Foreign action films of the perestroika era had their own special magic. As a child, I was hooked not so much by the plot or special effects, but by the heroes – charismatic, invulnerable, as if they came out of myths. They were not afraid of armies of enemies, earthquakes, or bullets – they always emerged victorious. Maybe that’s why the stereotypical villains and plot twists sucked out of thin air were forgiven. But who thought about that? These films knew how to entertain the viewer, and they did it with a bang.

Today, beautiful explosions alone are not enough. Simply a spectacular picture is not enough to hold attention. It seems that the developers from Avalanche Studios understood this – and in Just Cause 4 they at least try to justify all the chaos that happens on the screen. Although, to be honest, the spirit of old-school action films is alive in the game – with the same dashing frenzy and deliberate madness. The only question is how much it works in our time.

Just Cause 4 Free Steam Account

In Just Cause 4, the plot revolves around climate weapons and the personal drama of Rico Rodriguez, connected with his father. At the center of the story is Project Illapa: four giant weather stations with which you can control the weather. These installations, by the way, were designed by Rico’s father himself, which initially adds depth and personal motivation to the plot. It would seem that Rodriguez is not just taking revenge on another dictator and his army, but is literally entering into a fight with the legacy of his family. But after a couple of hours, this drama disappears somewhere, giving way to banal chaos: destroy the base, blow up a tank, clear the territory. Everything is as usual.

The game was actively promoted with an emphasis on weather cataclysms – tornadoes, storms, sandstorms. It seemed that here it is – a breath of fresh air for the series, a chance to shake up the usual formula and offer the player non-standard situations. I also bought into it. The idea of fighting not only mercenaries, but also nature itself sounded especially tempting. But everything changed after my first encounter with a tornado. Instead of an intense fight with the elements, I was treated to something like an “amusement park scene”: the tornado moved sedately along the rails, not really reacting to what was happening, and only occasionally sucked in equipment.

Rico again plays the familiar role of a fighter against dictatorial regimes, and, frankly, it seems that the hero himself is already tired of his profession. Everything is becoming too familiar: destroy, win, destroy again – to the roar of the storm and the rumble of explosions.

Even the tornado, the most spectacular cataclysm in the game, is essentially just a spectacular decoration. I wasted two hours trying to understand how exactly the funnel sucks in tanks and planes, and why it does it so sluggishly. From the studio that gave us Mad Max, you expect something different — more wild and unpredictable chaos, especially when it comes to sandstorms. You’d like lightning, thunder, real anarchy. But instead, you get a button on the base that launches a weather phenomenon strictly in a given zone — and that’s it. There’s no choice, almost no interaction. Even the destruction seems pre-programmed.

And so you stand among the rubble, look at the slowly rotating tornado and think: “But it could have been much more interesting.”

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Ground Missions and Vehicle Gameplay in Just Cause 4

It seems that no one is trying so hard to bring Rico back down to earth as the developers themselves. A good portion of the missions are not about adrenaline, action and explosions, but about banal trips. At some point, you seem to turn into a local “combat taxi”: you drive resistance fighters to where it’s hot, or drive a hacker from one console to another, covering him from enemy fire while he tinkers with air defense systems. This may sound cheerful, but after the tenth time, all this logistics begins to tire – despite the spectacular presentation.

Ground transport in the Just Cause series has always been a weak point. Not because there is little of it – on the contrary, there are more than fifty cars for every taste. It’s just that in a world where a grappling hook and a wingsuit are your main means of transportation, cars feel like something superfluous. In the previous parts, the cars were like made of cardboard – and in the fourth part, unfortunately, the feeling remained the same. These cars are still like uncontrollable race cars, ready to fly off into the abyss from the slightest press on the gas.

Although it is worth giving credit – they did work on the physics a little. Now the cars react to the type of surface: a muscle car on a mountain trail is a dubious pleasure, but a buggy in the desert feels right at home. This at least adds some depth, even if it does not radically change the impression.

But what really pleased me was the radio. It has become a full-fledged part of the atmosphere: several stations, each with its own character and unchanging South American flavor. There is even a propaganda talk show, which is unexpectedly addictive. Sometimes I caught myself thinking that I was starting the engine not for the sake of the mission, but just to listen to the two hosts passionately arguing on the air.

Grappling Hook in Just Cause 4

The most exciting thing about Just Cause 4 is, without a doubt, the grappling hook. It has become Rico’s true calling card, and in the fourth part it has been seriously pumped up. Now there are many modifications available, but you won’t get confused in them – everything is divided into three convenient sets that can be switched on the fly and customized to suit your needs. For example, one of these sets allows you to stretch cables between objects, attracting them to each other. Another one installs fultons or accelerators. And then the real magic begins: every detail can be customized manually – from the tension speed to the result of the collision. Do you want objects to repel each other? Please. Or maybe let them fly apart in all directions when connected? Why not.

Here’s what you can do with the advanced grappling hook:

• connect objects and control their interaction (attraction, repulsion);
• Launch fultons with helium or explosive gas — all for the sake of spectacle;
• Install boosters and set their precise operating parameters;
• Combine effects to create real cascading destruction.

Fultons, by the way, have become more fun — now they can be filled with helium and send objects into the sky. Or choose a more explosive option — gas that detonates when fired. What a spectacle! Boosters are also pleasing: they were built into the hook itself, and not made a separate gadget, and now they can recharge, change the direction of movement — all according to your scenario. It would seem that all this should have a radical impact on the gameplay. But here’s the problem — the game almost does not require you to use all this magnificence. During the entire campaign, fultons and boosters came in handy literally a couple of times — and then only in training missions to show how to handle them.

