Rage

Blog Post: Return of the Old-School Shooter

Brandon Dorbert — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:43:00 GMT

Many people have been disappointed by Rage. I guess they were expecting a military shooter. I bought Rage in hopes that it would be like Doom and it is. I grew up playing id Softwares games and this game delivered. This game is not like Borderlands, which to me is not much like Rage, plus Rage is way better of a game. If you want an old-school shooter like Doom, Quake, Unreal, Wolfenstein, then this game is for you. If you want a newer style shooter like Battlefield or CoD, then look somewhere else.

Blog Post: RAGE: The More Action-Oriented Fallout

luciablee — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:16:00 GMT

I walked into GameStop around noon on Black Friday to pick up my $20 copy of RAGE. To give the employee a break, he probably had been working since either midnight or the day before to accommodate for the shopping fiasco, but he said a few words to me that I still remember. He told me not to buy the game because it was like Fallout, but with no leveling system. Dear GameStop guy, I'm sorry a leveling system means everything in the world to you. I'd recommend this game to anyone.

The opening scenes were anything I'd expect from a Bethesda-produced game: flush with a beautiful, dying Wasteland and a mutant that jumped out within the first seconds that scared something right out of me. I'm here to tell you why you should fall in love with this game, too.

That being said, there would only be two things that would dissuade you from this game: a game that lasts about 12-14 hours (and only a few more if you're extremely particular about collecting everything), and yes GameStop guy, a lousy progression system.

Story

When you are sent down from that spaceship, you know you are not destined for greatness. I said it, not greatness. Instead, you're destined to forever go around and do everyone else's chores for them so they like you. And unlike Fallout, you can't blow up the town. The missions add nice variety, sending you into different enemy territories to either kill all humans or snatch something back. But the scenery is the variety. The routine is that you go into some mutant infested quarters to fetch something, battle your way to the said item to be fetched, and then battle your way back. That's not to say that mutant slaying wasn't incredibly fun, and I can't say I ever got bored during the missions. But it's the side quests that really added the variety.

Side Quests

For a game I thought would tote the same number of side quests as in Fallout, I was sorely disappointed. I probably completed fewer than 10 side quests, not because I was too distracted by the main quest, but because there really are not that many. You have a job board where you can protect some lives with sniper fire or check a location for missing body. The bartender in each town will pay you to kill racing bandits. I played two rounds of a game show where they put you in an area to kill mutants at the expense of your own ammo. Randomly in the Wasteland you'll get a monetary reward for killing a certain gang of racing bandits or by speeding down the narrow paths to catch falling feltrite. You can deliver mail in a timed race and I once went to some guy's mutant-infested distillery to fetch his secret alcohol recipe. That was it, besides racing.

Additional Quests

These aren't assigned quests, per se, but additional findings for the completionist in you. In the Wasteland, there are various authority drones that you can launch your vehicles into that give you rewards. Also, amongst the levels you encounter are hidden cards that you can either collect or use in one of the gambling games in the city.

Racing

I can't say racing is all that special in this game, but I was initially impressed by the vital nature it had placed on the feature. When you start out, you actually have a necessary quest to rob the Gearheads of some of their car parts to get your own baby running. They even require you to win a few races in order to get noticed by the big wigs. But after that, races are more of an afterthought. If you've ever played Jak-X, the racing is very similar in the fact that you have cartoony buggies that shoot rockets or fire machine guns in classic 3-lap races. There is a time trial feature as well as a capture-the-flag type race where the flag randomly places itself on the map and you have to get there first. The races were not that difficult, and this is coming from someone who rarely plays racing games. I would've liked to see racing play a more instrumental role in this game to set it apart from the shooters like it. Racing is there, but don't bet too hard on it.

Vehicles

Just a brief note on how vehicles function outside of the races: you ride them around the Wasteland to travel, but are not confined to them. There is also a better progression system for your vehicle than your character, as you can unlock better vehicles and additional upgrades for those vehicles that make you more formidable against Wasteland bandits.

Enemies

One of my most hailed praises of this game will come from its enemy AI. When I first encountered the Ghost clan (the first set of enemies you will meet), I was surprised at their dexterity and constant shift in position that nearly made me waste all my shots on thin air. They will roll around and climb on the environment in quick swings before landing in front of you, but then dash to the side and around to flank you. You can't be hasty with your bullets, and you really have to time your shots. These are the smartest enemies I've seen all year.

NPCs

Along with the well-done enemies were the well-done NPCs. These NPCs were varied in appearance and dialect and never seemed static. The facial expressions also changed with mood, leading to more believable narratives. I was further impressed with how their responses changed with each mission I completed.

Weapons

There is not a lot to say about the weapon selection. You get one type of pistol, two types of assault rifles, one type of shotgun, and one type of sniper. A crossbow is also available, as well as a single-mission gun at the end of the game. The variety comes with the type of ammo that is used, whether it is a thicker shell, an explosive round, or an arrow imbued with an electrifying shock. I was disappointed at a lack of melee-ranged weapon, or even a melee weapon when things got too close. You can always bash the baddie with the butt of your gun, but that never inflicts enough damage to be useful.

