[Timgt5]

Rage a Review by Timgt5

Before there was Halo, Resistance, and Killzone, there was the game that inspired them all, Quake. The makers of Quake, Id have now reentered the fray with their newest title, Rage. How does Rage and its shiny new Id tech engine stack up against today’s other sci fi based heavy hitters? Read on…

Rage
Released September 2011
Type: First Person Shooter
Genre: Post Apocalyptic Sci-Fi
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, and PC, possibly porting to Wii-U at a later date.
ESRB Rating: M

Highs: Great Graphics, smooth engine, lots of mechanical depth, solid sound effects and voice acting, extensive game play, brilliant AI, good multiplayer.
Lows: Paper thin plot, disappointing ending, high difficulty, poorly constructed auto save points.

The Plot: Sometime in the near future the world is hit by a large asteroid. The collision triggers an extinction level event and wipes out civilization as we know it. A plan however was already in place to deal with this contingency. A number of arcs were built and placed deep underground. In the arcs were scientists, technicians, generals, engineers, and architects etc, kept in stasis. The intention was to activate these people centuries later to emerge and guide what would be left of humanity.

The main character (a man with no name type) was awakened from stasis, all of his ark mates died. He comes into a world which resembles the Wild West with its own rules for survival. A tyrannical force simply known as the “Authority” is beginning to assert dominance over the land. “Survivor” fights to survive against bandits, mutants and ultimately joins the resistance that has appeared to battle the Authority.

The plot is straightforward and linear. The storyline while not bad is rather shallow with elements copied and pasted from movies like The Road Warrior. No real twists or turns though and the ending is somewhat abrupt and feels anticlimactic.

The Game play: Things get much better here. At its heart Rage is an FPS. Like Far Cry 2 the structure is somewhat an open world with the player able to take on side missions at will. Money (unbelievably enough even after the world is wrecked the dollar remains the de facto currency) is very important as it is needed to buy weapons, ammo and equipment. Survivor can also purchase schematics to manufacture “nano bandages”, remote bombs and other devices.

The weapons themselves are the standard collection of AK-47, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, RPG, Pistol and crossbow. Each has multiple types of ammunition that Survivor can manage and change on the fly thanks to a Resistance style weapon wheel. Unlike many of its competitors, Rage allows the player to store additional arms in “hammerspace” and can carry up 4 weapons at a time. In addition to the guns the player can use frag grenades and EMP based grenades (these can knock out force fields) also there is a thrown weapon called a “Wingstick” which is a bladed hybrid of a boomerang and large shuriken.
In addition to the shooting element, there is also a Motorstorm style driving component. The various desert buggies can be equipped with a deadly arsenal of machine guns, rockets, remote turrets etc..There are staged challenges that the player can participate in as well to win more equipment.

As expected from the makers of the Id tech engine, the mechanics of the game are very polished and smooth, movement is brisk and the controls are spot on. Where Rage truly comes into its own is the enemy AI. Divided into melee (which come at you very fast dodging left to right) gunners which are smart enough to pass the entrance examines at Harvard, and bosses which carry a lot of firepower and take a lot of damage to bring down. This all makes for a highly challenging environment. Even more problematic is that the checkpoints are far apart, meaning the player will have to manually save the game often, which as understand on the Xbox 360 takes quite a long time. If one does get bored with AI there are several excellent multiplayer modes that will keep a player occupied.

Sights and Sounds: Graphically, Rage is very impressive. The backdrops are quite stunning and the environments are beautifully designed. The global lighting system works well. Particle effects and water are also well rendered (Hallmark of a good developer) the character models look really good, with the various mutants particularly well rendered. Animation is top notch.

The sound effects are well made and provide a substantial kick through the speakers. The voice cast is solid and features actor John Goodman. The sound score is strong and is always in step with the action. Overall Rage is an outstanding production.

Kids Corner: Rage is rated M (mature) and I agree. There is a lot of violence and bloodshed in this title. The mutants are somewhat disturbing to look at and the backdrop of highly detailed ruined cities is a bit unsettling. There are no issues regarding nudity or sexual content. I would not recommend this one for the little ones out there.

In Summary: Rage treads off the beaten FPS path and presents a unique and highly challenging gaming experience. I wish more thought had been put into the writing but I think this game was more built to show off Ids most up to date Id tech engine which to say the least is truly fantastic, the future, is looking bright for any future games built with this one. Overall I give this one high marks and a recommend.
Below is some footage.

[DenisDonnacha]

Rage is great, my friend has it since release and I've played it quite a bit, might get it myself for pc when I have a bit of extra money to spend.
That's a great review too.

[Timgt5]

Originally Posted by DenisDonnacha

Rage is great, my friend has it since release and I've played it quite a bit, might get it myself for pc when I have a bit of extra money to spend.
That's a great review too.

Thanks DenisDommacha for the kind remarks, I really prefer Sci Fi games like this over the COD clones out there. I hope there will be a sequel.

Speaking of which I am working through Crysis 2, and will post a review soon.