» Mon Oct 17, 2011 7:16 am Reviewed based off the Xbox 360 version
Story: As Apophis hurtles towards Earth humanities last order is to bury the few important people who may be able to fix what will soon be a broken world. Buried in these machines called Arks and injected with a nanotrite technology the destruction from Apophis takes place. Few Arks emerge and fewer survive, but through the brush and dust of this wasteland you are a survivor amongst the few. Soon after leaving your Ark you get a glimpse of this cruel world and what inhabits it. As you are abruptly stop by a few bandits who are sure to be your demise, youre saved by a man named Dan Hagar. You're then taken to his settlement and taught what is needed to survive in the Wasteland. As you learn more about the Wasteland you also learn that the world didn't turn out how some had expected. This world is now run by a group called the Authority and have complete and total power over the Wasteland and those in it. But the Authority isn't the only force trying to take control there is also a small but reluctant group called the Resistance that are willing to do anything in their power to stop the Authority and you are soon drafted into this group and hope to become the savior of humanity. Rages' story can take you from 10-20 hours to beat and it personally took be about 21 hours to beat. This is actually a somewhat lengthy storyline for a FPS.
Graphics: One thing that id Software is known for, is setting higher standards for what the current generation of consoles are capable of. Run on id Tech 5, Rage showcases a beautiful Wasteland. From lighting to the mega texture technology Rage does something special with its visuals and that is keeping your eyes dazzled by this truly remarkable world. Not only is the Wasteland great looking but NPCs and character/facial animations are top notch and allow you to really believe that these characters are actually people and are struggling to survive. But along with the good of the graphics there is also the bad. Some textures when up close can look murky and muddy and overall not to great. And if you move to fast in large areas or towns textures can also take 3-4 seconds to pop in. But aside from those small blemishes the game looks damn amazing.
Gameplay: Lets clear the air, Rage is a FPS with RPG elements and Vehicle Comabt not a full blown RPG, now..moving on. Rage runs at 60 frames per second meaning that the game is (censored)ing smooth. Rage allows you to build an amazing arsenal with things like Assault Rifles, Rocket Launcher, Crossbow and many more. You may think this sounds like a boring arsenal but with around 3-4 ammo types for each weapon you'll find yourself always thinking "Hmm..what should I kill him with?" Rage is full of enemies, from the acrobatic Mutants to the powerful Gearheads you will hardly see the same enemy with the same fighting style more than a handful of times. Rage also allows you to engineer things like Bandages which heal you instantly when in battle, to Sentry Bots and Sentry Turrets which can lend you a hand in battle, and I cant forget the Wingstick which is a boomerang type weapon and may be one of the most diverse and interesting weapons ever introduced into a FPS. Through out the story you will be sent on fetch and kill quests, now this may not sound too interesting and may not be to some people, but these quest styles are made up for the action that is built into them. Throughout these quests you can come along doors that are locked and can only be unlocked by engineering a lock grinder, You will also come across junk and other items that you can sell to vendors. Along with shooting and looting Rage offers a Vehicle Combat/Racing element with it as well, as you visit the two towns in the game you can compete in different styles of races these races allow you to win race certificates which you can spend to add weapons, tires, engines and plenty more to your buggy. The missions in Rage are scattered through the Wasteland and the only way to get to them is by driving, as you drive to these missions you may be attacked by other bandit buggies, you dont have to kill off these bandits but doing so allows you to earn money from NPCs that need you to clear the roads. Minigames in Rage are also available and can be very addicting I dont want to give too much detail on these minigames because I may spoil the truly fun experience they can be. I have no complaints when it comes to gameplay for Rage. The game is so fun and has so much to offer when it comes to gameplay that its hard to be disappointed.
Multiplayer: Rage offers a Multiplayer but isn't the type of multiplayer you would expect from a company like id Software. In fact the only competitive multiplayer is Vehicle Combat/Objective modes. Rage also offers a co-op multiplayer mode which is surprisingly fun with friends. In this mode you are given a certain time limit to beat whatever obstacle is thrown at you. These missions are based off events that had occurred in the Wasteland during the story but you were never a part of. I havent really spent too much time with Rages' Multiplayer because I really havent had the chance to, so below this section of the review I will post a link to a video that I feel explains the vehicle part of the multiplayer fairly well. I will also post a video of some co-op gameplay. I'm really sorry for the lack of knowledge I have of the multiplayer..but if this thread is somewhat popular I may update this section with a more thorough review of what I think of the multiplayer in Rage. And to add, the videos I post are not my videos and belong to someone else.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91vFO-LLrM4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8ve2uUvFfs
Opinion: As the videogame industry is becoming more and more popular thanks to games like CoD and Halo. Rage for me was a refreshing change and allowed me to see what a lot of companies arent doing now a days.. which is taking risk. id Software has always been ahead of the game and I feel that Rage is no different. In this review I didnt really touch on things like AI and weapon upgrades because I think things like that should be experienced for yourself when it comes to Rage. id has truly raised the bar with Rage and although its a great game it isnt perfect. I guess I should address some of its issues and of course the ending. My main issue with Rage was that it seemed we werent really given what Rage was made out to be and in my opinion that really ruined the experience for some people. But Rage is one of those games that you have to let yourself adapt to before you can truly realize that this game is something special. Now for the ending of Rage I would write a 2 page opinion on why people think its bad and what I think about it but come on who wants to really hear that. All i'm going to say is Rage is what you make of it and what you allow it to be if you go into Rage thinking its anything more than a FPS you are going to be disappointed and if you think its going to be a game with an amazing story you may be disappointed as well but look at who made the game people, id..they arent known for their amazing stories. They are known for amazing graphics and tight gameplay and thats what Rage offers. Now I play a lot of games and to be honest I really only buy games because its something that I enjoy and keeps me busy. With Rage it reminded me what games are really about and thats having fun. Now not a lot of games really show me what gaming is all about but Rage did that for me and because of that I cant keep myself from giving it a score that I feel it deserves.
Verdict: Story: 8
The plot in Rage is thin and hardly gets interesting until the middle of the game. But it kept me interested for 21 hours and kept me going til the end.
Graphics: 10
Yes there is pop in texture here in there but as a whole the game looks remarkable and I wish that id would license the engine because if they did you would see this generation consoles around for a little longer.
Gameplay: 10
Rage is made by id so its expected that the gameplay is what Rage is gonna be best at
Presentation: 9
Post apocalyptic settings arent exactly winning awards for most original but Rage makes this setting feel fresher than ever.
Overall: 9.5/10