Building System

Throughout the game, you can either find or buy schematics for different types of gadgets. You can also buy or find the parts to make them, but there is enough that you pick up in the environment (and with no weight capacity) that you'll never be in want of materials or money. These gadgets and items might include bandages, wingsticks, mini-turrets, sentry bots, or remote-controlled bomb-cars. Although I only used them sparingly, they were a fun addition when I really felt like just blowing those baddies to smithereens.

Progression System

As I've mentioned above, there is no leveling system. With no leveling system, there is no level of customization of character that has been available in other Bethesda titles. The only thing you can change about your character is their armor (if you wish to purchase medium or heavy armor as a one time deal). When you are first given your light armor, you can choose between two sets. One increases the discount you get on goods while the other decreases the material you need for constructing or adds other perks to the construction.

Life System

You health is never displayed in a bar, but is similar to that of Call of Duty. When you get hit severely, the edges of your screen will get redder and redder. If you duck out of combat for a while, your health will automatically regenerate. If you do happen to die, you either get one or two chances at reviving yourself (depending on your story progression) with a defibrillator. The mechanics of the defibrillator are not hard to understand, but they are unlike anything you'll find in any other game.

Check Points

One of my biggest woes about RAGE was its lack of checkpoints and auto saves. Auto saves happen when you begin a mission by walking into the building where it takes place and rarely anytime else. I don't know how many times I found myself redoing 20-30 minutes of a level because I had forgotten to save along the way. You need to save early and often for your sanity's sake.

No Map

Another HUGE grievance of mine was the lack of a map within towns-not even a mini-map in the corner. I spent a huge chunk of time simply looking for the places where the mission began. I wouldn't mind if there was no marker to tell me where something is as long as I had a map to orient myself with. There is no large-scale map for the wasteland, but you do have a mini-map and quest tracker so you aren't navigating the vast wasteland in search of a crevice.

Glitches

I only encountered two during my entire gameplay. One was where I accidentally dropped a grenade next to my vehicle, and when the grenade exploded, my vehicle shot away to Never, Never Land. The second one is where my body was trapped between the floor of the elevator with half my body above it and half below it. I could move, but not exit the elevator.

Textures

The game had some issues with fully loading textures. Either that, or they were fully loaded and just looked fuzzy. Even when you'd be staring at a texture, it would take it a few seconds to fully load up, which was entertaining to watch. This never detracted from my gameplay, but I hadn't seen an issue like this since the days of PS2.

Cooperative

One of the more compelling reasons for buying RAGE was the implementation of a local cooperative mode. This is a feature that is few and far between. I was hoping the story was cooperative like Borderlands, but there was only a small missions sections from the game's home screen dedicated to co-op. This mode, called Wasteland Legends, allowed you and a friend to explore missions that related to the story of single player, but were a unique experience. I was disappointed that you couldn't use upgraded items that you accumulated in single player, and instead had to settle with the basest part of the weapon possible. I also thought the enemies were a lot harder in co-op than they ever were in single player. That might just be me.

Locations

Other than the places you travel to kill bad guys, there are three main locations. You have the first town that has a population of about six. You are forced to move on from there because they don't want to attract attention. There is another town similar to this one, but you are only allowed there once. You have two main towns that are almost exactly alike in features, although the setting is different. With there only being two viable towns for quests, there is not a lot to explore.

Interface

By using the R2 button for PS3, you brought up your four quick-selected guns (there are only really six gun types) and the available ammo types for each gun. This seamless interface allowed for the quick transition between both guns and the type of ammo you wanted to use with a quick flick of the left analog stick (for ammo) and right analog stick (for guns). The D-Pad is used in the same way, but for the smaller weapons like grenades, wingsticks (a boomerang of head-chopping proportions), mini-turrets, and more.

Summary

As the GameStop guy told me, this game is a lot like Fallout in quite a few ways. But it is not as expansive in story, map, weapons, customization, or-well-anything. But RAGE is the perfect action-oriented game for those who thought the pacing of Fallout was too slow, or the breadth of gameplay too wide to handle. RAGE is also a very short game, but maybe I have a jaded sense of length due to games like Skyrim. If I knew it was so short, I would have put more hours into searching the wasteland and accomplishing more off the additional missions I listed above. However, for the hours it does contain, RAGE is a worthwhile game that I will be playing over and over just to battle its AI and explore the beautifully crafted world of the developers.

Blog Post: Solo game

jared_a_garcia — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:45:00 GMT

Rage surprised me on how a console game can look. Most other games drop frames to 30 or drop the resolution to look this good. Enemies are smart and roll around. They change tactics to your weapons. Characters look amazing as well. id did everything right with the graphics.

What I didn't like was the story. It was kinda like Fallout as it was post apocalyptic, but you were coasted with no real oohs and ahs. Just get this and go there. Clear out this area. Stuff like that.

Its really a one player game. The multiplayer was tacked on as an afterthought. Though it was a refreshing change to combat cars. Old school death match and team stuff is where its at.

