Rage

Platform	OVERALL
Xbox 360	8.40

Overall

8.40

I was always really curious to see what kind of game id is capable of making, the one before this, Doom 3 wasnt so great. I heard good things about Rage so I got a bit excited. The first few hours I was in love. Here is a BEAUTIFUL, super fast moving, locked in a perfect 60FPS FPS on consoles. Carmack is all about speed, he loves super fast moving games and this game fit that mold. It felt more Doom than Doom 3 ever did. Plus it was mixed with an open world and some pretty fun vehicle segments.

All the ingredients were there for a masterpiece but repetition soon sets in and you realize there isn't many great ideas to go along with the concept. The basic structure of the game is as follows, walk around a town and talk to dudes who give you quests. You hop in a vehicle, drive through open wasteland and battle bandits (think twisted metal) till you get to your spot which is usually a linear traditional FPS area. There you fight your way through whatever group you have to kill and finish at your objective. Basically the levels are split by an open world with driving and talking to people in a town.

The combat is sublime cause as I mentioned before its super fast. But this game still wants you to use cover when battling enemies with firearms. So instead of quickly running through a level you are hiding behind stuff and taking your time picking people apart with all sorts of guns and gadgets. The gadgets are the best part, you have this crazy boomerang like weapon that chops people to pieces. You can drive RV car bombs. You can build spider drones to aid you in combat. Weapons are the traditional sort except they have multiple bullets, some have some cool effects like one arrow that causes an enemy to go crazy and explode. I don't think I ever played an FPS where grenades felt so good, they bounce just right and enemies blow up really nicely.

The worst part about the combat is actually the aiming. I think because this game was meant for PC and super fast mouse reaction it some how didn't translate well into a controller. You can easily waste an entire clip trying to take down an enemy. Part of that is because enemies are bullet sponges outside a head shot, though a lot of it is cause they move so fast and you simply trying to keep up is a mission. This isn't much an issue when you have your trusty shotgun which comes in handy when you battle mutants that simply bum rush you. These moments the game turns into Doom, forget cover, its all about moving fast and shooting right at a crazed enemy coming right at you. I enjoyed these moments so much I wish more of the game where melee type enemies and not gunners.

So where does the game go wrong, its simply doesn't have enough ideas for the nearly 20 hours it lasts. After the first 3 areas you pretty much have an idea of how the entire game will play out. There is like one traditional boss fight and a few big dude mini bosses, few and far between. Most of the time you fight the same grunts over and over. The levels are all linear and since this is an apocalyptic environment don't expect to see much variety in the locales.

You have this open world setup but its totally wasted cause all you do in the open world is battle other vehicles, do a few stunt jumps and simply get to one of the few locations with something to actually see. There is zero exploration, you won't find some cool hidden areas with a new weapon, or hidden side quests. All the side quests simply take you back to the last story area you completed so that you can fight harder enemies in the same area.

The mini games are pretty damn cool though. There is a whole racing arena where you race for points to upgrade your vehicles. These simply take the overworld and rope sections off into a race track or a battle arena. Its mindless fun, the car combat while not the best is good enough to enjoy all the races. There is also a card mini game which is pretty fun and a few rhythm based challenges. All these take place in the towns, personally I love stuff like this but I wish they spread this stuff out into the world to encourage exploration.

The story is rubbish and there are no interesting characters. No villain either, just random gangs and an evil government. Graphically its stunning, one of the best looking games I have ever played and the 60 FPS makes a massive difference. One full playthrough takes about 20 hours which is great for a FPS but has no replay value at all.

Rage has the core gameplay that could have been part of a masterpiece. Sadly the game design and pacing simply cant match the action. There is no steady flow, no ramp up in action, no big setpieces. The ending kind of just happened, I was shocked the game ended, where was the payoff? It saddened me that the design was so lackluster cause I really loved playing this game. Its a joy to fight, to drive, and to look at.

Posted by Dvader Mon, 12 Aug 2013 04:48:03

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gamingeek

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 11:27:42

We need the vader vs edge podcast on this.

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