This year, we were able to catch up with Square Enix and get a look at some of the studio’s upcoming releases, including Just Cause 4 and the forthcoming DLC for Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Here’s what we found out about each of them.
Hands on With Just Cause 4
Just Cause 4 is a wild ride – let’s just get that out of the way right now. You might have thought the previous iterations in the series were insane but this newest installment takes everything to the next level.
Everything that you love about the Just Cause series – such as the gunplay, driving, and high-dive parachuting – is back and exactly how you like it.
When I asked one of the Square Enix representatives why they insist on pushing the envelope of crazy in the series, he replied, “Just cause.” (Pun not intended).
But when you can put weather balloons on a tank and battle mid-air, you can’t really complain.
Aside from what we’ve come to expect from the Just Cause series, there are also quite a few new elements in Just Cause 4.
The introduction of attachment mods drastically increases the catalog of weapons and accessories in the game. You can change the behavior of some of the mods and even affect behavior by changing the button controls in the settings.
Riding Out the Storm
The introduction of the Extreme Weather also makes things chaotic. One of the missions I was able to play involved Rico, the storm chaser. Featuring a tornado, the one we’ve seen in some of the trailers, it’s easy to get sucked inside because why not? Don’t worry, though, getting sucked in doesn’t mean instant death – it just means you’ll be going for a fun ride, latching on to flying cows or debris.
Seeing the tornado rip apart buildings, planes and anything else in its path is so much fun to watch, and at the end of the mission, you get caught in a lightning storm that, well, makes things even trickier.
You’ll get to have your taste of Just Cause 4 when it comes out on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on December 4. The team at Avalanche Studios is already working on DLC, so keep your eyes open for that in the future after release.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider DLC: The Forge
Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the third in the rebooted Tomb Raider series, released in early September on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. You can read our review of the game here.
While sitting down with the team behind the game, they shared some info about the DLC that will be coming to the game.
Starting in November and going through May 2019, there will be a new DLC pack released each month. These packs will feature new narrative missions starring some of the secondary characters that you met in the base game. Each pack will have a challenge tomb, a new weapon, a new outfit, and a new skill.
If you wanted to play Shadow with your friends and were sad you couldn’t, great news! Five of the seven DLC packs will support co-op play, and only one of your friends needs to own the DLC for the both of you to play.
There will also be three modes for each of the DLCs: Exploration, Score Attack, and Time Attack.
To test things out, I was partnered up on the first DLC coming out in November, titled The Forge. The goal of challenge DLC is to get to the top of a structure while inside a tower.
Needless to say, communication is very important in completing this mission.
The DLC plays the exact same way as the base game. Solving puzzles, jumping off ledges, climbing to new heights.
If you had some gameplay problems in the base game, those problems are, unfortunately, in the DLC, too.
The climbing still seems a little weird and you will be jumping up and down trying to get to certain ledges. The camera can get in the way sometimes, too, clinging to weird angles when running around the tower. Even if none of these issues ruined the experience, they are worth noting for those who have played the base game.
The mission took my partner and me around 30 minutes to complete, but if you don’t communicate well, it could take longer.
The puzzle was pretty hard to figure out at first, too, and involved you splitting up with your partner in order to move forward.
The Forge is one of seven upcoming DLC’s coming out over the next couple of months. Here is what that DLC schedule looks like:
November: The Forge December: The Pillar January: Devil Inside February: Unwilling Savior March: Serpents Heart April: Grand Caiman May: Paradise Lost
If you don’t own the season pass, you can purchase it for $29.99 or you can buy each DLC pack separately for $4.99.
You can start playing the Shadow of The Tomb Raider DLC starting with The Forge in November.
Just Cause 4 is looking to be crazier than the previous entries of this series and you definitely don’t want to miss this one.
Thank you to the Square Enix team for letting me hang out and play these two amazing games.
