New Geek Badge Review Format:

RAGE – 360 [GB Review]

Developer: id Software
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Engine: id Tech 5
Platforms: Xbox 360, iOS, Playstation 3, Games for Windows
Release Date: October 4th (NA), Oct 6th (AUS), Oct 7th (EU)
Rated: M for Mature

“id Software Reclaims the Throne it Created” – GB

Opening Statement:

First off, let’s get these obvious fan-boy ideals behind us. I LOVE id, and anything id creates. Doom and Wolfenstein were some of the biggest and most influential games in my childhood. Nothing could have given me more joy than the thought of id finally getting off their butts and make a new FPS title. I pray that RAGE becomes a franchise and that this is just the start of a new, beautiful obsession of mine. RAGE, in its design, is the best of Borderlands, Fallout, and Doom 3 with a tiny sprinkle of Gears on top. The game is centered around a man, a man from the past. You (that man) are thrust into a desolate future where civilization and humanity are forced to rebuild, reconfigure and re-civilize themselves.

Story:

that feeling of "a world that once was"

Right off the bat the player is treated to a really nice cut-scene that sets the tone for the dramatic style to come. You play as one of a small group of people that are frozen in Ripley-like stasis and preserved for a “better tomorrow”. This “tomorrow” shows up, but it’s far from better. Upon a meteor strike, the earth is dissolved. Nothing is really explained as to how these select individuals survived and started new cities. In countless years following the strike, the small number of remaining human beings have separated into groups and built towns, hideouts, stores, and a generally fresh start to all basic societal needs.

One hundred and six years have passed since you went into stasis and the meteor hit earth, but what is abundantly clear off the bat is that you not only stick out, but are valuable to the new “law”. With every civilization comes a need for law and order, unfortunately this comes in the form of the Authority. A group of dickhead “government” types that try to pull the strings of every last shred of humanity left in the world. There are some pretty deep connections that are uncovered between the Authority and some of the things that ail the world you live in. This new “earth” is a very diverse and interesting thing which you have the ability to wander, sort of.

You, as a player, are strung along on the nicest little string of story development. Ducking and weaving away from the Authority and taking all sorts of unique side-missions. I found that each main story mission takes place in a new-ish locale, and at least one side-mission will have you return to that spot, but play through it in a different order. It doesn’t matter which speed you play through the story, even if you spend a ton of effort on side-quests, you will always feel like you’re moving along quite nicely. I never felt rushed, nor did I ever feel that there was nothing to be done. A huge pet peeve of mine is the roaming around moments waiting for something to happen, or having too little to do between conversations, missions. Consistently throughout RAGE you are introduced to fresh and interesting characters, or objectives. This is one of the strongest things going for the pull of the story.

Gameplay:

for shock and awe.

Where can I start, other than to say it’s an id game; Gameplay in an id title? AMAZING, duh. These folks INVENTED this genre, and they are continuing their legacy by providing yet another bar for the rest of the universe to base their attempts.

In a world flush with blockbuster FPS games, id and id tech5 makes RAGE above and beyond the feel and atmosphere of any other game in its wake. There are a lot of things that are added together to create what will soon be known as the “retaking of the id throne”. Many of the pieces of RAGE consist of separate genres. The action-oriented gunplay and infiltration is executed perfectly. I always felt I had the upper hand when approaching small groups of unbeknownst enemies, but still remained the flailing near-death idiot while facing large numbers or bosses.

The loot in this game in simple; during the missions you get nick-knacks and ammo, while completing quests and shops give you the desirable things. Every store has the same stuff for the most part, but selling all the junk you picked up at the Ghost Hideout is where you wallet really gets fat. Included in the general sellable items you collect, are parts. Now this is an interesting RPG element in an adventure game. During your travels you will come across blueprints, these are used to create different offensive and defensive items. You can park in a corner, open up your engineering menu, and create things from specialized ammo, RC bomb cars, turrets, grenades to bandages and health buffs. These things will become very useful.

Mutant Bash at its finest!

Ever want to tune up and play Gran Turismo: Wasteland Edition? Well now you can. A large part of what makes RAGE so easy to access and traverse is its racing and driving portions. There is no resemblance to what we would call “simulation racing”, but for what the vehicle play was meant to be, it’s beyond fun. A good mix of off road speed, and vehicle combat, everything you want in a way to travel is there. You can upgrade you slough of cars by joining actual prepared racing inside the cities you explore. Also, the bartenders in every city will pay you for destroying the bandits found in the general wasteland.

Driver's Ed anyone?

The RPG elements that give RAGE a little side dish for us role-playing fans doesn’t give much, but surfaces every time you reveal the character portion of the in-game menu. Your character has health stats, armor stats and a unique look depending on which of the four personas you overtook at the beginning of the game.