However, three side quest lines are built around gadgets. In one, as always, you create spectacular chaos for the sake of art — literally. You are hired by underground filmmakers, and under the camera’s sights you blow up, destroy and smash everything. And I must say, such missions are catchy — mainly due to charismatic dialogues and healthy self-irony. But pumping up the Fultons is a real bore. To do this, you will have to help Sargento, the commander of the local resistance. Here the game again slides into a dull “battle taxi”: bring the fighters, cover the hacker, blow up a couple of turrets.

But not everything is so bad. The most seemingly useless function — winch customization — unexpectedly leads to one of the most interesting side effects. Xavi, a slightly crazy archaeologist, asks for help with ancient mysteries. They are solved with the help of the game’s physics, and this is a great way to feel the depth of its mechanics. Plus, running through the ruins with a super hook and feeling like a mix of Lara Croft and Nathan Drake is a special pleasure.

Why Just Cause 4 Disappointed Fans

It’s been over three years since Just Cause 3 was released, and during that time the visual bar has risen significantly in the world of AAA games. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about Just Cause 4. Even on Reddit, players are noting that the detail and draw distance in the previous part looked much more pleasing to the eye. It’s especially annoying that this affects not only the beauty of the picture, but also the gameplay. Let’s say you decided to experiment: you launch an enemy tank into the sky using balloons, and then want to effectively throw it down. But on the screen there’s only a tank in the air, and the balloons themselves have disappeared somewhere. It looks strange and doesn’t provide the very spectacle for which it was all started. Yes, you can disconnect the cables manually via the gamepad, but the problem itself is in the engine and its limitations.

Although the Apex engine, on which all this works (and on which, by the way, Rage 2 is being assembled), is quite powerful in itself. It is quite capable of pulling a huge open world. But calculating the physics of each object in a tornado is not an easy task. And physics is one of the main accents in the game. With artificial intelligence, things are even sadder. The enemies, to put it mildly, are not very smart. But there are many of them and they shoot. True, they hit, like the imperial stormtroopers from Star Wars – wide. With the exception of snipers and grenade launchers: they manage to hit almost always and from everywhere.

But the real pain is the partners. In some missions, you either need to give someone a ride or protect them while they hack the system. And then the quest begins with running around a dumb ally. He does not walk, does not get into the car, and sometimes even ignores the stairs. At some point, I started to hook them with a cable to literally drag them to the right point. Or just hook them to the hood and go. Because waiting for the AI to figure it out is a whole other game. Just Cause 4 has plenty of problems: questionable graphics, glitches, rawness at release. But all of these are fixable. Patches will do their job sooner or later, and then we will be left with a cheerful and fun sandbox with a huge amount of content. Here you have side quests, and trials, and just exploring the world, where there is always something to blow up.

Yes, the game is stupid. Yes, it is pretentious. But that is its charm. Like in old action films, the main thing here is pleasure. And it is definitely there, despite all the rough edges.

Is Just Cause 4 Worth Playing in 2025? Pros and Cons

In this game, no one limits you – you are truly free to do whatever comes to mind. Want to tie a truck to a helicopter and send it into the stratosphere? Please. Do you dream of creating a chain reaction of explosions to clear out the enemy base? Why not. Here, your only limitation is your imagination. This is a real playground for experiments, where madness is not a bug, but a feature.

If you played the previous parts and liked it, do not doubt that this game will be a logical and even crazier sequel. Well, if you are not sure whether to buy it, it might be wise to wait for a few patches and discounts – the game is not yet perfect in technical terms.

Pros that are hard to miss:

• Almost unlimited customization of the grappling hook. Modify as you please – from accelerating objects to tying balloons.
• Absolute madness. The game seems to have been specially created for you to laugh at your own chaotic ideas.
• One of the most open and lively sandboxes in the genre. The scope for creativity is gigantic.

But here’s what can spoil the impression:

• Story missions quickly start to repeat themselves and do not reach the level of the rest of the content.
• The technical condition leaves much to be desired. Optimization is lame, bugs occur more often than we would like.
• Enemy AI often behaves as if it has just been woken up – you should not expect complex tactical maneuvers.

Just Cause 4 System Requirements

How to play Just Cause 4 for free on Steam via VpeSports

What if reality didn’t have limits—and neither did you? Just Cause 4 doesn’t just break the rules, it catapults them into a tornado. You’re dropped into the heart of Solís, a massive open world where nature’s fury meets military oppression. But you’re not here to play it safe. With a wingsuit on your back and a grappling hook in hand, you’re the spark that turns this world into your personal action playground.

Forget long setups or technical nonsense. We’ve streamlined everything so you can focus on what matters—mayhem. Just create an account on our platform, log in, and within minutes you’ll be tearing through the skies of Solís. We’ve even set you up with a free Steam account, so there’s no barrier between you and the chaos.

From tethering enemy soldiers to propane tanks to surfing on top of speeding cars mid-explosion, your creativity fuels the madness. Nothing here is too absurd—and that’s exactly the point. The more unhinged your ideas, the better they play out.

When the smoke clears and the dust settles, we’d love to hear what kind of destruction you unleashed. Share your experience in a short review—if it doesn’t show up instantly, a small tweak is all it takes for it to go live. Once approved, your login details will hit your inbox like an airstrike.

Stay locked in with our Telegram channel if you want early access to new accounts, patch updates, and a place to chat with fellow chaos engineers. Still figuring out how to get started? Our step-by-step “How to Play for Free – Complete Guide” has all the answers. Or just drop us a message—we’re here whenever you’re ready to blow something up.