Blog Post: A standard issue FPS - excellent AI, 'been there done that' environments, and no story

Matt S — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 19:07:00 GMT

Ok, lets get the one thing Rage does extremely extremely well: AI - the bad guys try to come at you in a way you just dont see in video games, and their animations are absolutely top notch. This kept Rage interesting for me until the halfway point, but the lack of any kind of real story is the main bummer point for me.

You wake up and are immediately asked to go from MIssion A to B to C etc for the whole duration of the game. I am over 'Fetch quest' type games......just feels like a connect the dots adventure.

The character models look excellent, some of the best i've seen on a console, but the environments look pretty muddy and rough at times. They look great from a distance, just dont get too close

To wrap up: if you can find this cheap, and just want a mindless game to shoot bad guys, this is your game

For my money, I'd recommend Bulletstorm over this any day

Blog Post: Feel the Rage

thatfoxguy — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:44:00 GMT

A new game came out this year. Its a game called RAGE made by a little company called id Software. Oh and by little, I mean they CREATED the FPS genre, the most money-making genre in the industry.

However, I'm not reviewing id as a company, I'm reviewing RAGE as their most recent IP to break out within the last 7 years. id is known for pushing boundaries on a technical level, from creating vaulted ceilings in DOOM, to the graphic card pushing QUAKE, and the technically brilliant DOOM 3, id always pushes the line on what we thought was possible on our machines. And boy, oh, boy do they do that here. RAGE is by far the best looking multi platform game I have ever seen run on my PS3 (Sorry, id, but God of War 3 and Uncharted 2...). Crysis 2? Work on your frame rate, buddy. RAGE has the graphics of you, plus a butter smooth frame rate makes this game absolutely gorgeous.

*Drools*

With that, I bring forth some qualms. id may have crafted some gorgeous vistas, but they had some trouble on the execution. The XBOX 360 version is the way to go, because of the lack of texture loading problems found on PS3. The PS3 has an 8GB install required, which I hoped would make the problems disappear, but alas, it didn't. Just driving around the wasteland is absolutely stellar, but when you are in combat and quickly turn around, the textures pop like you caught them without their clothes on. However, the XBOX 360 version has 3 discs. One for the majority of the Campaign, one for the last 3/4, and one for multiplayer. This presents some problems for someone who is busy trekking around the Dead City and suddenly a friend wants to play Road RAGE. Switching between discs is never fun, and its even worse here when everything happens suddenly. If you can, avoid the PC version. If you don't have the special AMD driver installed, you're gonna wonder why this game draws so much praise. Textures pop-in every time you turn, and its ugly. Also, the lack of advanced settings in unforgivable for this day and age. I'm pretty sure I know my computer better than you, id.

6 years in development means 6 years of fine-tuning. And this game is tuned to perfection. The best way to describe the gunplay is "Take Fallout 3 style areas, but Call of Duty shooting". It roars at 60FPS and the guns have the weight you have grown to love from games like Battlefield and Crysis. The snap feels excellent, and I have no criticisms about the gunplay. Well, a few more weapons would've been nice. And maybe another ammo type for Snipers.

This is the ultimate place to show off the remarkable gunplay

If you have a headset or Stereo System, you're in luck. The soundtrack is nice, but the sound the guns make thunder in your gut. I turned up my bass on my Skullcandys and my jaw dropped. The shotgun is especially nice, well, until the enemies get harder. Then you'll be using the Crossbow. All of these weapons sound realistic and pack a punch, but the weapon that steals the show here is the wingstick. The wingstick is a 3 wing boomerang which is perfect for killing a charging enemy. Say a mutant is charging you. Press L2 and BOOM! His head flies off and his body crumples to the floor. Which brings me to my next point. The animation in this game is fantastic. Talking to the quest givers is addicting, because they move in their own specials ways that rival Battlefield 3. Enemies run and jump all over the place, and when you shoot them, especially with the shotgun, they die like they would realistically. If you shoot them in the leg, it will kick out from them, face-planting them. Seriously, its awesome.

All of these are definite pros, but a HUGE con is the story that id wrote. It is about as generic as it gets. You wake up from the Ark and become basically Errand Boy 2023. You pick a "class" early on, which does absolutely nothing for you. You join the Resistance for some reason I never picked up and you have to take down the "Authority". Also, the ending, which is the biggest WTF moment of the game, is a gargantuan let down. Never before have I been so disappointed with a final mission. Seriously, it sucks. The length of the campaign is about 8 hours on Easy mode, but expect to die and have to be set back about 30 minutes. Save a lot, my friends.

You have no say in the matter

Many people are up in flames about the linearity of the game, saying the Wasteland is basically just a huge hub world. And I'm totally fine with that. If this is a hub world, it is the most amazing hub ever crafted in a video game. You race around, battling mutants, delivering letters, finding Playing Cards (which makes a rather fun mini-game), and entering locales. These locales are entirely linear, which make them feel more like DOOM levels than a Zelda dungeon, but I would get lost so fast in Dead City that I'm completely happy they are linear affairs.

I'd get into the mini games and multiplayer, but It's long enough already. Just know that they're excellent.

