Just Cause 3: Sky Fortress Review - Screenshot 1 of 3

One of the best things about Just Cause 3 was its traversal. Sure, there were cars to drive, planes to fly, and boats to... float (?), but when it came down to getting from A-to-B quickly, the ultra-responsive wingsuit was always the best answer. It felt perfectly weighted – tinkered with to the highest degree in order to make sure that it felt just right – so what happens when Sky Fortress, the first DLC for the game's Air, Land, and Sea Season Pass, adds Bavarium boosters, rockets, and machine guns to the already awesome suit?

Beauty. Chaotic, boisterous, explosive beauty.

That beauty lies in the gameplay, though. The story, just like that of the core game, is pretty underwhelming: the greedy Eden corporation is tearing Medici apart to strip it of its Bavarium, using drones to attack the residents and mine the precious material – all controlled by a rogue AI, also called Eden. The cutscenes are oddly replaced with animated, comic-book style scenes, which is a weird choice – perhaps time constraints were a factor.

Just Cause 3: Sky Fortress Review - Screenshot 2 of 3

Said story contains a few new missions, most of which are a blast – the task in which you attack the titular Sky Fortress is a particular highlight, the game thrusting you into a rocket-fuelled high, figuratively and literally, as you use your newfound Bavarium-powered wingsuit to zip around, blasting the airship's defences and evading a constant barrage of missiles. Only one mission really hits a low note, mainly because it confines you to the claustrophobic insides of the fortress, rendering the wingsuit – and therefore the best part of the DLC – useless.

And what a disappointment that is, considering how fun it is to fly around in Rico's latest toy. Not only does it have lock-on missiles and a machine gun – all upgradeable using the game's Mods system, of course – but also speed boosters and an air brake, making the already-responsive suit even more so. Sure, it does take some getting used to, and you will have a fair share of cheap, frustrating deaths and crashes, but spend enough time with it and you'll be treated like a prince – or, rather, a dictator-killing explosionphile.

You can test out your wingsuit skills with the four new challenges added by the DLC: three time-trial style speed courses, and one survival challenge, in which you must fend off legions of drones. The latter is far more fun than the former, but they're only really in the game in order to unlock new mods, so your hard work will be paid off in the form of unreasonable force. The overpowered Bavarium Splitter assault rifle and the Eviction personal defence drone are also unlockables, giving you more ways to cause unnecessary collateral damage as you "help" the people of Medici.

Just Cause 3: Sky Fortress Review - Screenshot 3 of 3

The only real problem with this DLC – and quite a big one, seemingly – is that it can be hard to justify the price. Sure, the Bavarium wingsuit is quite literally the most fun that you can have in the entirety of Just Cause 3, but the aforementioned Sky Fortress can't be reoccupied – once you've taken it over, that's it. Realistically, not counting all of the fun in the main game you'll be having with your new toys, you're looking at three or four hours of gameplay from the story missions and challenges, which isn't very good value for a £9.49 piece of content. It may be a lot of fun – hell, some of the best fun you can have in this game – but it can be hard to justify at the end of the day.

Conclusion

For all of its shortcomings, Sky Fortress adds a lot of enjoyable content to an already enjoyable game. The Bavarium wingsuit is out-of-this-world fun, making for plenty of chaotic and explosive scenarios, and the campaign – despite being rather short – doesn't have many low points. It may be hard to justify the price of this DLC if you're not a committed fan, though, but keep in mind that Sky Fortress really does make Just Cause 3 that much better.