Staff – November 6, 2018 at 6:44 AM
When most players hear the title Just Cause, they think of reckless, wanton destruction. They think of massive explosions, ambitious vehicle stunts, or of the time they strapped some rockets to a Porta Potty and sent it flying towards an enemy van. They think of tanks, rocket launchers, and grappling hooks.
But another often overlooked element of the Just Cause series is its rich, meticulously designed environments. Avalanche Studios worked hard to ensure that the fictional countries of San Esperito, Panau, and Medici felt alive with natural beauty. The tension between chaotic destruction and picturesque scenery has long been a staple of the series, but with the introduction of deadly, extreme weather patterns, Just Cause 4 finds a way to satisfyingly marry the two ideas.
Just Cause 4 will take place in the fictional South American country of Solís. The playable area is a sizable 1024 km2 and contains four distinct biomes: Alpine, rainforest, grassland, and desert. Each of these biomes is inspired by an iconic South American counterpart: the Andes for the alpine biome; the Amazon Rainforest for the rainforest biome; the Argentinean Pampas for the grassland biome; and the Atacama Desert for the desert biome.
“The challenge lied in creating a landscape that was interesting both from the sky as well as from the ground, the former preferring big and dramatic undulation and the latter leaning more towards a toned down approach,” World Designer Jacopo Antonucci explained. “Finding the right balance was tricky but is ultimately something we're very happy with.”
Each of these biomes also houses a special extreme weather pattern, imbuing excursions into Solís’ surrounding natural landscapes with a sense of excitement and danger. For context, Just Cause 4 was developed using Avalanche Studios’ new game engine, Apex, affording the studio much more creative leeway and capabilities when it came to designing the game’s physics—and especially wind-related elements.
“The reason is that wind becomes particularly meaningful in a game where you spend half of your time in either [a] parachute or wingsuit,” Game Director Francesco Antolini said. Avalanche found the wind in prior Just Cause games too “gentle,” incongruous with the world of Just Cause. “So we began thinking about how to make that over the top, and out of those [reflections] the idea for extreme weather came about,” Antolini said.
All of Just Cause 4’s biomes have a unique extreme weather pattern that takes advantage of the game’s new wind physics. The alpine biome contains scraggly, snowy peaks that are perfect for gliding and attempting stunts that require high amounts of verticality. It also contains blizzards, which obscure the player’s vision and introduce high-speed winds into the mix.
The rainforest biome is densely populated with tall trees, perfect for players hoping to use their grappling hook to simulate the sensation of swinging around the forest like a certain spider-bitten hero. However, tropical storms occasionally ravage the rainforest biome and striking the tallest point in the vicinity with deadly lightning. Crafty players will use this detail to their advantage, swinging low when approaching enemy bases in order to goad the lightning into striking them.
Most of Solís’ urban population dwells in the grassland biome, which also contains large swaths of farmland. While driving freely down the interstate highway, players may witness tornados tearing apart the landscape in the horizon, towering columns of destruction that are arguably the game’s most visually stunning extreme weather patterns.
Lastly, the desert biome is vast and full of mystery, including an enormous crater that begs to be explored. It’s also occasionally plagued by sandstorms, which, like the alpine biome’s blizzards, hinder the player’s vision and could make a simple enemy encounter much more dangerous if the player isn’t careful.
What’s remarkable about the addition of these weather patterns is that it further incentivizes players to explore the far reaches of the game’s map. Avalanche Studios have found a way to balance the player’s ravenous appetite for ruination with their urge to immerse themselves in the game’s unquestionably beautiful, natural environments.
Just Cause 4 will be released for PC on December 4, 2018.