Nothing seems to be forced in the process of being new and exciting. Instead, RAGE delivers us a refined and tasty morsel of anything a gamer could ask for. There is enough of every flavour to keep your thumbs taste-buds riveted until the end. Even the relatively unexplored multiplayer game types are completely adequate.

Appearance:

Mayor Clayton is a nice guy. But look at all that detail!

Pretty, Pretty, Pretty. Need more? The id Tech5 engine boasts some powerful graphics and it’s ever obvious during any given moment of the game. Just peaking up at the sky at your own discretion will make you say “0o0o0oo” and then wet yourself. I am hard pressed to think of another game in recent time that portraits such graphical quality in every inch of your line-of-sight. Gears3 looked amazing up close and Deus Ex (minus the dark sunglasses filter) had good grit, but nothing compares to the frame-rate and scope of detail that is contained within the massive 3-disc title. This latest title by id, isn’t ashamed of their roots. RAGE includes countless nods to where id came from and even throwing in some nods to Bethesda. At the start of the game, there is a bobble-head on the dashboard of Hagar’s car that is a Marine from DOOM. Later, you can find a Vault Boy bobble-head inside the mayor of Wellsprings office. As well as images of id founders on the walls, and scribble all over the world you explore.

Is that a DOOM Bobble-head? Touche id.

I was pleasantly surprised at all of the high res imagery that surrounded my adventure. I fought and tried to pull issues out of thin air, but I had troubles picking up on anything of sub sequential damage. I am of course speaking specifically of the console version.

The world of the “Wasteland” is a rough-and-tumble struggle with resourcefulness and law-less societies. To be able to portrait this setting without flaws is terribly difficult, but I felt immersed. There was a few points where things didn’t make sense, like a full-grown man not being able to hop over a hand rail and onto the platform below. Otherwise, everything flows beautifully and the environment you’re surrounded by is lush with destruction and the sense of “a land that once was”.

Every enemy has flavour, and every chunk of the trigger throws visual prowess towards your foes (both visual and audible prowess). The average enemy will become repetitive at times, but they only look similar to the other enemies that are part of that specific “clan”. Either way; the design detail in even the smallest of baddies is impressive and the contact/rag-doll engine shows off a nice flow of combat.

A bright blue sky, and a face full of mutant.

The towns are filled with a dozen or so bystanders that can be slightly interacted with. Main conversation trees between you and NPCs will leave you wanting two-sided dialog and maybe some choice in the direction or tone taken. The general population will comment (while passing by) on your latest achievement/accomplishment while atmosphere speech by enemies in surrounding rooms will surprise you in originality and even make you chuckle from time to time.

The sound effects will make your heart beat faster and your head rumble with awesomeness. While the SFX design in RAGE won’t completely blow you away, it will immerse you further into the action. By far the best sounds will come from revving the huge engine in your Rat Rod Buggy and the Double Barrel Shotgun. I was also pleasantly happy with the voice acting in RAGE. Again, RAGE doesn’t break moulds or surpass every other game; it is just simply very good. The first character you interact with is voiced by John Goodman, and it made me smile. I love John Goodman. The rest of the supporting cast is really brought to life with the perfectly cast voices and attention to detail in performances. With a riveting pallet of SFX and voices, RAGE will create a new minimum standard in gaming for the future.

Overall Ruling:

In the months leading up to RAGE, it received a lot of deserved attention. However, in the YEARS that it has taken to build and create, it was a side-note in our “future”. Folks were we wrong. RAGE takes the absolute best parts of an Action/Adventure pie and sprinkles just enough RPG and Racing on top to cause your emblematic heart to palpitate at an accelerated rate. For id fans, this absolutely powerful journey into id Tech5 couldn’t come as a surprise. After all, you had to expect the possibilities that id Software could reclaim the throne it created.

What Worked:

Story Depth
Action/FPS Elements
Characters
Visually Beautiful
Vehicle Game-Play

What Failed:

No Direction Choice
id’s Relentless Lack of Checkpoints (although not a fail, just a difficulty curve)
Small Amount of Unique Weapons
Enemy Health is High (although I did play through on HARD)
Not Enough Variety in Mission Objectives

While not perfect, RAGE is an absolute adventure and a new standard for games to come.

*Editor’s note: While playing the majority of the review on 360, I did dabble in the PC copy and as of the time of this publishing, the PC copy is completely buggy graphically and will continue to improve once word/fixes get around to the dev/pub. Until further notice, purchase or play RAGE on PS3 or 360. Once corrected, the PC version will surpass the console versions in all aspects (the doom bobble-head SS was taken on my PC, and it looks great). Frame-rate be damned. FIX IT!