RAGE Review

I was supposed to make a video review of this game, but it doesn't love Vista very much. It probably have nothing to do with it, but I still blame it, just like everyone else XD

Now that this is out of the way, RAGE. Been some years since ID ever made something. And the game is 60 bucks at launch, which REALLY hurt my pockets. And why no demo available at all?.  Did I mention I cannot record anything? Oh, I did... Not to mention that most of the PC players experienced somewhat huge graphical problems. Some of these players (including me) couldn't even play for the first day or two. I have Minecraft, so I do not really mind, but I understand why some players would be enRAGEd over this.

I know, this was horrible.

Still, as an amateur critic, I have to make a honest review about the game's core. And I must say, once you get past this chaotic launch, the game is really good! Maybe not as good as I expected, but it was worth my buck. And hey, made me write some more on the blog. That's a plus!

So, you start your journey in the skin of a super soldier who slept for over 100 years. In space. Insert portal space joke here. Your rather brutal awakening becomes even more brutal the moment you set foot outside your pod (which crashed not too long ago) as enemies are already jumping you, trying to strangle your pretty throat. Fortunately you are saved by a dude who just happens to be there. He explains that the world is now a post-apocalyptic earth filled with bandits clans and wannabe Combines army named the Authority.

Not even 15 minutes into the game, I'm already heading towards my first mission. Terminate a clan of bandits before they terminate us. Aaaaand it's pretty much like this for the next 6 hours 85% of the time.  Fortunately for us (and for Id), the gameplay is really nice. Driving around is a joy, combat feels satisfying despite some restricted melee moves (sometimes you will see your fist going through someone's jaw, but it will not count) and the enemies actually feels like they want to kick your sorry butt. First things first, I started playing in Nightmare, the hardest difficulty. You know me, if it is available, I will take it. Well, I do NOT suggest it to new players. I actually got my ass kicked more than once (but no worries, I love pain very much). Enemies were always taking cover, they all were professional gunslingers and did tons of damage very easily. It was challenging, maybe even a bit cheap, but I never went to the point of punching my screen. The game knew how to give me this feeling of satisfaction whenever I did something awesome and it also forced me to be careful due to the fact that you can die and lose some of your progress. I have never seen that since.... since a long time. And I'm talking about shooters, leave Dungeons of Dredmor out of this. Nightmare was a bit too much, especially since I didn't know how everything worked, and after a couple of hours I switched to hard. This is the difficulty I suggest as everything was balanced very well. If you're new to shooters, normal is fo you.

Combat is straight forward at first. Cover, shoot, cover and you do that until everyone is dead. The first bandits area is super easy since it is the training area. It becomes exciting when they start to communicate and use tactical stuff. They will actually hide from you, cover their friends, throw grenades, tell the others to pull back if they're getting overpowered and so on. Some bandits clans are more organized than others, and it shows. This is a huge point for me. Primitive clans will fight you with clubs and knives, say harsh stuff and insult you whenever they can and they will not give a f*** for their clanmates. More organized clans with be fully equipped with guns, armor, grenades and even toy cars with bombs on them. The Enforcers (from the Authority) are super well trained, constantly trying to flank you, infantry hiding behind their shield-wielding friends. The first time you see them is quite satisfying. At some point you will die, more than one, but fortunately for you you have this internal defibrilator. Watch out, as it only works once and needs to recharge before being used again. So you can die, only not that much.

However, I still say that the story is bland. It isn't completely worthless and you never feel the need to slap your forehead due to exasperation, but it is very simple. But do not go thinking it is entirely boring. Some segments of the game actually gave me a serious blast. I actually had a lot of fun.

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!

For example, at some point you're asked to go to a factory and destroy it. And I do mean DESTROY it. At the end of it everything was falling down and crushing people, setting them on fire. Survivors were running away, panicking, shouting to everyone else to run away while they would *try* to hold you back. It was a very entertaining experience (due to a very special gimmick useable in this particular place. But that is something else) and I am glad to say that it wasn't the only moment worthy of my time. Also, FINALLY, there is a lot of different enemies. Maybe not at first, sure, but you will encounter bandits, mutants, Authority enforcers in super-armors, vehicles, creatures, mini-bosses AND bosses... it isn't the biggest list ever made, but it is diversified. Changing your strategy because of this or that dude is always a plus.

