Just Cause 3

Just Cause 3 is a playground where you get to be a physics-defying force of destruction, and its loop of liberating dozens of towns across this enormous scenic world would've gotten old much quicker if the combat wasn't so full of options for free-form mayhem. Getting the most out of it requires some creativity and tolerance for performance bugs on your part, so come expecting to make at least some of your own fun. It's a damn shame so many performance problems and punishing load times keep cropping up [on the PS4 and XB1 versions], because I love what Just Cause 3 does. But for game that's so heavily dependent on action to run this poorly is no laughing matter. [OpenCritic note: Dan Stapleton separately reviewed the PC (8) and PS4/XB1 (5.9) versions. Their scores have been averaged.]

Just Cause 3 is a stunning display of cause and effect, despite weak story missions and occasional technical problems.

A bombastically enjoyable action game with serious performance issues gets spread too thinly over a vast map.

The explosions are amazing, and it's fun in short bursts, but Just Cause 3 is ultimately an unremarkable, shallow experience.

If you can judge a game based on the moments that make you put it down for the night, Just Cause 3 is hard to criticize: I only stopped when I needed to sleep, not because I wanted to put the game down. The "did you see that?!" factor seems unlimited here, and it kept me coming back to discover what unexpected domino of explosions I could start next with a single grenade. The formula of the Just Cause series hasn't been expanded, but it has been improved. And it's rare that a game is so comfortable in its own skin.

A chaotic action romp, tragically let down by repetition and padding. There's fun to be had, but all too little variety in its huge open world.

Blowing up everything loses its anarchic thrill after several dozen times, but it's still a blast

The latest instalment in the brash action series provides a whole Mediterranean country to blow up – but there are problems in paradise

Annoying as I found these technical hitches they hardly deterred me from creating new sequences of pyrotechnics. Perhaps, what that says about me is something that I don't want to think too hard about.

It's a triumph of a game despite some flaws, and certainly one of my peak gaming moments of 2015. Bright, cheerful, ridiculous, and most of all, absolutely determined to ensure you have fun.