Just Cause 2 is an exhilarating open world adventure game which looks absolutely fantastic on PC and provides hours of enjoyment. It’s certainly one of my favourite games of all time and there’s a thriving modding scene. Furthermore, the chaotic multiplayer mode is a blast and thoroughly addictive. On another note, Avalanche Studios is renowned for superb optimization and scaling across a variety of hardware setups. As a result, expectations are extremely high for Just Cause 3 and its release isn’t far off. However, early reports suggests the current crop of consoles are struggling to cope with the game’s scale and advanced effects.
Chris Harding, from the TheGamesCabin, managed to acquire a copy early as a retailer broke the launch date embargo. Although this is quite common because stores try to get the retail copies to consumers on launch day. Harding described Just Cause 3 on PlayStation 4 and said:
“Just Cause 3’s loading times are awful, and the game’s frame rate is no better.”
“Each time you die (and you will – lots) you’re presented with a loading screen. The time between death and reanimation is erratic at best. In our ten or so hours with the game we’ve seen the loading screen hover in front of us for around 30 seconds, which isn’t too bad, but we’ve also had to stare in disbelief for the better half of two minutes. And you thought Bloodborne’s loading screens were a drag”
Just Cause 3 will receive a launch day patch, which might have made Harding’s criticisms seem unfair. However, he directed stated:
“..we’ve tested it with and without the patch; there’s no discernible difference.”
Harding also went onto describe the game’s framerate:
“It’s not just the load times that induce buyers remorse with this entry. The game is supposed to run at 30fps, but it rarely manages to maintain a steady refresh rate. Dips come in whenever any explosion is introduced to the proceedings and it gets even worse in the game’s outposts where you’ll often be causing the most carnage.”
While the performance could change with some post-launch patches, this is just another example of poor performance on the current consoles. Given Avalanche Studios’ history, you cannot really blame the developer for a lack of optimization. This also helps to understand why the PC requirements are so high. It seems the current consoles cannot realistically cope with 1080p 30 frames-per-second in some games which is shocking.
Only thing exhilarating about this game is when I turn it off.