Copied from http://n4g.com/blogs/details/517443 at N4G
ID Software, the giant behind masterpieces such as Doom and Quake, are releasing their newest IP, RAGE, on September 13th on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. But will the game live up to today's standards after the company (ID) has been tucked away since Doom 3?

After watching almost every trailer/gameplay video on RAGE, the game is sure to impress, though there are some arising questions that leave me kinda worried about the game, which is what this blog is about (my 1st blog btw) Please note that some questions may be answered at E3 or in other RAGE footage, for now, its questions only about what we've seen so far.

So lets start with weapons:
ID has said their will be customization of weapons implemented into the game, however I have failed to see any "different" or customized weapons in the trailers. I hope they didn't mean customize by having just different ammo types or I'll be disappointed. Another thing I noticed is the lack of weapons, so far they have only shown 8 weapons (excluding grenades but including the blade thing) And from a game that is supposedly including some RPG elements, I'm hoping they have a lot more in store for us! The least they can do is have variations of those weapons like what Fallout did. I mean these are the guys that made the FPS genre, so plenty of weapons has to be a given, right? I sure hope so...

Enemies:
Is it me or do the enemies go down too quick? Especially the mutants. I hope they come in numbers then since I want each mission to last as long as possible but the way they plow through the enemies in the trailers has me "sorta" worried. Looks fun as hell though They seem to have a good variety of enemies too which is a plus, however is their any enemy that is NOT human like? Like did every animal just die off or something lol. I'm not asking for giant mole rats here but I mean it would be cool to face some kind of animal like creature, perhaps a giant tiger/lion that got infected/irradiated in a nearby zoo or something eh?

Open world-yness:
ID said the post-apocalyptic setting will be semi-open world, but how much can we really explore? Nothing says re-playability more than an open world, free roam environment, but to what I've seen so far from RAGE, you can only free roam in a set location. Dead City for example, only some parts will be explorable inside that set location, so "you can forget getting into that skyscraqer and sniping innocent little mutants" is the kinda vibe I'm feeling from ID. Just wish they would expand that "set location" a little further.

Story:
Will the story be compelling and memorable or will it be a given task to do something for each mission like in Dead Space 2? For a heavy focused singleplayer I sure hope it isn't the ladder!

Well anyways, that is my two cents on what ID needs to have in the game to get it from being a great game, to a masterpiece! Do you think ID software will deliver, or is it too much to ask? Do you have any concerns on things that need to be polished/included?

[img]http://www.gamepodunk.com/uploads/b2a5a32258b07bfcc90f13ca81780e29.jpg[/img]

You know, I really can't say. Your points are largely conceptual in nature, these are directions that they would have had to decide to take in the early phases of the game's life. Call me crazy but this game gives me the same vibe as mafia 2, I know that might be a strange comparison but if you've played it you might see what I am getting at. I feel like rage will have a great story with memorable characters because that certainly seems to be one of their major focuses thus far; mafia II was like that, very strong story campaign that just happened to take place in an open world. The world was pretty much just eye-candy, where as borderlands is a game that has an open world that just happens to have story missions to it.

So to get to my point, open world-yness...don't hold your breath looking for borderlands, weapons..i think the limit is ammuntion types, with the enemies they seemed to take a page from left for dead in that they utilize the swarm behavior, but yeah, the story should be fun...for as long as it lasts.

if you do not know id software should know that they are the most mysterious of all study, showing that very little and very little is known of their games before they leave and RAGE can change that tradition and we see that we bring more variety rage!

ah good points, I've only gotten interested in RAGE this year so I guess I missed that train ride But that's why I'm HOPING they surprise us, and if they do have some of the features that I explained then RAGE will be a masterpiece (in my eyes) I've never played borderlands, I just want more than 1 path to take to get to whatever objective/area, for scale, think of roaming your neighborhood, lots of paths but 1 exit to a main road, nothing like Fallout though. And I sure hope they don't limit weapons to just ammo, that would take a huge toll on my experience, especially since I'm an FPS junkie at least 15 different weapons would suffice. Crossing fingers for an amazing story!

They have shown weapon customizations you know, they should the automatic revolver with "scope".

There is no point adding tons of weapons if all of them play the same. I'd rather have like 10 weapons and have them play differently, being useful in different situations than have 30 machineguns which all play the same with 2 shotguns, a sniper and some grenade launcher added in for "variety" (like so many shooters these days).

The weapon customizations, beside the different ammo types, means that you can upgrage your weapons with ammo clip extenders, aim stabilizers and stuff like that. You can build that stuff from the components and schematics you find.


As for enemies, I don't think there is any problem with having weak enemies in hordes, as long as there are other types too. Like you said Rage seems to have a good variety of enemies, we have already seen giant mutants in the trailers which wont be taken out with one shot for sure. And even among the weak ones, playing againts the mutants charging towards you, trying to hit you with a melee weapon will be very different than playing against bandits trying to shoot you. Enemy variety is key in an FPS, and hopefully Rage will have that.


We will only know about the story when the game is out I guess, but we do know it is written by Matt Costello, who wrote for 7th Guest, Doom 3 and Just Cause among other games.

most of this is"to be seen" they dont want to give everything away i dont think. as far as enemies, they have talked about the authority being a much harder enemy. I believe most of what has been shown so far is farily early on, asie from bits of the dead city wixh had the normal mutie grunts as well as a biggerminiboss type and the the ginat hulking mutie. Hopefuully this is a good reflection of enemy diversity.

I don't want 30 machine guns lol but two of each type (with the 2nd being stronger and found later in the game) is not asking too much now is it? If not then I hope the customization makes up for it.

Yes, that's the topics main word "Hoping" lol but yah they have a good mix of enemies, with different bandit types too (Like the shrouded or ghost) Though I think it will be cool to throw in an animal like creature like a said, something that's not bipedal

You're right King, I forgot about the automatic revolver in the one video.

Regarding the horde behavior that is really what defined left for dead and made for some of the most intense moments I have had in a shooter. So I'm actually pretty interested in seeing how they work it in the game. The mentioned in the one video I've seen that the different enemies will have different behaviors, the one in particular they were showing was a acrobatic/bonzai charge style, but they made reference to another that will make full use of cover and make you work for each and every kill. That being said, if nothing else I hope Rage will be refreshing, much like bioshock or halo was when they first came out.

well all we can do is hope, but i am fairly certain the enemies will get harder as the game progresses. definate that different enemy groups will be unique, requiring different tactics... tied in with that there will be new upgrades or ammo types for each new area to be implemented for those different enemies.

i wish theyd give us another trailer already