Overall, RAGE is an excellent product. If you want a good, post-apocalyptic story to boot, look to Fallout 3. If you want visuals, combat depth, and gameplay. Look no further.

+The Knock-Out graphics/animation/overworld etc.

+Super Tight Combat

+Large "dungeons"

+Minigames

-It ends pretty quickly

-The story...

-Characters are tough to like

-Played it a little too safe

On the Game Informer Scale: 9.25/10

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Blog Post: Excellent Ideas, Flawed

Superpiggsy — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 03:53:00 GMT

Normally I devour whatever Bethesda publishes. From Stormhold to New Vegas, they have published worthwhile titles. Not treading far off from the "Post Apocalyptic' formula (a genre I go batshit for) RAGE seemed like a great merging of two amazing companies (ID- the masterminds behind DOOM), but with all that's truly going for the game, there are nearly twice as many problems.

While this game could be a PC game at heart, it drives off into Console territory, while this doesn't bother me one bit (I don't have a PC), the disjointed feeling is shown unless the title is downloaded to the hard drive (Have fun installing that next to LA Noire, 3 disks is a bit too much). The engine runs beautifully overall, but this game falls flat from simple repetitiveness. Too much of the game is straight-forward, tedious and for a lack of a nicer word, boring.

Much of the missions are either simple deliveries or any standard dungeon-crawl-like romps. While this is fun at first, by the 20th mission you are longing for more. Driving works to an extent, but if your not into driving games this feature becomes about as tiresome as Duke Nukem Forever's driving levels. Additionally, most of the "Open World" feels incredibly linear not to mention boring. I'm all for linear game play, but don't pull the Open World gimmick. Much of the land is blocked off and lacks differentiation.

While there is occasional awesome voice work (from the likes of John Goodman) it often falls flat with canned responses and lack of character development as in Fallout. Maybe I compare this to Fallout way to much, but they hyped it up to be on par with Fallout. While Fallout lacked the graphical advantages of RAGE, the endless playability and constant change of pace kept the player on their toes. Playing RAGE I often got bored and played something else.

Graphics don't replace story, while there was plenty of room to incorporate a sweet idea for a story, its muddled by how high ID aims in other departments. Your character has no depth, there is little customization, and overall it felt rushed. DOOM works as a linear action shooter with levels, not an RPG.

Other than some unique moments, RAGE offers nothing new to the genre. I wanted to love this, however I felt totally disconnected. If your willing to play through the tedious, stretched out campaign, I assure you'll be somewhat disappointed, just like 2009's Wolfenstein, this is another game that shows ID is going in the wrong direction regardless of how beautiful it is.

Blog Post: rage let me down

robert — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:30:00 GMT

i beat this game in 15 hours thinking i still had one more disk to go.the thrid disk is multi player.i have heard about this game for years and im disappointed.aslo there is not a satisfying or clear ending it was 20 secounds long

Forum Post: Re: Haters are born everyday

deb0 — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:17:00 GMT

Or it could be because the game has a ton of issues, to include a pathetic multiplayer component.

Forum Post: Re: Amazing and NOT a rip-off of borderlands!

deb0 — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:15:00 GMT

It is a rip off because the "borderland" features do nothing for the game. It's simply a lazy attempt to peice together a product so that it appears finished. Fact of the matter is Rage feels lilke a compilation of old ideas, while woefully inadequate in multiplayer features.

Forum Post: Rage is evidence that ID has lost it's way

deb0 — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:13:00 GMT

ID software used to have a brand that was worth the confidence of gamers. Not any more. Rage is the worst game ever put out/associated with ID software and I will never purchase another game from them.

The entire Rage product seems to depend on it's eyecandy for sales. It's plagued with video issues; A.I is buggy and the gameplay itself is abysmal. Having to drive a round in a buggy; racing and shooting enemies, reeks of Unreal Tournament (without the teamplay) ala solo.

I rate this game a 3.0.

Blog Post: The Way to go!!!!

TexasCries — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 06:27:00 GMT

Rage was fo sho the way to go. Once I started playing I was hooked right away. Lots of shooting and very challenging. The guns are all very awesome and the game play is sweet. Alright story line. I must say the lamest thing was the driving, it was just a bit difficult but that's the only complains I have. All in all great game!!!!! Check it out.

Blog Post: Thoughts on Rage

Terry Majamaki — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:39:00 GMT

Rage is one of those games that has a lot of big expectations to fill since this was coming from the notorious developer id Software. Notorious because id Software is usually referred to as the originators of the first person shooter genre in video games with games like Wolfenstein, Quake, and DOOM. Three games from the early 90′s that defined the genre and paved way for all the great first person shooters we enjoy today. Read more with HD screens @ http://majamaki.com/2011/10/rage/

Blog Post: Rage review by Terry Majamaki

Terry Majamaki — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:19:00 GMT

Read my full review @ http://majamaki.com/2011/10/rage/. Rage is a fantastic game when you focus on the heart of the game which is the first person shooting. To me the racing part could have been dropped, and just add more quests to kill mutants and bad guys. The gun play is tight, fast, and frantic with a good amount of variety in enemies to keep you on your toes.