But, in my opinion, the progression is a bit stiff. The story progresses with main quests, or missions, leading you from point A to point B, asking you to do this task and coming back It feels like a mix of borderlands and Bioshock but with barely any explorable areas, So you could say it is a Doom 3.5, on earth, in a desert and without demons (you do not have a flashlight, not needed). There is no chacacter levels either, so do not expect another Fallout 3. There is secondary missions and filler stuff, but nothing felt substantial. No ruins to freely explore or secret areas that will reward you for your courage or cunning. Sometimes a quest will lead you to somewhere exciting like a ghost city or whatever but it will mostly contain one-path corridors that will lead you directly to your objectives. Because of this, the game feels on rails. Game progression is extremely fast paced, so fast that you may even forget about subquests, and even if you do bother about having some time for yourself your options are limited. Plus you are rewarded with money most of the time, so looking for secrets may be disappointing. Tired of the main quests? Then you either do minigames or you do fedex quests. Other times, you are asked to go back to *dungeons* you already cleared to fetch a specific item or recipe. Sad day is sad indeed. Random events (like towns getting attacked, or barrages made by bandits, or ANYTHING else really) could have been interesting and it is sad they weren't willing to develop some more. (To note, I didn't beat the game yet. I will come back on this page and specify if there is a turn of events somewhere)

There is racing events, which I loved enough for a short while. The obligatory racing quests were short enough to not be annoying but I never felt like I had to complete the rest (you have optional driving races)). The driving, once again, is a charm, and destroying stuff with your mounted weapons (or directly ramming your enemies, that works too) is uber satisfying. Missiles are a bit OP to my liking, but nothing's perfect. Easily forgivable. The bad point is that there is only two modes of racing: time trials and tacing against three other drivers. Oh sure, there is different sub-modes, for example in some races you can kill your enemies and in others you cannot, but still... a desdruction derby in an arena would have been perfect, especially for a game with this ambience. (To note, Racing is way more interesting in Multiplayer. My problem is that there is no reason to limit the single player campaign that much)

Anyway, the first hours of the game are there so that you can get new stuff. And it comes steadily, from weapons to vehicles to upgrades. It feels really regulated how you get something in each mission. NPCs never give you something to help you out, they give you their trash so you can help them instead. I wasn't bothered with this, it adds to the characters. They're greedy, it's in their nature. Why giving you this shotgun right now when they can give it as a reward instead! Even old grannies will ask you to go kill people, it helps them! You cannot grab new stuff on your own, every weapons dropped by enemies will vanish (you cannot grab it otherwise, I tried) but enemies will give bullets upon death. Crafting recipes are, well, quite basic. Make lockgrinders or bandages or grenades. You cannot invent new stuff. At least not in the first 8 hours. Doing favors for other people will quickly make you beg for something else. Except the Mutant TV show event. That was nice. Fortunately the story does catch up at some point. You will have a real goal (guess what: help the good guys defeat the bad guys) and there will be story twists. At least the game didn't hold me by my hand for 5 hours, I was very grateful for that. It let me die and learn, as it should be.

So, RAGE in short? Nice combat with lots of different enemies and different weapons with special ammo that will make you adapt to threats in multiple scenarios, nice driving mechanics and some good characters and details. The story is basic but there. Feelt like somebody doing a job he doesn't love doing but the minimals were achieved. And there is some good multiplayer moments like coop or more racing stuff with or against other players. No deathmatches though (and it makes no sense at all, especially from them). There is no demo available (which really begs to question why) so I suggest you go watch some gameplay videos before wasting your 60 bucks. But if you love the smell of napalm and blood in the morning, the roaring cries of your engines when you smash into things and the scream of your enemies crumbling under your assault, then you may be interested.


Thanks for the read and have a good day!