*WARNING* if you're playing on a newer system there is a high probability that you will need to get your hands dirty installing fixes to get this to run right, Also at least on my system running win10 the multiplayer is completely broken.. you can't even play local network matches. If you aren't willing to get your hands dirty I'd recommend you skip this one. If you are willing to tinker check out the GoG forum for fixes. This was a hard game to review, Do I review the game after I fixed it so it ran smoothly or out of the box from GoG install which is a mess?, I choose to review the game as it's intended. The game came out around 05 or 06, It won't win any awards for graphics or sound these days But in it's day it was quite decent and you can tell a lot of care was spent on setting the mood with the lighting and sound. The A.I in this game is also a cut above.. dare I say even some of today's modern games? It has aged well. Reminds me of Doom, blending FPS action & supernatural horror and no shortage of gore. Characters are likable including the villain who is well voice cast. The action is satisfying, The horror elements are generally well done. The game alternates between story telling, scares, and gun fights with good pacing not to over whelm you with any of the 3. One disappointment I had was there is very little stealth element, Despite lots of shadows you're often spotted in near pitch black darkness, the A.I has incredible vision, which was a missed opportunity imo. The other major complaint is the insane decision to put focus-aim as a "toggle" instead of "hold" function. The A.I is smart in a fight, sometimes retreating or even hiding in wait after you've killed it's buddies. 3 games are included I felt the 1st was environmentally repetitive but, Extraction point had a good blend of action and horror, while Perseus Mandate leaned heavy into the action at the expense of horror. If you like FPS and Horror you'll enjoy this 1.. er 3
So I remember seeing this game when It came out but was busy with other sandbox games. Eventually I seen it on sale on GoG and got it. Trying not to compare to modern sandbox games, but even comparing it to other sanbox games at it's time it has interesting elements and in some ways it shines but in most ways it's subpar even for it's time/genre. The game is best described as.. janky.. not quite game stopping bugs but very unpolished in many areas. It starts off strong, you parachute in and killl some bad guys followed by a chase. But it quickly becomes cliche, mind numbing repetitive and with some fairly horrendous voice acting thrown in for good measure. It's like someone played GTA and then watched Desperado and said.. I got an idea. The game just feels low budget, or it was rushed, or both. Either way you'll find your self grinding away at repetitive missions or rinse and repeat taking over village/towns/hideouts. The game is still very playable though, the car physics are simple, and if there is a way to drive by / shoot while driving I sure couldn't figure it out. The ground combat however is actually not terrible, like wise the air combat is actually relatively easy with the lock on system although don't be picky at what it chooses to target first. The map was frustrating to use both the mini and the fullsize, getting anywhere without aircraft is painful.. lots and lots of winding hilly roads, dont' even think of walking, perhaps if you get really good with para gliding maybe but still slow, the towns are cookie cutter copy and paste with nothing interesting in them. I haven't beaten the game got about 3 hours into it, I may nibble at it from time to time but there are a lot of better sandbox games out there and I wouldn't generally recommend this.. It's not terrible it's "Just Alright" (I would have gave it 2.5 that was possible) BTW there is a wide screen fix on git hub.. just google: just cause wide screen fix pack
My 2nd attempt at a review, my first one was 3k chars too long for GoG well here goes. The game is like fallout3, If fallout3 had levels instead of open world. The game blends FPS combat and Stealth, Obviously the emphases here is on stealth as they are very stingy with the ammo in this game. The GoG time to beat times are pretty accuracy there is a lot of dialog to listen to and it probably took me 12+hours taking my time and also I sneak thru almost the entire game. The combat is frantic, dialog is generally well written. You're on a guided tour of a post nuclear war world, clearly the dev's spent a great deal of time on trying to build a compelling world and tell a story which they accomplished. There are a lot of scripted events, and not much exploring given the game uses levels kinda similar to Doom if you can picture that.. with "stations" that serve as towns for story telling, information and resupply interspersed between levels. I guess this is a good time to point out the game has nudity particularly in 1 part of the game, nothing too explicit and It felt organic and fit the setting not just added for the sake of it like some 80s' slasher movie. I applaud a studio being bold enough to not shy away from it though, the game feels gritty and it just adds to it. The texturing and models are fine, nothing too special, but the particle effects and lighting are extremely good and have aged well, The music is also dynamic and helps enhance the mood quite well. The two negative things I will say about the game is this. There is a decent variety of monsters but you typically end up fighting the same 2 or 3 over and over, also the saving system is insane using a check point auto save and no manual saving. You can later load a previous level though. Best way to put it is this is like a good book or a movie, You don't feel like you have much control, you're along for the ride but what a ride. Sadly this means replay value is pretty low.