Forum Post: Re: Rip-off of Borderlands

Panda — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:32:00 GMT

This is a silly debate. Admit it people, both Rage and Borderlands are based of the iconic 80s movie franchise Mad Max. To argue otherwise is futile, and ignorant.

Blog Post: Rage: Great Gameplay but Lack of Substance.

Zachary Pligge — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 23:34:00 GMT

After years of waiting, I finally got my hands on Rage. I have to say that Rage is a great game, very fluid and precise. What it lacks in the story and the open world it makes up for in it's gameplay. The graphics are beautiful and streamlined. The audio and ambiance are fantastic as well.

Gameplay:

Rage's gameplay is spot on. The controls are wonderful and extremely precise, one of the best FPS's I have played to date. The selection of weapons is nice, and each of the weapons is designed well and proves useful. The wingstick is by far the best weapon of the game and the most satisfying to use. There is nothing like decapitating an enemy or sticking a wingstick the the side of a mutants head of neck. I honestly would've liked to see a few more weapons in the game, but the ones given are great.

The A.I. is impressive, as well as the animations that go along with it. It is very satisfying to see smart A.I. running around and dodging you bullets, even taking shots in the legs, arms, and body and still keep coming at you. The mutants can be absolutely terrifying to battle. The variety of enemies is great. Mutants, bandits, and authority all have their strengths and weaknesses and prove fun to find ways to kill them. Some of the battles can prove vicious and even put me in a state of shock where I start running for the nearest cover firing shots randomly around the room. These can be extremely fun!

The racing is very generic. You'll get a few hours of fun racing, and after that it gets a little old. The controls are great, no problems that I have noticed. There isn't much variety to the buggies either, and in the end they just come down to taking you back and forth through the wasteland.

Story:

I was disappointed in Rage's story. I was expecting something along the lines of Fallout or even Assassin's Creed, but it didn't. The story was scattered all over the place and very hard to follow. Even the ending proved disappointing, but I won't spoil that for you.

I was also expecting a more open world, similar to Oblivion. Rage did not come close to this. Don't get me wrong, the wasteland is beautiful and fun to traverse. But other than the main quest and the few side missions, there really isn't much to explore.

Multiplayer:

The multiplayer works. You'll get some fun from it. The co-op missions are great, but go by fast. The racing could be better. I was expecting a deathmatch type multiplayer from iD software. The gun play certainly fits the bill, as fantastic as it is. The multiplayer experience is average at best.

Overall:

Rage is a great game and a great experience. The gameplay is definitely what I expected out of iD Software. The streamlined combat and gunplay are wonderful, as expected. I wish the story was a little more solid and the wastland was bigger. But I will take what I can get. It is worth a playthrough for the gameplay alone. I highly recommend this game.

Blog Post: Rage: Great Accomplishment

enjoi46 — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 04:25:00 GMT

Rage essentially is the best looking game to date. I have never seen a game run at 60 fps with such graphical fidelity. The actual gameplay is purely amazing. The way the enemies navigate the environment is next level stuff. They'll do anything to dodge your bullets, weather that be swing along pipes or parkour on the walls, they will have way to make you take your shots carefully. However rage is not all sunshine and lollipops. The story is not really worth paying attention to. Also I found that the quests get VERY repetetive and boring about 2/3 of the way in. You will basically spend the entire game going on fetch quests. This was what ruined the game for me towards the end. However the journey is still amazing and if you can the spare the money with out having to worry about other AAA titles this winter, Rage should not be missed.

Blog Post: Raging Mad After Buying id's Newest Shooter

ColdAtrophy — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 02:27:00 GMT

I would like to start off by saying that id deserves the utmost respect and reverence due to their innovative ideas and genre defining gameplay. With that said and out of the way let me outline for you my personal experiences with Rage.

My friends and I had been anxiously awaiting the release of this game. We had all talked about the vidocs posted on Xbox Live about the development of this game in general. With 6 years of development under its' belt and a well known FPS developer at the helm, it promised to be the new definition of the FPS genre. With a supposedly amazing story, new intuitive gameplay, mind bogglingly intelligent AI, racing, and plenty of exploring, this promised to be everything I ever wanted in a game.

I will start with the graphics and soudtrack. When I first stepped out of the Ark, I spent a good 3 minutes just standing there and looking at the downright GORGEOUS environment. This is arguably the best looking Xbox 360 game I have EVER seen. Hands down the smoothest most amazing graphics I have ever seen on a console. The soudtrack is perfect. At all the right moments the music cues and it helps to create the right ambience for the environment.

The story was practically non-existent. You never learn who you were or where you actually are on this or any other fictional planet. NOTHING big and story intensive EVER happens. The ending was terrible, with no end boss and no confrontation with the previously whispered about antagonist general. On top of all this, I thoroughly beat this in 13 hours. Did I collect everything? No. Did I explore every nook and cranny? No. Do I care to? Not at all. I even have a friend that finished it in 8 hours. I didn't rush and did a fair amount of exploring. You go through the game as a high tech nameless, faceless, gun toting nobody who basically only exists to run errands through a relatively small world to little personal gain. It starts to feel like a chore. The characters in the game, though very realistic and well animated, are highly forgettable. The items you find are dull and boring too. There is a notable lack of real replay value overall.

