RAGE Review: A Beautiful Shooter With Road Rage!

RAGE Review

PUBLISHER: Bethesda Softworks
DEVELOPER: id Software
RELEASE DATE: 2011
PLATFORM: Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3
GENRE: First-Person Shooter

RAGE starts you off with a capturing opening presentation that gets you interested instantly in the happenings of the game.

Without giving much detail into the storyline, you will begin in the Wastelands where you meet up with a local who takes you in and gives you random jobs to do. That is what the game is like, almost everyone seems to have a job for you to do. You take these jobs and earn money from them, get gear and advance in the game by completing them.
The game captures you instantly as well as the jobs aren’t completely boring or the same old thing that we’ve gotten use to over the years from this type of game. Well, they aren’t the most interesting jobs at all and some we have seen before. However, going forward with completing them is a lot of fun thanks to the great handling of the gameplay.

You will have 4 difficulty levels to choose from and I started with regular. It wasn’t the hardest but you still have to make sure to play it safe and take cover. The bad guys can put some good damage on you. I am sure you will also have a moment towards the beginning where things feel easy and then you take on this next job and all of a sudden it won’t seem so easy anymore. You will get a good challenge in this game, especially when playing on the harder difficulties. Also, there will come a time where you seemingly graduate into a new atmosphere and things will get much more difficult at that point. I love the different types of enemies in this title which progress very nicely with who you deal with at first and then who you deal with later on.

In the first town I got down to business; learning the surroundings, taking job after job and getting a good feel for the game. Once I got to the second town I got very distracted by all the side attractions and things for you to do. There are mini-games for you to play and gamble in which are surprisingly very addicting. Plus, it’s not totally easy but you do earn good money when you do win. Also, the races that they have are super addicting. You race with your dune buggies against other opponents in standard races as well as mini-gun and rocket races. You also have other types of races to play in as well as simple time trial races. They are super addicting to play in and a lot of fun. So much so that I got distracted by them for hours. Heck, even being a mail delivery guy was a ton of fun, with racing around the wastelands delivering packages.

The gameplay handles so well and smoothly that it really has a wonderful feeling for a shooter. That is where this game really wins and thank goodness as that is the core of the gameplay. If you play shooters regularly it won’t take you long to get a good feeling for the game. You’ll like the weapons that you get and you’ll be able to purchase much of everything that you need within the shops. The guns feel really good as well which I absolutely like. You won’t have many moments of where you need to unload on a guy to kill him. Even with the weapon you start with, it won’t take many bullets to put the bandits down. Especially if you are a good shot. You will still have moments though, but you can get a good feeling from the weapons that you are using. Later on in the game however it becomes a different story and you will be needing to put a few more extra bullets into the enemy to put them down. The game progresses very well though and really leads you up to a whole new level which makes it wonderful.

To talk more about the driving aspect of the game since it felt like I spent more time driving and racing than actually being on foot shooting things. You will start out driving a 4 wheeler around before you eventually get yourself a buggy to run around in from location to location. I didn’t particularly like or get a good smooth feel for handling the 4 wheeler, but once I got the buggy I did like that a lot better. It’s still not the most realistic driving, but you’ll get use to it and will probably enjoy it. Also, while driving around from location to location you will run into raiding parties with their own vehicles and guns to shoot at you. So you will be doing a lot of battling from your buggy as well. You will be able to purchase guns, rockets, shields, as well as other accessories for your vehicle. So, those weapons and abilities will not just be limited to the specific type of races, but will be found in the actual game as well when you stumble upon those bandits.

The menus are easy to navigate and the game does a good job of explaining what it is you need to know. There is also a map when traveling out in the wastelands so you know where it is that you need to go. It does not point the way to the objective when you are running through a lair, so you will still have to find your own way when doing the job. Also, in the menu’s it keeps track of a good amount of stats, which you may find as important or more interesting. It shows you just how many miles you actually have driven! Because you drive and drive a lot. But you have different vehicles to use and a good amount of upgrades for each vehicle. To upgrade a vehicle you have to participate in races in town to earn credits to use on upgrades.

Visually the game looks beautiful and has a great opening scene for you to see as well. I absolutely loved the look of the large clouds at the beginning of the game. It really started things off nicely with the in-game visuals. The explosions look good as well and all the effects are very nice. The characters and their animations are also great looking as this certainly is a fantastic looking title. It also has a good soundtrack to go along with the game that really sets the mood. It really is great and creates a great atmosphere in certain areas for what it is that’s going on around you.

RAGE is a fantastic game with great core gameplay in it’s action that feels very nice. At first I got a Boarderlands type of feeling from this title, but I find it to be much better. You have so many jobs to accept in the game. With so many random things to do throughout the game it makes for great and interesting game play. Once again it’s the gameplay that makes it worth doing them and getting the experience. The characters you meet in the game are fairly interesting as well and mostly very nice to you. Not many jerks around it seems for the type of world that is going on around you. It has some interesting and fun mini-games to gamble your money in that I enjoyed, including a card games, during which you will collect cards along the way. There is also an interesting “obstacle” type of course that you will find yourself competing in when you choose.

This is certainly a game that must be played one way or another as it is a lot of fun for many many reasons, with so much to do that it will entertain you for a good amount of time. This is especially true with the addition of online multiplayer modes for you to play in as well which includes road rage matches and co-op missions.

Score: 4/5

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