Video games can take us to some pretty incredible places to do some pretty incredible things, huh? But what's with this odd trend that's cropping up, whereby we spend much of our time trawling through grim post-apocolyptias or ticking off objectives on an ever-expanding do to list? As much as you might like to travel around and see new worlds, sometimes you just want to hit up some sun-kissed climes, kick off your shoes and relax. Of course, when we're talking about open world video games this equates to causing as much chaos as possible with as many toys and as few prompts as possible. Enter Just Cause 3.

It'd be all too easy to assume that Rico's third outing might be naught but a shrill rehashing of what's gone before. But having played it we'd argue that now more than ever this B-movie brand of bombast will turn out one of the must-visit virtual holiday destinations of the year. From the immediately arresting locale, by way of its one-man-army action hero, through to its alarmingly free-form toy-box of destruction, Just Cause 3 aims to push all the escapist buttons.

The fictional Mediterranean island that Just Cause 3 unfolds upon is actually the homeland of the series' returning main character, Rico Rodriguez. Veterans of JC2 won't be too surprised to learn that it is vast, almost unnaturally so. In terms of numbers it weighs in at a solid 400 square miles, which is about the same as the previous game's Panau. Here though the literal depth (there are cavernous winding cave systems carved out beneath the island to explore), is a core team focus.

Above all though the aim appears to be to craft a world we'll want to get lost/distracted in. It's only after time spent actively blazing a trail through Medici, grappling aground explosive spiralling outpost battles, or parachuting through gorgeous sun-bleached villas and beachfronts, that you'll realise something: you haven't looked at your mini-map in yonks. The world is vibrant enough, and readable enough on its own. You don't need map-markers and progress gauges to make it worth your while exploring.

One of the first things that Roland Lesterlin, the game's director, showed us as we sat down to lay eyes on Just Cause 3 for the first time, was a screen-filling explosion. Now, we've seen our fair share of Hollywood-scale destruction, but this was something else. Atop a mountain peak Rico discovered a fuel storage outpost, with giant orbular silos loaded with fire juice arranged conveniently in a square. A few well-place rocket launcher rounds and a chain reaction of destruction began. Hot orange fires bubbles billowed and throbbed outward and into each other. It kept going, too, for what seemed like minutes.

"Yeah," said Lesterlin, sighing proudly as one of the storage silos broke away and began rolling down the mountainside, demolishing forestry in its path. " We broke our first build with that one."

For all the plaudits handed out to Rico off the back of Just Cause 2, his ability to hold together a story, was never one of them. As much care as you could give to carefully aligning a propane gas tank to allow for optimal ricocheting carnage, it was rare the player who could find an emotional touchstone with the chiselled action hero, regardless of whichever dictator he was aimed at.

In Just Cause 3, however, the stakes have shifted a little. Medici is Rico's homeland, so expect a few characters from his past to show up along the way. We're not expecting Shakespeare here, but there's more of an opportunity for story beats to occur. Not that it'll matter too much. The real stories are the ones we'll craft ourselves...

OK, so we're aware how much of a non-problem this is, but we had Far Cry 4's wingsuit spoilt by the short time we got to play Just Cause 3. Rico's newest bit of kit, intended to facilitate faster movement when in the air, is already one of the most invigorating and active traversal mechanics we've had the pleasure of playing with.

We say active, as whenever you deploy it there's a very real possibility that you'll end up plastered to the side of a mountain or with your face spread out across half a mile of asphalt. You have to keep yourself under control, maintaining speed through dipping downwards, whilst also sustaining enough air to let you reach your intended destination. One of our favourite moments when playing was wingsuiting through a challenge mission, practically singeing Rico's chest hairs on tarmac as we flew under and through a cliff side tunnel. It's exactly the kind of tool to allow for shareable, impossible stunts.

It's such a small tweak to the formula. Honestly, when you hear what's changed you'll shrug. But stick with us. Now, rather than simply grapple one thing to another, Rico can do so and then actively retract his deployed rope with a press of a trigger to pull the two things together.

At first this led to us catapulting enemies off of cliff sides or into trees. But it wasn't long before we were thinking much, much bigger. Rocks with C4 attached to them were catapulted over fenced off enemy territories. Cars were attached to helicopters for us to stand atop as we rained down rocketry. At one point we even put together a kind of morbid Just Married set up, with our car laden with jangling rag-dolled citizens dragging behind us as we drove into the sunset. FUN.