The gunplay is satisfyingly rich with most of the weapons. Due to my play style, I only used the Fatmans and Fat Mammas (Special Pistol Ammo), Buckshot, HE Grenades, AVX2 Ammo (Special Authority Machine Gun Ammo), and Wingsticks. However, I do feel that different players will find different tools to their liking. I agree with GI about the Wingsticks. They are especially awesome to use. They can lob the head off of any enemy and the Advanced Wingsticks can decapitate multiple enemies, even if they are behind cover. The AI is not what it was made out to be. There are about as intelligent as any Gears game enemy. Certain types of enemies will rush you but they don't all do that. The boss types are few and far between and pretty easy to beat overall. In two playthroughs I think I died like 3 times.

The racing is flat out unsatisfying and I love racing games. The tracks are dull. There isn't much at all to say about it. They all start to run together and even on Nightmare they are easy. Hioghly comparable to Harm's Way, the DORITOS RACING GAME found on Xbox Live arcade. I found myself completing single player races just to get Racing Certs for vehicle upgrades which are necessary to survive on Nightmare.

As far as the RPG elements of the game go, there aren't any. You do not level up or progress your character. There are a few weapon upgrades, some different ammo types, a few armor upgrades, and a Defibrillator upgrade but that is it. And these hardly qualify as RPG elements.

The co-op took about 3 hours to totally finish all of the missions, even redoing one for the Nightmare Co-op Achievement. The online racing is more of the same and repetitively boring.

The minigames are somewhat fun but how long does that hold the interest of someone who bought this game to blow stuff up? If you are like me, you expected a long, satisfying story with awesome guns, memorable characters, and something to look forward to in a sequel. This game just failed to deliver. My advice to id? Next time spend six years developing an amazing story and less time developing the graphics. Maybe then you would be able to create a game that was worth the $67 with tax. Fallout 3 had a similar premise and a solid 60 hours of gameplay with DLCs and its' graphics were not the greatest ever. Game Informer's review was, in my personal opinion, way off base. Totally not worth a 9.00 or the money to buy it new. Pick it up for $40 in a few months and then enjoy it for what it is. My copy is already on eBay. In the words of someone very wise - Graphics only does not a great game make.

Blog Post: Beautiful on the outside, empty in the middle.

markus1142 — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:13:00 GMT

[Review: 6/10] Rage isn't a terrible game by most standards; it's just somewhat lacking in substance. The campaign seems to clock in around 10-15 hours, but I only made it through 5-6 before I grew tired of what felt like an endless supply of sidequests.

Despite one of the prettiest (and well-directed) opening cinematics I've seen in the past few years, showing your protagonist being prepped for cryo-sleep amidst scenes of an asteroid hurtling towards (and eventually slamming into) Earth, despite the gorgeous graphics and detailed environment, despite the stellar gunplay and the impressive AI movements, it's still a huge letdown.

The game opens with you leaving "The Ark," not unlike Fallout's Vaults, re-entering a world 106 years after the asteroid impact. Full of mutants and bandits, you gets yourself busy work right from the get-go, running errands for the man who saved you. After several missions consisting of "go here, talk to this person, bring this here, investigate this location,' I found myself pining for an overall story or mission arc than unfortunately never arrived. Brief mentions of "The Authority" got thrown around, but there was never any sense of who they are, why they're bad, or what I should be doing about them, other than running supplies from town to town.

I don't fault a game for being short; Modern Warfare's campaigns have been under 10 hours and have been wonderfully cinematic. Some of my favorite games - Vanquish, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Dead Space - have single player campaigns that clock in under 15 hours. But they're wonderful playthroughs, and I never got close to that level of enjoyment out of Rage.

I do hope that ID tries again with this template; the engine was apparently built ground-up to be something special, and it is. It just doesn't give you anything worthwhile to do with it.

Blog Post: Rage Review - The Parent's Guide to Video Games

The Game Store Guy — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:36:00 GMT

Rage Review

Kid Safe: Low (2.5 / 10) Game Quality: Very High (9.0 / 10)

Genre: First-Person Shooter / Open World RPG

- The name makes this form of game sound more complicated than it really is. These games are characterized by the viewpoint and weapons used in the title. In a first person shooter, you are looking down the barrel of a gun as though you yourself are holding the weapon. Likewise, as the term "shooter" implies, the game specifically uses guns and firearms. On top of this, in an Open World RPG, players explore a place where choice is everything. Rather than providing a set story that a player has to follow, they are provided a world that they can explore. Finally, RPG means "Role Playing Game" and is characterized by the ability for a player to customize the appearance, weaponry, and special skills and abilities that are available to a character that they are playing.

Internet Requirements: Moderate

- Rage features a moderate amount of internet requirements due to the presence of two forms of internet-based game options: two-player cooperative gameplay as well as competitive racing. The two player cooperative mode will pit two individuals against a series of tasks such as disarming bombs, turning water valves on, fighting bandits, etc. The competitive racing will set multiple players against each other in dune-buggy racing similar to the game's mini-games. Nonetheless, this title can be enjoyed without any internet usage whatsoever.

