RAGE

RAGE – Review

Published By: Bethesda Softworks, Developed By: id Software, Genre: Action, Release Date: Oct 4, 2011, Rating: M, Systems: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360.

Presentation: Rage’s presentation to make a long story short was overshadowed by its stellar visuals. Its true the artstyle of the Wasteland ran at 60 frames per second and popped with detail. For this particular Gamer Blog review i played through the Anarchy Edition of Rage on my Playstation 3. The Anarchy Edition came with a Double Barrel Shotgun, Rat Rod Buggy, Crimson Elite Armor and Fists of Rage. The Crimson Elite Armor was beneficial during my playthrough since it had upgraded defense, saved 5% at all stores (purchases) and every engineering item i made more durable. The Arnarchy Edition also comes with the Wasteland Sewer Mission. Actually as long as you buy Rage new you get that extra mission free.

Navigating Rage’s menus wasn’t so much of a problem. What was a problem is the checkpoint system this game uses. Its archaic and rarely saves your progress. I had to save alote during my playthrough. You do get extra chances at life from the Nano Resuscitation device. Later on in the game when you meet tougher foes like the Authority or Jackal bandits you better save your game manually often. There weren’t really any major bugs or glitches in Rage. The only thing that did get on my nerves was the horrid texture pop-in everywhere. It didn’t matter how far or close to any object you are there was texture loading issues.

Story: Rage’s story to be frank was an anti climatic letdown. You play the role of a Ark survivor on Earth. Many years ago Earth was hit by a meteor that destroyed most of the planet turning it into an post-apocalyptic warzone filled with chaos. Ark survivors are special people who were suppose to carry on the world after the meteor impact. The reason they didn’t was becuase of a militant Dictatorship known as the Authority. The Authority buried all Arks and all traces of their existence so people would stay deaf dumb and blind to the “old world”. The protagonist wakes up on an Ark and later saved by a local man who gives him the heads up as to his situation. Much of the story centers around the protagonist meeting up with the Resistance.

The Resistance is composed of Portman, Elizabeth, Lassard and Captain Marshal. Along with the Resistance you eventually retrieve data from a couple of Arks throughout the Wasteland. Eventually making your way to Capital Prime and uploading data that triggers all Arks from around the world to rise thus giving you a chance to finally end the Authority’s reign. There were basically only two cutscenes, one in the beginning and another at the end. The NPC’s featured good writing and animations. But as far as the story goes it was a let down especially the ending.

Visuals: Stellar, draw dropping and smooth as butter. All areas of the Wasteland had its own unique visual presentation. Wether you’re in Subway Town which looks like something from Blade Runner or Dead City. Rage’s visuals basically trumps every other aspect of the game. The only complaint i have is the texture pop-in and blurry visuals when you get in close on objects. From far away the Wasteland looks amazing. The art-design of the Wastland itself really does have a post-apocalyptic atmosphere to it. Everything just looked dirty and worn out (in a great way).

Sound Design: The sound design is good in Rage. The music was dramatic at times but always gave me a southwest USA vibe. The writing and voice acting was solid and gave NPCs real character when you combine in the animations system. The mutants and bandits of the Wasteland all made unique sounds when they attacked. From the primal screams of the Jackal bandits to the heavy Dark Vader breathing of the Authority Rage’s sound design was stellar.

Gameplay: Rage is a first person shooter at heart. There are some other layers of gameplay as well.  Collecting items scattered throughout the Wasteland can be used to make wingsticks, turrets, sentry bots, emp grenades, lock grinders and many more useful items. Stores let you sell and buy all kinds of items like guns, different types of ammo, blueprints for building explosive RC Toy Cars. Gameplay centers around having a gun in your righthand (or both) but the ability to use gadgets with your left-hand. Much of my playtime was spent throwing advanced wingsticks with my left-hand while shooting bandits with one of my guns in my right-hand. You can’t actually dual-wield but instead just switch between guns and gadgets quickly through quick slot items.

Side missions while handed out on occasion weren’t that fun to be honest. Come to think of it the main missions weren’t that fun either. There are Job Boards in Wellspring and Subway Town if you feel like making money in Rage. Collectibles include bobble heads (i found the Blake Griffin bobble head). As far as Rage being open world it wasn’t. Sure you can drive around the Wasteland but each mission is fairly linear in delivery and design. You just can’t quit missions at anytime and do other stuff. Its not a sandbox like Grand Theft Auto. As far as the guns go my favorites were the Pulse Cannon you get at the end of the game. I also liked the shotgun, assault rifle and striker bow.

Replayability: Took me 10 hours to play-through Rage’s single player campaign. I did side missions as well. I’m sure the game can last over 10 hours if you do everything the game offers. I played on normal difficulty for the record. Rage does have multiplayer. There is a competitive multiplayer that just features vehicle combat and Wasteland Legends which is a co-op story mode. I played quite a bit of both and must say they are servicable at best. The co-op is challenging i will say that. The car combat does have the normal progression system of unlocks and the gameplay was decent.

Final Verdict: I hate to say it but Rage is mostly graphics. Rage didn’t grab me through its gameplay but the visuals did. It is a good game.

7.5/10