Rage Review

It’s been a while since id Software announce the Rage title two years ago and even longer since the developers brought out a fun title. Their long hiatus is over and it is time so see if Rage stands up there with the famous Doom and Quake series.

As a sadly asteroid head toward Earth, an ark survivor (that’s you) is placed into a hibernation chamber with other survivor, waiting for the day you will wake up and continue human civilization.

But it is never that simple in a video game title, it is? As you awake from your chamber, you discover you’re the only survivor in you group after decades of sleep. If that isn’t a bummer, your first vision of Earth is revealed to be a desert swallowing post apocalyptic nightmare. Your brave first steps into this dead world are interrupted by immediate bandits ready to end your life immediately. Luckily a wasteland inhabitant rescues you, takes you back to his home, hands you a gun, and gives you a mission to kills some evil bandits. That is always a hallmark moment is any video game.

The game has a Borderlands/Fallout feel when you play. You head talk to people who give you missions and in return you will get: money, guns, recipes for ammo/devices, or more missions. There is a little more feel to this aspect since there is voice dialogue from NPCs involved with the mission briefing. It gives you an idea of why you are doing this mission instead of just simply accepting quests.

The characters throughout the world provide a mixed sense of the world when talking to them. Despite how this is a setting where civilization has taken a huge step back, everyone welcomes you with a warm smile and personality. It is hard to accept the fact that you need to destroy a tribe of bandit to ensure a towns survival when the guy handing you the mission has a personality that is livelier than a cast member on a Disney show.

Now a good adventure game needs an acceptable combat engine to keep the player engaged and that is where Rage delivers. Whether you wield a shotgun through a bandit fight or take on Authority troopers with the BFG for the first time, you have the feel that you are playing a fantastic newly update version of Doom or Quake. The combat is as intense and action packed as its predecessors.

A new addition to the combat is the use of different ammunition throughout the game. Weapons have different 2-3 different types of ammo that posses different affects. Switching ammo during a gunfight adds a whole new tactic to the battle.

There are of course some fun toys to add to your weaponry such as auto-turrets (deploy and let them have their own fun), bomb equipped RCs, and dynamite attached to a balloon. The new and uniquely enticing weapon is the wing-stick. A CPU operated boomerang style weapon that adds an interesting take to combat. Used in a certain way, the wing stick can home in and instantly attack multiple enemies in one throw. Buying a bunch of these wing-sticks can help you go Crocodile Dundee in this post – apocalyptic world.

While the combat and clever weaponry keeps you interested, the travel method in Rage tears that interest down. The only real way to travel around the world is with through vehicles like dune buggies and ATVs. This would be a nice addition to the game except the control scheme doesn’t work in the player’s favor. All vehicles can stop on a dime, but adjusting your vehicle afterwards can be frustrating. The lack if drifting can be obnoxious during mini races or traveling the world. I can’t tell you how many times I was in the lead of a car race only to lose the match because of the poor vehicle controls and a single u-shaped turn.

As for the multiplayer function in Rage, online play is based solely on vehicle matches (I.e. Races, car death matches, drive to collect particular items, etc.) Since the same vehicle glitches from the single player exist in multiplayer, it can be a blessing and a curse. A blessing because everyone else is struggling with the controls and you have an equal to greater chance of winning a match (I won seven in a row). It is also a curse because the controls may steer you away from online play. There is a level up system similar to Call of Duty (minus killstreaks), but you may not want to go that far if you can’t stand the game play.

So does Rage fit the bill for gamer fans out there? Not a simple question to answer. The combat will keep you interested, but the vehicle combat and online play hurts the game’s interest.

As a die hard fan of Quake and Doom, I have to say yes to this game. The best advice I can give to those Doom/Quake fans is to wait for a sale on this game because seventy dollars isn’t worth it.

If you a part of the generation that hasn’t heard of Doom or Quake, I’d say wait for the game to drop down to a cheap price and give it a try.

I give Rage thumbs up for our ProvenGamer fans.