Let’s say you're driving your 4x4 down a through a winding span of villages. Suddenly you have an idea. Wouldn't it be great if I could cruise through here in a vintage sports car? On fire? With C4 attached? And off that cliff? And then into that enemy base from above?

Thankfully your propensity for madcap impulse destruction is fuelled by a currency system which, well...which doesn't seem to exist. If you want something to play with in the world all you'll have to do is call for it to be delivered. There'll be no need to accrue monies to pay for stuff. Why, if Rico is allowed magic parachutes and insane fall-based damage thresholds, should Avalanche hamper our ability to have fun with arbitrary gear gating? The answer appears to be: 'it doesn't.' So it hasn't.

Even C4, which was a cherished item earned through frustrating world scouring in Just Cause 2, is now an infinitely replenishing resource.

Getting from place to place can still involve a mixture of parachuting and grappling the ground for momentum, this time with the added spice of the wingsuit thrown in for good measure. However, sometimes you'll want to utilise the vehicles of the world to get about. Thankfully Rico's move-set had been given a once over, allowing him to hijack, leap atop and crawl around the outside of these vehicles much more smoothly.

It's only when you go back to Just Cause 2 after playing 3 that you'll notice it, but now when you hit a ledge Rico will automatically kick himself up it, rather than fall down to hang and achingly slowly haul himself up. The general smoothness of leaping from car roof to helicopter, to skydive to tank has been ironed out thanks to a rigorous new animation set too.

It's odd how, given the tools at your disposal, it's still possible to find yourself serenely drinking in the environment of Medici. We're not sure how much of this will be celebrated via rewards and such in the final game, but as we explored we discovered plenty of stunning vistas, many of which seemed hand crafted.

You might crest a rise just as the sun rises to see a magnificent view of the azure ocean below, or spend more time attempting to land on a small island in the middle of a rocky outcropping than you probably should, just for the thrill of moving around in Rico's boots/wingsuit. We even, at one point, spot a seemingly man-made cave carved out of a mountainside in the shape of a skull. If this level of craft is spread out this thickly across the whole of Medici then it'll truly be something worth celebrating.

But yeah, for every minute you'll spend ogling the tasty new-gen environs, you spend two planning some phase of stuntery and another four implementing it. Case in point.

From a lofty retreat we espied an enemy outpost, there are a number of these that require liberating around the island of Medici, as Rico attempts to free it from the dictator, General Di Ravello. Our plan is to wingsuit down, take out the radar dishes with C4, jump in a helicopter and then get the hell out of Dodge. As we're on our way down, however, two enemy choppers whirl in out of nowhere. By the skin of our teeth we manage to manoeuvre around and grapple onto the underbelly of one, hijacking it in time to notice a nearby cluster of SAM missile sites trained upon us. We dive out again just as our new vehicle explodes, then aim our chest hairs at these new land-to-air bastards. Our simple objective to take out the enemy base very quickly became a series of impulsive decisions, inspired in the moment by the tendency for action to ramp up at a monumental pace.

Here's a roundup of some of the maddest things we attempted with the tools at Rico's disposal, and what happened as a result:

- We attached C4 to a nearby guard and then grappling hooked him to a statue (these are back to be destroyed from the previous game). He smashed into the thing's arse, exploded and the statue's head then cannoned off and landed on a nearby cluster of vehicles, sparking a chain reaction of further explosions.
- We found ourselves pinned down in a petrol station, of all places. We grappled a red barrel onto the underbelly of a helicopter that was giving us hassle then retracted them together. We'll let you do the maths.
- We made a sort of mobile out of outpost guards and helicopter blades.
- We attached a guy to a hale bale and then sent the hay bale rolling down a steep incline which seemingly went on for miles. It took him minutes to reach the bottom. Fair play, he got up and walked it off though. We let him live.

Those are all the screens and details we know about Just Cause 3 for now, but make sure to check back in as development progresses! Anything you're curious about, or definitely want to see in the game? Let us know in the comments below!

Itching for more open-world chaos in the meantime? Check out our reviews for .