Story Summary:

- In Rage, you play the role of a nameless "Ark Survivor". In this title's fictional future, a massive asteroid is set on a collision course for Earth. In order for mankind to survive this terrible catastrophe, the powers that be selected groups of people who were best suited to survive, injected them with powerful nano-technology, and then set them into Arks. These Arks were large lifepods that buried themselves into the Earth for a set period of time and kept their precious cargo in stasis until they are unsealed sometime in the future. Now, woken up from your long period of rest, you find yourself in a post-apocalyptic world that has been changed into a MadMax style oblivion filled with bandits, pockets of humanity, a controlling "authority", and dune-buggy racing to boot. Can you make your way through this changed world or will the Wasteland claim you?

Kid Safe: Low (2.5 / 10)

- Foul Language: Very High - Not Recommended for Children

o Rage contains a very high amount of foul language in the form of the following words: "d*mn", "h*ll", "b*tch", "a*s", "b*stard", and "f*ck". These words are heard regularly throughout both combat situations as well as through normal dialogue between a variety of characters. While this language is heard from most characters and people throughout the game, those most commonly at fault are the groups of bandits that roam the wasteland. Likewise, this language is heard through a variety of situations and is thereby not restricted to instances of extreme emotion such as anger, frustration, pain, or anguish.

- Violence and Gore: Very High - Not Recommended for Children

o Rage features a very high amount of both violence and gore. First off, as a first-person shooter, there is a focus on violent gameplay in which players use a variety of guns and firearms to dispatch their enemies. This range of weaponry includes, but is not limited to, fist and fist-like weapons, pistols, rifles, sniper rifles, assault rifles, shotguns, machine guns, grenades, remote-detonated explosives, and boomerang-like bladed weaponry that is flung at enemies to maim or impale. Players will then use said weapons against a number of enemies that are seeking to injure and kill the player. These enemies include tribes of carnivorous and murderous bandits, flesh-eating mutants, human-soldiers, and an array of monstrous creatures. Players are unable to harm innocent civilians.

o Now, let's take a look at the combat. First, allow me to say that Rage is most certainly not the bloodiest game that we have reviewed on this site. To that same point, the more disturbing point is to an enemy's reaction when they are killed. While in combat, players will be encouraged to maim and kill their enemies. When shot or injured, enemies will show a red spray of blood to indicate that they have been hit. When an enemy is wounded, they can be seen cradling their injuries. When an enemy is severely wounded, they will often be seen falling to the ground; from there they will either weakly sit up, cradling their injuries, and attempt to fire upon the player or they will attempt to drag themselves or slowly crawl away from the gunfire. When killed, enemies will crumple to the ground realistically. A headshot is the perfect example of the disturbing amount of realism in this game: the enemy's head suddenly snaps backwards as they are hit by the bullet and their legs slowly crumple to the ground and their body follows. Wingsticks (boomerang-like throwing blades) can become imbedded in an enemy and have to be pulled out. Certain attacks and weapons will dismember enemies, leaving bloody stumps.

o Outside of combat, players will also see a number of violent and gory sights. First off, the player is the only survivor of their Ark. When they wake up, an examination of the surrounding stasis pods will reveal decayed and mummified bodies of those that were not quite as lucky as you. Likewise, throughout the Wasteland players will find a variety of carcasses, both human and animal, that have been killed in a variety of fashions. Some even have the pleasant addition of having flies and insects buzzing about them. Players will also come across desecrated forms, one which stood out to me being an individual that is found tied with her hands and legs to four corners of a hallway. Occasionally the corpses even come in large piles of flesh that are simply decomposing into primordial black goo.

- Sexually-Related Content: None to Low

o To the best of this reviewer's knowledge, Rage does not contain any explicit scenes of nudity or sexually related content. To this point, however, we would like to warn parents to exercise caution as the sheer size of this game does create the possibility of an overlap in judgment. In simpler terms, there is just so much that it's possible we missed something in some remote area of the game.

- Use of Drugs and Alcohol: Very Low

o Rage features a very low amount of drug and alcohol usage that pertains to some visuals of and some references to alcoholic beverages. Players will be assigned tasks that will require them to go out and locate "booze". Likewise, while playing through the game, players will be able to pick up alcoholic beverages around the wasteland. These beverages are not consumable but are instead used for crafting weapons and tools.

