You play as Rico Rodriguez, a CIA agent tasked with starting a revolution on the island of San Esperito. Your goal is to bring down the current regime and overthrow General Salvador Mendoza's rule.
The game offers a great deal of freedom - after escaping an initial attack, you can explore the entire island, completing missions or simply causing chaos as you see fit. You can follow the main storyline, take on side-missions, or collect items scattered across the landscape. To help the revolution, you'll need to drive government forces out of each sector using a three-stage battle.
As Rico, you're not just limited to combat - he's also a daredevil at heart. With a fully-equipped parachute, he can jump from a moving vehicle and soar through the air, performing impressive stunts along the way.
Of course, with great freedom comes great firepower. Rico has access to a wide range of weapons, from pistols with unlimited ammo to rocket launchers and machine guns. And as a skilled driver, he's also able to handle just about anything with an engine - from bikes to military helicopters.