Just Cause 3 review – a ridiculously enjoyable but stuttering ride

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

Just Cause 3 introduces its protagonist Rico Rodriguez as a "dictator removal specialist" who then punches the flying missile he's standing on. The series has always been gargantuan, explosive and delightfully daft, but from its opening sequence this sequel ups the ante.

This time round, Rico returns home to liberate Medici, 400 square miles of Mediterranean splendour oppressed by cartoon despot Di Ravello who thinks nothing of torching his own people in a quest for world domination. Don't expect any kind of political subtext though: the plot is forgettable and any moral message is clouded by the indifference shown towards Rico's endless collateral damage. Medici is a place where you casually board a civilian's boat miles from land and throw them overboard while quipping: "It's a good day for a swim". The game is knowingly ridiculous and more fun for it, its mantra amounting to Homer on a prison trolley yelling: "Must kill Di Ravello, wee!".