We’re a little late with our review admittedly. This is partly due to receiving the review copy a little late, but more to do with the fact that I just couldn’t get into the game. I was expecting a grittier Borderlands, but my first impressions were of a bog standard post-apocalyptic first person shooter with some driving. Having taken a break and returned to it, that opinion has mellowed a little… but it’s still a post-apocalyptic first person shooter with driving. Quite a bit of driving actually.
Developer: id Software
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
For fans of: Mad Max. And strangely, Firefly.
Reviewed on: Xbox 360
Also available on: PS3 and PC
If we had to give it a numerical score: 7.5 out of 10…
What I liked
- Looks good. Very good actually.
- Decent enemy variety.
- Item Construction.
- Wingsticks
- Mind-control bolts.
- Longer than most shooters.
Not so much
- But shorter than most RPG’s.
- Post-apocalyptic. Again.
- Character development lacks the depth I was expecting it to.
- No quick travel. ‘Cos driving back and forth can get a bit much.
- You have to remember to save or the last checkpoint might be a while back…
- Another silent hero.
Gameplay and features
As mentioned I was expecting more RPG and less old-school shooter, but while it is not Borderlands, it’s certainly not Quake either. It’s not really Fallout 3, but I’m certainly reminded of it when I see the setting. Heck, I’m reminded of Brink for that matter, but that’s because you appear from an ‘Ark’ which was the main focus of the two battling factions in Brink. So does that mean Rage is simply unoriginal or taking the best of everything and putting it through a blender?
Well, it’s maybe a little like an under seasoned and blitzed piece of Kobe beef. Wrong on so many levels but delicious anyway.
As you climb out of the comfort zone that is your Ark (and after an asteroid has done the unthinkable and hit Earth), you are rudely introduced to what appears to be a space wild west. A stranger essentially tells you “come with me if you want to live” and like an abandoned puppy you do as you’re told. You are warned of the mysterious ‘Authority’ (read shady government sorts) who will be looking for you (to do the sort of things your parents told you aliens do if you aren’t in bed before sunset) and that there are bandits who will give you a bloody smile rather than invite you in for a cup of tea. How – as a gamer – are you always getting yourself into trouble like this?
And so begins your quest to save humanity, yourself and the little creatures mutated and marginalised by mainstream society. Most of your quest is either on foot in first person or driving in third person. You get to navigate the Wastelands frequently in your car – which while generally satisfying to drive – gets annoying after you’ve been to the same place for the third time in around four hours. Sure, driving around and shooting do-no-gooders is fun, there are times I really wished for some kind of quick travel system. That was accentuated when I would become disorientated by getting myself stuck between a rock and a, well… rock. This didn’t happen often (as I learnt to avoid it) but it made me wish for a hyperspace-style cutscene.
The general mechanic of the game is that the NPCs you meet send you on a few missions until you have passed your best-before date and then move you on to the next survivor in trouble. This all generally pushes the story (which is not something likely to win any awards) along in a fairly linear way, but that can be broken up by taking on a few side-quests available on Job Boards and from a few less important NPCs. Once you’ve travelled to your location you will be faced with id’s strength. The. First. Person. Shooter.
And let’s be honest, there are times when you realise that id are the kings of the genre. The weapons are satisfying, the levels are a mixture of corridors and open spaces – even though they do start to feel overly familiar and repeated. It’s a little slower paced than the frantic shooters of the past and does try to encourage a level of stealth – which is emphasised by the crossbow and wingsticks (deadly boomerang). Each weapon can use a variety of ammo types and the crossbow again has a few tricks up its sleeve in that department which include an explosive bolt and a personal favourite – the mind control bolt. And it does exactly what it says… until you blow the poor sucker up.
The game ships with three modes in the box. The singleplayer campaign, 2 player co-op and 2 to 4 player multiplayer. The co-op does exactly what it says on the tin and allows you and a friend (or random) to play through ‘Wasteland Legends’ online or split-screen. The surprise in the package is the multiplayer. Considering id’s strength when it comes to online shooters, it will probably come as a complete shock that the multiplayer is actually a mode based around vehicular combat. In this day and age, it’s the most pleasant of surprises, but may also be the reason shooter fans look elsewhere for their fix.
Graphics and sound
The game does look very good. I’m hesitant to suggest it’s the best looking game on console, as I don’t believe it achieves that. It does require an installation on your HDD to ensure that it runs at its optimum, but even then it does suffer from some texture pop up. My other issue with the game is that the colour feels a little monochromatic at times. It might have been a conscience decision to give each clan and enemy type a theme and setting using a basic colour palette, but for me, it appeared to be an effort to hide some detail in a blur of similar colours. It’s still a good looking game and for me to say otherwise would be nitpicking. And I don’t pick nits… Often.
The sound is a little bit of a letdown. It fails to immerse one in the environments and the slightly bored screams of “he’s here” – repeatedly – by the enemy fails to be believable. Heck, yes, I’m here, but the gunfire was kind of a give-away wasn’t it? The dialogue is perfectly fine for a first person shooter, but if this was meant to be an epic story in true RPG fashion, it would’ve been considered a complete failure. In the end, I wanted to shoot things, not listen to an explanation of the importance of proving my usefulness to a slightly megalomaniacal mayor. The bang-bang sounds are awesome though.
Final thoughts
Rage is a game with investing time in. It clocks in much longer than the average shooter and does offer some ideas which will be awesome in id’s next game. I’d suggest buying it if you like a little variety with your shooting, but just don’t go in thinking you’re getting a grittier Borderlands.
Zombiegamer rating:
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