- Nov 16, 2006
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Just completed my playthrough of the maligned 2011 post-apocalyptic "open world" id software shooter RAGE.
Ultimately, I'd give the game a solid "yeah it's OK" followed by a "just a little bit more and it could have been a masterpiece".
RAGE came out during the early 2010's post apocalyptic frenzy that involved Fallout and Borderlands, which likely did not help its reputation as a sort of "me too" shooter with a similar aesthetic but seemingly without the same depth or replayability of others in the genre.
I went into the game knowing a few things: a lot of people complained about the driving element which was supposed to make this game stand out, a lot of people complained there was a bait and switch on the open world elements, and a lot of people complained that the game basically comes to a screeching halt and ends at what feels like 2/3 of the way through the story. I can confirm all of these things are true, but the game does do some things very right.
The game is really a very solid shooter: the gunplay mechanics are fun, there are very few "hit scan" enemies so the game really rewards an aggressive & mobile playstyle as opposed to the standard cover shooter, and while crafting is certainly not central to success in the game it does provide a fun way to spice up your playstyle.
RAGE also really nails the atmosphere element in a big way. The game is absolutely stunning visually, it was a solid 5 years ahead of other games released at the same time with regard to visuals (yes there are some blurry textures, but the overall scene is incredible, and any texture streaming performance issues did not exist on my machine). Beyond just graphics and art direction, the game's enemy animations are incredibly well done (watching mutants navigate the environment is creepy as heck) and the sound design is wonderful, with rich ambient sounds and time taken to give human enemies "radio chatter" that actually provides valuable information on the remaining enemies left to engage, etc.
In terms of what went wrong: the driving element is perfectly serviceable, even on a KB+M, and your vehicles have a number of upgrades you can purchase for them (not much depth here, but its something) however driving around the "overworld" to missions gets pretty dull after a while. There are races to take part in when in a friendly town, but the races are either staggeringly easy (this isn't a racing game so the other cars drive "fair" without any rubber banding, I ended up almost lapping other racers in this mode) and other races that involve a sort of capture the flag mode in an open arena can be frustratingly difficult since the AI does cheat and is aware of where the next flag is going to be placed. Luckily, only a couple very easy racing missions are required to progress the story, the rest are purely optional.
The game cannot accurately be descibed as an open world. You get a mission, you drive to the mission, you blast your way through a very pretty corridor shooter style map with some boxy rooms, then you exit this maze near the entrace of the level and go back. Most mission areas are used twice: once as a story mission and once more as a side mission, but unfortunately nothing really changes on the second run through the level and there is no attempt to use newfound abilities to open new paths or channel the player through a novel experience. The game could have really been something special if it was more willing to commit to its "metroidvania" elements instead of taking the "lazy" way out. One major story mission actually has you doing a prior story mission exactly in reverse (start where you ended the first mission and work through the whole thing backwards with a different set of enemies).
Lastly, the ending. Yeah, it was *really* abrupt. No final boss fight, no tension leading up to an obvious ending, nothing. Even the final cutscene was a straight up 30 second cinematic with no voiceover or anything. The final battle is a very easy wave defense thing and then the game just... stops. It really does feel like id either ran straight into a drop dead-line or they flat out got bored of making their own game and just decided to push it.
Ultimately, I spent about 16 hours going through the game at a reasonable not-rushed-but-I-do-want-this-to-be-over pace, and I had fun along the way. The game is definitely worth playing for $5 and unlike some other "OK" games I've played, this one does some things spectacularly well and other things are very "meh" as opposed to just being a "meh" experience all the way through, and that is worth something.
Ultimately, I'd give the game a solid "yeah it's OK" followed by a "just a little bit more and it could have been a masterpiece".
RAGE came out during the early 2010's post apocalyptic frenzy that involved Fallout and Borderlands, which likely did not help its reputation as a sort of "me too" shooter with a similar aesthetic but seemingly without the same depth or replayability of others in the genre.
I went into the game knowing a few things: a lot of people complained about the driving element which was supposed to make this game stand out, a lot of people complained there was a bait and switch on the open world elements, and a lot of people complained that the game basically comes to a screeching halt and ends at what feels like 2/3 of the way through the story. I can confirm all of these things are true, but the game does do some things very right.
The game is really a very solid shooter: the gunplay mechanics are fun, there are very few "hit scan" enemies so the game really rewards an aggressive & mobile playstyle as opposed to the standard cover shooter, and while crafting is certainly not central to success in the game it does provide a fun way to spice up your playstyle.
RAGE also really nails the atmosphere element in a big way. The game is absolutely stunning visually, it was a solid 5 years ahead of other games released at the same time with regard to visuals (yes there are some blurry textures, but the overall scene is incredible, and any texture streaming performance issues did not exist on my machine). Beyond just graphics and art direction, the game's enemy animations are incredibly well done (watching mutants navigate the environment is creepy as heck) and the sound design is wonderful, with rich ambient sounds and time taken to give human enemies "radio chatter" that actually provides valuable information on the remaining enemies left to engage, etc.
In terms of what went wrong: the driving element is perfectly serviceable, even on a KB+M, and your vehicles have a number of upgrades you can purchase for them (not much depth here, but its something) however driving around the "overworld" to missions gets pretty dull after a while. There are races to take part in when in a friendly town, but the races are either staggeringly easy (this isn't a racing game so the other cars drive "fair" without any rubber banding, I ended up almost lapping other racers in this mode) and other races that involve a sort of capture the flag mode in an open arena can be frustratingly difficult since the AI does cheat and is aware of where the next flag is going to be placed. Luckily, only a couple very easy racing missions are required to progress the story, the rest are purely optional.
The game cannot accurately be descibed as an open world. You get a mission, you drive to the mission, you blast your way through a very pretty corridor shooter style map with some boxy rooms, then you exit this maze near the entrace of the level and go back. Most mission areas are used twice: once as a story mission and once more as a side mission, but unfortunately nothing really changes on the second run through the level and there is no attempt to use newfound abilities to open new paths or channel the player through a novel experience. The game could have really been something special if it was more willing to commit to its "metroidvania" elements instead of taking the "lazy" way out. One major story mission actually has you doing a prior story mission exactly in reverse (start where you ended the first mission and work through the whole thing backwards with a different set of enemies).
Lastly, the ending. Yeah, it was *really* abrupt. No final boss fight, no tension leading up to an obvious ending, nothing. Even the final cutscene was a straight up 30 second cinematic with no voiceover or anything. The final battle is a very easy wave defense thing and then the game just... stops. It really does feel like id either ran straight into a drop dead-line or they flat out got bored of making their own game and just decided to push it.
Ultimately, I spent about 16 hours going through the game at a reasonable not-rushed-but-I-do-want-this-to-be-over pace, and I had fun along the way. The game is definitely worth playing for $5 and unlike some other "OK" games I've played, this one does some things spectacularly well and other things are very "meh" as opposed to just being a "meh" experience all the way through, and that is worth something.