Just Cause 4: Taking a trip to a fictional South American superpower - What’s life like in Solís?
2023.05.12
Just Cause is a series of popular action-adventure titles where the player rampages around a huge open world, using various weapons and grappling tools. The latest title, 2018’s Just Cause 4, is set in Solís, a powerful (fictional) country in South America. It features incredible high-power action gameplay, with CIA operative Rico Rodriguez squaring off against the dictator Oscar Espinosa.
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• The over-the-top firefights are the main attraction, but the ability to traverse the open world via parachute and wingsuit is also a highlight for many fans.
From resort beaches to desert, snowy mountains to urban areas, Solís offers a wide range of landscapes, each with their own vibe and scenery. It might seem at first glance to be an extremely appealing tourism destination, but actually visit and you’ll soon figure out that Solís is led by a dictatorship. It’s under the oppressive control of Black Hand, the government’s military organization.
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• If it’s what it takes to free the citizens from this dictatorship, we have no qualms about blowing the enemy’s base sky high.
One of the best things about the game is how exhilarating it feels to face off against an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, launching raid after raid on them all across the map. Still, one mustn’t forget about the ordinary people who call Solís their home.
A wide variety of people live out their lives in the country. From capitalists who’ve amassed fortunes in the tourism and resource-extraction industries, to humble laborers who put up with the tyrannical rule of the dictatorship, and tourists who are just there to enjoy the resorts and views, just to name a few. Sometimes these ordinary people get caught up in the conflict between Rico and Espinosa, with tragic consequences... In this article, we’ll take a peak at just what kinds of people call Solís home.
The gateway to Solís - Aeropuerto General Benítez, the country’s sole international airport
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Just how Rico comes to Solís is never revealed, but most arrive via Aeropuerto General Benítez to the southwest, the country’s only international airport.
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• An aerial shot of Aeropuerto General Benítez, showing its impressive number of boarding gates.
It has plenty of boarding bridges, and planes can continually be seen departing and arriving. Even though plane tickets are scarce and expensive, it’s clearly quite the busy place. Maybe it’s mostly tourists visiting?
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Leaving the airport by car, you won’t have much of a chance to really observe the local residents. But you will have the opportunity to meet workers at the airport. They’re not shy about their dislike of the heavy overtime, but from the conversations we overheard, it’s clear that they’re serious about their jobs - mobile phones don’t pay for themselves, after all.
Umiña - a beach resort where you can spend your days in style
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Umiña is a northern region notable for affluent marine resorts like Villanueva.
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The beach is dotted with colorful skeleton monuments that feel similar to those you see on Mexico’s Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). It’s evidently a nice spot for a nap, and there’s also a marina nearby where motorboats, cruisers, and yachts are moored.
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All of the visitors you’ll find here are people with time and money on their hands. The laid-back beach and its Latin vibe are fantastic, though, and Rico is sure to walk away from a visit feeling recharged.
Laderas Rojas: The sprawling desert may be harsh, but oil and gas extraction have created great wealth for the region
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A huge contrast with the northern Umiña region, the isle’s western part is one vast desert. Visiting the Laderas Rojas town of San Marco, we can see that the people here have completely different lifestyles.
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Artists with their work for sale on the ground in front of them, people dancing to music... This aligns with my idea of Latin culture perfectly, but maybe I’m just stereotyping...
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• Mina Rocanegra: The oilfield where the vast majority of locals work.
You might imagine that someone choosing to live in such an arid environment is resigning themselves to a meager existence. On the contrary, though, ever since the mid-19th century discovery of the Mina Rocanegra oilfield, many people in the area have been earning good wages. You might be surprised to hear just how much.
The vibe here differs from that of the tourist-filled Umiña, but the people here seem to be enjoying their lives in their own way.
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The snowy Picos Nevados: A mountainous region beset by brutal blizzards
You probably associate South America with warm climates, but central Solís actually contains a mountainous region frequently hit by snowstorms. Although the population is sparsest in this region, you’ll still find people living amid the harsh conditions.
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Head to the northern part of Picos Nevados and you’ll find Casa Apu, a town at high elevation where the blizzards are particularly nasty and damaging. The falling snow is incessant, and you’ll find a good many locals with their hoods up to protect themselves. The quick speed the cold makes people move at is yet another indication of just how difficult life in this frigid region can be.
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And what’s with the tank abandoned at the dump...? You might be thinking this is no place to live, what with the cold. On the other hand, I get why they’d want to assert their right to stay here, after working so hard to build a settlement.
Distrito Capital - Solís’s skyscraper-filled metropolis
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With its many skyscrapers, Distrito Capital is home to executives and directors for major corporations, as well as an army of white-collar workers. Aside from its business sector, it’s a lively place, with people strolling about parks, enjoying drinks at its rooftop haunts, and so on.
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At the same time, you can also find animals such as alpacas and deer there. Some aspects of the city are more akin to a developing rather than a fully developed country.
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• The iconic Magnificantes stadium looking eerily empty - no matches today?
Peace is frequently shattered by skirmishes between Black Hand and the Army of Chaos
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• Fighting can suddenly erupt between the two sides, endangering city residents.
Solís may initially seem peaceful, but there are frequent outbreaks of fighting between the government’s military organization, Black Hand, and the resistance organization, the Army of Chaos. Sometimes things get out of hand and ordinary citizens are put at risk.
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• City residents trying to escape from armed Black Hand soldiers. You have to save them, and quickly!
Black Hand soldiers will of course come swarming when Rico starts shooting. But be aware that fighting can break out even when he’s simply visiting somewhere in the city. And when a rush of helicopter fire starts spraying down, the only option the locals have is to run for their lives...
Urban combat situations like this actually aren’t too rare when you’re trying to clear missions in the game. No matter how much harm is caused to city residents, you won’t be subject to any sort of in-game penalty. Even so, how about playing in a way that considers their safety as well? Even though you’re fighting to liberate citizens from the dictatorship, in doing so you might expose them to danger.
Author: Daisuke Sugiyama, Editing: Note
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(All screenshots shown here are from the Japanese version of the PlayStation®4 edition of the game.)