Rage Review

Posted on 01. Nov, 2011 by Freak_c in Games, News, Reviews

Let me just say this first and get it out of the way, Rage is a visual marvel and will cause you to weep in pure amazement at the graphics. It will make you stroke your console and your HDTV as though they have achieved some thing great. id Software has become well known for consistently setting new industry standards ever since the days of Wolfenstein 3D. What new tricks can they possibly add to Rage that the FPS genre hasn’t seen?

Built using the all new id Tech 5 engine, and I think can boost as being one of the best looking games ever made to date, with accomplishments such as blending great artistry, animation and smooth performance. The amount of detail built into the world of Rage is staggering. It’s easy to be overwhelmed with awe at the sight of the never repeating rocky canyon walls and the meticulous design and animation of the many character models within the game. Rage continues to surprise and throw new challenges your way throughout the game. Usually with id games the story takes a back seat and the multiplayer gets the spot light. This time round the single player story of Rage is taking in all the glory but can it keep you captivated for a long time?

Amazing character detail

The story as with most first person shooters isn’t too complicated and fairly simple. The world as we know it was nearly wiped out by a huge asteroid, you took safety in an underground vault and have emerged years later only to be attacked seconds after opening your vessel. Id’s wasteland is not a friendly place and for some reason reason we have headed into the era of future wild west. Most of those you meet in Rage desperately want to kill or capture you, and gradually you begin to find out why. Despite the presence of upgrade systems, mini-games, side quests and car racing challenges, Rage is primarily a shooter. Rage reminds me so much of Borderlands but without the character levels.

Rage is mainly mixed up of traditional shooter action and vehicle action gameplay. When you’re in the safe areas of the world this is where you stock up on ammo, purchase new weapons or upgrades for your weapons or car, view the job boards for addition work, find other side quests and even take part in races to win better vehicles. From these safe zones you will travel through the wasteland in your vehicle and will almost always encounter bandits which you can then battle in your vehicle or flee boosting and taking jumps to get clear. Here you can also go exploring if you are adventurous enough but beware that if you come across bandits with a heavy armoured vehicle compared to yours, they can eat you up for dinner. Always have your buggy in mint condition when exploring, but the game does a good job at preparing you for these encounters early on. It can be fun for a while, but by the time you get to Rage’s second half, it starts to feel more like a filler to increase the length of the game.

Look at the detail

As mentioned before this is a shooter at heart and so when you arrive at your destination, where you are tasked with some interesting quests which mainly have you kill anything that moves and survive. But this is where the game is most enjoyable and entertaining, taking you through corridors and interiors lined with hiding spots as mutants charge at you and bandits fire pistols and shotguns. At one stage in the game in order to get a sponsorship for a better car you have to survive five rounds on a TV show where you are placed in a few rooms with hordes of enemies attacking you. Thankfully you will be equipped with a decent arsenal just shy of a one man army. All the basic gun types, including a sniper rifle, rocket launcher and two assault rifles are at your finger tips, though only four can be active at a time as they are assigned to the D-pad. Everything is in your inventory, so weapons are never left behind. you will need this as the combat encounters start to get tougher as new enemies are always thrown into mix.

The weapons in Rage feel really powerful, and not just because they’re loud and comfortable to fire but hit a mutant in the leg and you’ll see it snap back. Bandits under fire will scramble behind cover with their hands over their heads and dive back into cover should you wait to pop them for a distance as well as blind firing. Charging mutants can be abruptly stopped with a well-aimed shotgun blast but is a little difficult as they can run along the walls. There’s a big difference of satisfaction between a shotgun blast that simply kills a mutant and a shotgun blast that knocks them into a backflip and blows apart their skull. What is great is that each weapon comes with a mix of ammo types that offer some strategy when facing certain enemies.

Awesome vehicle combat both offline and online

With the proper materials and associated schematic that you are able to gather around the environment you can build new ammunition or items at any time. The products can be armor piercing ammunition or even mind control bolts fired from your crossbow. These advanced ammunition types will soon become a necessity against the stronger bandits. There are also some handful of alternate attack options to change things up such as a razor-edged boomerang wingsticks. All come into play and useful when going up against Rage’s intelligent enemies. The AI of the foes in Rage is quite excellent as even the those that run on a suicidal path toward you, though armed with sticks and blades display a degree of self-preservation. They approach in zig-zag fashion and flip off walls and ceilings to make a precise hit a slight challenge yet satisfying once planted with a shotgun. Some even work together, ducking behind those with energy shields for additional cover. Pacing of fights in general can surprise you yet always keep you on the edge of your seat.

id Software is known for it’s online presence and multiplayer modes so it was a surprise that there isn’t really a first person shooter competitive mode included in Rage. Instead you have only the car combat mode to play with. It’s not bad as there are the usual modes and some silly ones in the car and various things to unlock. During gameplay you can even find things such quad-damage pickups, speed boosters and ramps creating a maniac style that is reminiscent of older arena shooters like Quake III. Co-operative play is also possible in standalone missions separated from the main story mode. With another player at your side, both of you can mow down enemies in pursuit of a high score. You get bonuses for headshots and skilled play, and a multiplier climbs so long as you continue to get kills and avoid dying. Playing through these challenges can be a fun diversion, but don’t expect it to turn into any kind of lasting obsession.

Beautiful environments

As mentioned earlier Rage is by far the best looking shooter on consoles to date. The environments are so well thought out and designed that you can believe that this crazy world is abundant with life. You will never see the same person, or version of a person twice and you will never see the same environment repeated. You will be drawn into the universe not only from the gorgeous visuals but with the wide range of characters that you will meet. They are well voice acted and animated not to mention interesting. The sounds of the guns, especially those on the cars will travel through you so crank up the volume and enjoy. The ten to twelve hour campaign (story alone) will seem to fly by very quickly and have you coming back as you want to see more of the world with its side quests.

Conclusion
Rage is a game that everyone must check out. Yes the story is a little weak but what it lacks in story it certainly makes up with excellent gameplay, both shooting and vehicle combat, replay value, and of course the amazing visuals. id Software certainly have put a lot of work into this production and you can see it, not offering a standard type shooting multiplayer is a little let down because a Quake 3 arena type multiplayer within the games world would be great and may be just what the online shooter community needs. With co-op and a racing online section it still has a lot to offer after you get through the main story and many side quests. Get this game!