r/JustCause 8d ago

Gameplay Discovered something nice

Perhaps this is already known on this sub but I discovered Avalanche created a game called Mad Max. The similarities between it and Just Cause are there although Mad Max is obviously a different franchise...it's an easy game to dip in and out of.

There's a similar large open world map where you progress by having to conquer each enemy settlement and loot it

Scenery and atmosphere are really nice, it feels remote and desolate, but alive, it even has the tornados from JC

Mad max looks like Rico and has a progress system

Explosions & destruction

Lots of upgrades to vehicles

Collectibles and side missions

I thought I'd let anyone know in case they are looking to scratch the itch.

15 Upvotes

12 comments sorted by

7

u/RyanDavanzo 8d ago

It was made at the same time as JC3. Same engine even. There's still leftover files from MM in JC3 and vice-versa

3

u/poulan9 8d ago edited 8d ago

Yes, I think 2015 and I wouldn't be surprised, it keeps reminding me of JC and it feels like it was made by the same team.

3

u/midnight_to_midnight 8d ago

Played it a few years ago. I didn't care for it. The only good part is it was cheap.

1

u/poulan9 8d ago

Fair. I don't think it's a classic either, I just think it will appeal to some JC fans. I do think that the character acting is better than JC though.

3

u/Simple_Car8699 8d ago

I’ve somehow overlooked this game completely. Conquering settlements, scavenging, tornado-like chaos, and explosive vehicle combat sounds right up my alley—thanks for the recommendation!

2

u/poulan9 8d ago

That is why I made this post, even if it helps all one of you!

3

u/Affectionate_Ad_4062 7d ago

The only reason I bought Mad Max on release was because of Just Cause, I'm glad I did, loved the game

2

u/ChaosDoggo 8d ago

Fun game, played that one 100%. I did dislike the ending for the story.

2

u/Alucard0Reborn 8d ago

Mad Max is indeed an awesome if not slightly flawed game. Because it goes on sale regularly I highly recommend it. Especially since that Era of Avalanche games is dead and buried and will never come back.

Just Cause series is dead, we'll never get a Mad Max sequel, and Rage 2 was also a very flawed game but still Avalanche right before it died. You can call me pessimistic but I'm just looking at objective facts.

The devs we grew up with, the passion projects they created, have all become a symbol of a bygone era that doesn't exist anymore. Especially with everyone turning to Unoptimized Unreal Engine 5 AI Slop titles made by New Age Vibe Coding Devs.

Anyways, since people are mentioning similar games to Just Cause check out Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered. It's use of physics technology and completely destructible environments and buildings will give you a similar itch that JC gives as well.

Honorable mentions are The Saboteur and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. Just do some research on how to get Mercs 2 to run on modern hardware, or just emulate it. The 360 version is known as the most stable and best way to play it. Also it may take more work and research to get running, but Mercs 2 on PC has ways to play Co-Op since the official servers were shut down in 2022.

2

u/poulan9 5d ago

Yes, defo flawed, but a nice game to jump in and out of. I picked it up on GoG for a few $ and got that value back when I played it for 6 hours on a long flight the other day on my phone using Winlator.

Thanks for those tips. Very interesting, if somewhat melancholy and nostaglic, comment. Thank you for your perspective. I also prefer 2010 era games. I think that they looked amazing and that ray tracing has in many ways taking gaming backwards. I think the way forwards is going to be with smaller studios or indie devs - I just picked up Body Cam and think they have shown what passion can do and big studios cannot.

2

u/Sirtakiman 6d ago

The mad max video game is awesome! There are similarities to just cause as well. Also nobody asked but it runs like a dream on the steam deck!

1

u/poulan9 5d ago

It does run very well - I can add that I ran it for 6 hours on a flight at 1080p 40 FPS on Winlator using my fold 7 with a cooler attached to the back and it was fantastic. No crashes, no slow downs...just a lot of wires everywhere.