“Great,” Rico Rodriguez says. “Now even keys have battery issues.”
He’s talking about some new zappy gun I’m required to use to disable massive door locks reserved for mechs. This is Mech Land Assault, the second of three pieces forming the Air, Land & Sea expansion for Just Cause 3.
Two things you should know about these mechs. 1) You can’t hijack them without a disabling shot from that new zappy gun. Those zappy guns only come armed with two shots. So don’t miss. And 2) they don’t want you to roll around in a mech and have rocket launchers, so it appears they’re going to make you carry around that zappy gun in your special slot, or you won’t be able to proceed in some areas. This ensures you do your most damage with the mech, getting the most out of the downloadable content, of course, and not using handheld firearms as a crutch.
The DLC wastes no time putting you into the seat of one of these mechs to start doing as much damage as possible. But if you’re picturing a big, lumbering, two-legged mech like the kind you see in MechWarrior, then you’ve got the wrong idea. This thing is fast. It’s mobile. For a multi-ton wrecking ball, it’s pretty agile, too. It’s on four wheels at the ends of four hydraulic spider legs. It has something like a nasty EMP blaster in one hand, and a massive Bavarium Splitter gun in the other.
Ground troops don’t stand a chance. Vehicles don’t stand chance. And when they teach you to pick up and throw things like you’re using a Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2, then even those guard towers at 75 yards don’t stand a chance. The developers sprinkle those large freight container boxes all around the place to ensure you’ve got “ammo” to throw around. Aerial assaults are a little trickier to counter inside of a mech, but that’s simply because it’s hard to find that steep angle up at them.
Orange is the new blue in Mech Land Assault. On this brand new island, you’re freeing orange-jumpsuited prisoners. They’re being rounded up in large numbers by the Black Hand and Eden Corporation—and you’re going to find out why. You may remember the Eden Corporation from the first piece of DLC, Sky Fortress. They’re the folks you “liberated” an enormous flying aircraft carrier from. And yes, in true Rico Rodriguez fashion, you won’t organize this uprising, but you’ll blow the place up and get the people on your side. You’re the voice of the people, and the voice of the people lets big, beautiful explosions do the talking.
This new island you’re playing on lies to the north of the big island on the map. It’s called Insula Lacrima. There are four provinces to liberate on Lacrima, and you’ve got rocky, pine-forested terrain to negotiate. Should be a good time. There’s a decent-sized facility located near the peak of a decent-sized mountain, which is within view from a lot of places you travel to. I bet that’s your ultimate goal.
Okay, Rico Rodriguez. Let’s do this. Just be aware that the amount of damage these mechs dish out draws a lot of heat. Meaning, your wanted level ratchets up real quick. Oh look, they finally blew up my mech. But with the millions of dollars’ worth of damage I’ve already done to them—even in these early first minutes—it’s about time they took me down once.
Sure, while it seems lazy that we’re just liberating yet more provinces on yet another island, I suspect the devs have a trick or two up their sleeves, storywise. I mean, they sometimes do. Sometimes just being Rico Rodriguez and blowing stuff up in the most ludicrous fashion possible is certainly enough.
Watch for our full review of Just Cause 3: Mech Land Assault coming soon. It's the second piece of the Sky, Land & Sea expansion. Sky Fortress is fun, too. Just Cause 3 is still one of those games that people are kicking themselves for forgetting about during last year's GotY nominations.