Game Quality: Very High (9.0 / 10)

- Graphics / Visuals: Very High

o Have you ever wondered what it would be like to explore a Mad Max style world where bandits roam free and what little pockets of humanity struggle to survive? Rage gives you this chance. With such absolutely stunning graphics and visuals as are available in this title, you might just think that you are wandering the Wasteland with the arid heat beating down on your back, the dust in your face, and the sweat cooling you as you speed through the foothills in your dune-buggy. This game does just about everything well, but most especially praise-worthy is the breathtakingly gorgeous environments that that game has to offer. Aside from that, I also have to pay special praise to the realistic character movements.

o I have to say that Rage won my cynical little critic-heart within a matter of minutes of even turning on the game. After I awoke from my long bout of stasis-sleep, I examined my surroundings, taking in what I could, and then stepped out of my Ark to see what had become of the Earth that was left behind. The sky is what caught my attention first. Brilliant, glittering sunlight shone down through perforated clouds that spilled a speckled flood of light and shadow down across the canyon below me; so real that it seemed cut from a video, not a game. Looking upon the canyon, the simple striations and rock formations catch my interest; leading further examination and revealing some of the finest texture graphics for the mountains and Wasteland. Aside from the absolutely breathtaking visuals themselves, the environments also feature interesting imaginings of life after the end of the world; broken down factories, recycled radio and TV equipment, and just about everything from the world left behind being recalled for service. A perfect example (as disturbing as it sounds) is an urinal that had been retrofitted as a water-pump.

o The game's characters were another thing I marveled at; not specifically that ones that you talk to, but the ones you fight. Don't get me wrong, the talkers are just fine, but the enemies are amazing. I died more than once because I was just staring at them. Rage offers some of the smoothest enemy animations I have seen...one example including a bandit who jumped off a ledge, rolled down off a dirty mattress, slide behind a couch, vaulted, ran on a wall, and then dove at me. All of this was done without a flaw. Even then, while it's a bit more disturbing from a violence standpoint, the amount of character reaction to fighting is quite impressive. Very few games feature such realistic reactions such as a character cradling their injury or so-weakly attempting to fight back.

- Audio: High

o Moody and creepy music along with some very well done voice acting are on the docket for any audiophiles who enjoy Rage. If the graphics didn't quite convince you of where you are in this game, the audio will certainly help to hammer it home. Players will regularly hear conversations, announcements, and different radio stations and music while they wander towns and cities; really helping to add to a feeling of life and living in these areas. Likewise, when in the Wasteland exploring different areas, hideouts, bases, etc. the audio favors background music versus music from the environment. This score, with its moody and spooky tones, really help to set your hair on end or, should a firefight break out, get your blood pumping as you fight for your life against the all the horrors the Wasteland has to offer.

o The voice acting is equally very well done, with one or two issues. First, understand that the main majority of "main characters" that you deal with on a regular basis are incredibly well done, with special attention paid to most every line and pulling in some big name talents. However, the problem (if you can call it that) is not so much with the main characters as it is with the hordes of bandits and soldiers. Their canned responses, comments, and other dialogue tend to feel a little bit less refined than that of author characters. More often these phrases feel less realistic and tend to read off or they simply get repetitive as you hear them more and more often.

- Gameplay / Playability: High

o And now for the real bread and butter. As always, we start with gameplay. First, the game does a decent job in actually introducing every concept of gameplay; from simple movement to engineering to combat to driving...on and on, etc. etc. It also does a good job in providing regular cues so that players know what button they need to hit or what item they need to use to solve a certain dilemma. However, the real problem that stems from Rage's playability comes from a control scheme that is slightly different from most first-person shooters, making it a bit awkward for some more experienced players, as well as making it difficult to find out how to do something if you forgot after the initial introduction. This is by no means game breaking, it just stands out as a bit annoying.

o The gameplay is also well done, with the occasional minimal flaw. First off, players are really able to go anywhere that they want to in the Wasteland and are allowed to explore to their heart's content so long as they accept that they might get eaten for wandering too far from safety. If you aren't the wandering type, the game still does an expert job in leading you through a variety of easy to follow, simple to understand quests that progressively build and paint a picture of the world for what it has become since the asteroid hit. Likewise, if quests and gunplay aren't your game, there are plenty else to choose from. Simple games like dice and card games can satisfy your time as can dune-buggy racing, delivery runs, and much, much more. The only major problem is that the game feels a bit artificially lengthened via the focus on "dune-buggies". Players are, in certain spots, forced to partake in the titles mini-game races over and over in order to earn certificates so that they can buy certain items to complete quests. While a race or two wouldn't be a bad thing in general, the heavy amount of focus on these mini-game races can be a bit distracting for someone aching the exploring and gunplay that the game promises.

- Dollar-Value: Very High

o Overall, Rage still has a very high dollar-value. When you consider that on the Xbox 360 version of this title, it uses 3 DISCS; this game has a LOT of content. If you are ONLY playing the main storyline and not doing any other jobs or exploring at all, this game will take roughly 15 to 20 hours depending on gamer skill. However, given the fact that it would be very hard not to start exploring or try out other jobs or just see what kind of trouble you can get into, I would easily expect this game to last you a very long time. When you count that with the decently fun multiplayer and internet functions and absolutely stunning graphics, this makes Rage a good buy for the apocalyptic-survivor in your family.

Recommendations

- At this time, there really aren't any open world games that aren't mature rated; sadly post-apocalyptic Earth just isn't a nice place. However, if you are ok with mature content, you might check out Borderlands or Fallout. Bulletstorm might also perk your interest if you are into the nitty-gritty first-person shooter titles.