games sub-segment  to the fourth outing’s poor performance,   adding that holiday sales of Shadow of the Tomb  Raider and Dragon Quest Builders 2 “were also  

[40:03] not enough to compensate for the shortfall of  Just Cause 4.” Within three months of release,   Square Enix launched the experience  on Xbox Game Pass. Many interpreted   this series of events as writing  on the wall for Just Cause.  

[40:17] And the cancellation of Just Cause Mobile probably  won’t ease those concerns. Announced during the   2020 Game Awards, Just Cause Mobile was touted as  a free-to-play shooter boasting a story campaign,   30-person competitive multiplayer, and  four-player co-op. It promised four distinct  

[40:34] game modes and movement mechanics found in  the core games, including grappling hook,   parachute, and wingsuit functionality. Originally  slated for 2021, Square Enix delayed the iOS and  

[40:46] Android title to 2022 because of complications  stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. A second   delay pushed it beyond the 2022 window without  explanation. Upon terminating development, the  

[40:59] publisher removed Just Cause Mobile’s early access  builds from digital storefronts on July 3, 2023.   Just Cause 5 may wait in the wings, though.  After unloading IP such as Tomb Raider,  

[41:11] Deus Ex, and Legacy of Kane in a sale to Embracer  Group, Square Enix held onto the Avalanche-created   property. Company President Yosuke Matsuda stated  in a May 2022 financial report that in addition  

[41:23] to Just Cause remaining part of the Square  Enix family, the publisher was also "at work   developing a new title in the franchise.” What  the eventual release may entail eludes the public;   even Rico Rodriguez’s potential involvement  remains unclear. Still, it seems that in spite  

[41:39] of its pitfalls, Square Enix is not yet ready  to sunset the blockbuster action series.   Christofer Sundberg and other co-creators  originally envisioned Just Cause as “a game   where people could skydive onto the roof of a car  and keep on going.” The basic concept morphed with  

[41:55] each new iteration, evolving and leaving space  for even grander scenarios. For some reason,   the thrill-seeking charm of Just Cause lost its  luster over time. The sandboxes grew larger and   the action became increasingly more outlandish,  yet these advancements seemingly buckled beneath  

[42:10] the weight of stagnation in terms of storytelling,  missions, and the lack of multiplayer support. In   short, as gaming outgrew the standards established  by generations past, Just Cause got left behind,  

[42:23] only beginning to catch up a little too late.  Should the series receive a new lease on life,   it may take more than Rico’s explosion-happy  antics to reel in audiences new and old.