Just Cause

Just Cause, released in 2006, takes place on the fictional island of San Esperito, where CIA agent Rico Rodriguez helps rebels overthrow a dictator. The game became famous for combining a massive open world with total freedom of movement — the parachute and grappling hook let players glide between mountains, leap from a plane straight onto a passing car, or hook onto an enemy in the middle of a firefight. A varied range of vehicles was also available, from scooters to helicopters to tanks, between which the player could freely jump while on the move. In 2006, this was an unusually acrobatic take on sandbox action that stood out sharply from the competition of the time and went on to define the entire later series.

The original Xbox version launched alongside the PC, PlayStation 2, and new Xbox 360 editions, at a time when two console generations first overlapped on the market. Compared to the PS2, it benefited from the older Xbox's somewhat more powerful hardware, with a hard drive and a stronger graphics chip — more detailed textures, a somewhat longer draw distance, and steadier framerates in the island's more densely populated areas — but compared to the PC of the time, and especially the Xbox 360, it remained a clearly weaker version. The sprawling landscape renders on Xbox with visibly lower vegetation and effects density, the fog obscuring distant terrain is more noticeable, explosions and smoke effects are more modest, and the number of vehicles and civilians on the streets is lower than on the new generation. Loading times between missions and when fast-traveling across the island are also noticeably longer.

Content-wise, however, the Xbox version is identical to the other platforms — the complete story, the entire island, and all the side missions and faction activities remained unchanged. For players who hadn't yet moved to the new console generation in 2006 and didn't want to invest in a powerful PC, it was a solid, if visually more modest, way to fully enjoy Just Cause and its stunt-driven action.

Why play: Anyone who hadn't yet moved to the new console generation in 2006, or didn't own a powerful PC, could fully enjoy the entire island and all of Just Cause's stunts on Xbox — just in a visually more modest presentation.