Video Game Review: Apocalyptic ‘Rage’ Goes For Straight Adrenalin

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CHICAGO – I’d love to be in a meeting when video game companies are trying to come up with the titles for their latest shooters. What’s something that strikes a chord in the guts of men who want to spend their free time shooting mutants or upgrading their rocket-powered vehicles? “Adrenalin”? “Power”? “Aaaarrrgggghhhh!”? Any of those titles would have worked for the high-powered “Rage,” a game that has its flaws but most of them fade away in the pulse-racing heat of the moment. Don’t believe the surprising number of naysayers. This title delivers.

HollywoodChicago.com Video Game Rating: 4.0/5.0
Video Game Rating: 4.0/5.0

I think what’s happened with the early reviews of “Rage” is an emphasis on the games that inspired this title, a number of works that stand on pedestals in the Video Game Hall of Fame. The commercials tout that this “Mad Max”-esque action game comes from the creators of “Doom” and “Quake” while the setting and story undeniably bring back echoes of the recent “Fallout” games and the award-winning “Borderlands”. Those are incredible standards to live up to and “Rage” doesn’t quite rise to it. But that doesn’t mean it falls flat on its face either. This is an incredibly enjoyable, visceral, adrenalin-pumping experience that shouldn’t be dismissed simply because it’s familiar to “Borderlands” fans or not as influential as “Doom.” That’s ridiculous.

Rage
Rage
Photo credit: Bethesda Softworks

With that out of the way, how does “Rage” stand on its own two dirty feet? The majority of the game’s players will jump right into the single-player campaign and be immediately impressed by the look of the game. Visually, “Rage” is striking and I simply don’t understand any complaints about the environments when it comes to graphics. The story takes place over a large expanse of a ravaged planet and it feels dense, like something unusual is happening just over the horizon or past that mountain in the distance. As for close-quarters, there’s a bit of repetition in the debris-strewn locations that you scavenge for most of the game and I longed for more variety in the enemies (but when hasn’t then been true in modern shooters of late) but I just as often marveled at the depth of the locations.

Rage
Rage
Photo credit: Bethesda Softworks

“Rage” is another one of those games in which it feels like “The Road Warrior” pretty accurately depicted what life will eventually be like. It turns out that we don’t have much time left as an asteroid is going to hit Earth in 2029. To save some of our best and brightest, an Ark program is developed that freezes and buries your character underground, only to be released when the planet has been recivilized enough for you. Well, that goes about as well as the journey between “Aliens” and “Alien 3” and you pop up from your sleep to discover that you’re the only survivor and the planet is filled with violent, insane mutants.

Luckily enough, you’re not alone. It’s not long before you make your way to a small settlement and it becomes clear that “Rage” is going to be a mission-based game, even if it’s not a traditional RPG. They may not call them quests and you may not have XP, but the fact is that your player speaks to someone, gets an assignment, and has to complete that assignment to move forward (and usually earn a little $$$ or a new item). There are minor missions found through talking to secondary characters, but it’s always clear what your main mission is and how to progress to the next one.

Sadly, most of the missions are of the kill-and-collect variety. “Go there, kill all the really scary creatures you find there, get what we need, and come back.” Now, as you’ve probably heard, the “go there” in “Rage” is unique in that the developers have grafted a racing game structure on to the title. There is no mere map teleportation in “Rage.” You have to cross the Wasteland and it’s a world filled with mutants who have had nothing better to do for the decades since the apocalypse than to get bigger and better weapons for their rides. So, as you’re trying to get to the location where the game becomes a shooter, it becomes a driving game in which you’ll have to outrace, boost, and use a variety of vehicle-based weapons. You can also race in your central hub of Wellspring to earn upgrades or just to prove your awesomeness (and, of course, online/multi-player racing is a major part of the game as well).

Rage
Rage
Photo credit: Bethesda Softworks

Here’s where things get tricky. The racing elements of “Rage” feel a bit like an afterthought. It’s as if they realized that the storytelling wasn’t exactly as tight as it should or could have been and so the developers rushed another element into the production. The weapons for the cars are inconsistent and so are the driving controls. I loved boosting across the landscape because it was a clever way to get me to my next shooter location but I was kind of annoyed when I had to stop and fire some rockets. Even more annoying is the fact that a number of your car-based enemies (and the turrets they’ve placed) regenerate, meaning you’ll be engaged every time you cross their territory (and “Rage” is one of those games where you cross most of the areas multiple times).

What about the weaponry? It’s pretty good although I never adjusted right to the switch mechanic that requires multiple buttons and control sticks to pick weapon and ammo type mid-fight. Still, once you get your favorites and you start upgrading them, “Rage” builds on the adrenalin that is its greatest asset. The team at id Software knows how to make aggressive shooters that keep the player engaged and “Rage” completely works on that level. You can’t complain about the shooter elements of the title. When you are quickly switching weapons, finding ammo, tossing grenades, and picking up rockets — it’s cheesy to say but it’s a truly explosive game. You will spill a LOT of mutant blood and guts. And, despite not living up to the unreasonable expectations of a few critics, you’ll have a lot of fun doing so.

As for multi-player, if you’re wondering if “Rage” will take up the time you have set aside from all of your personal relationships for “Battlefield 3” and “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” worry no more. The multi-player is built around co-op racing and co-op shooter sections, leaving fans who may just want to blow up their friends a bit wanting. In fact, the multi-player portion of the game is surprisingly thin, which has been some of the game’s early critics biggest complaints. Honestly, I didn’t mind. I was too busy jumping right back into the campaign. We’ve seen a number of shooter games recently that put the emphasis on their multi-player portions and lacked in the single-player. “Rage” would be the reverse. It’s a flawed title that I nonetheless heartily recommend. Don’t compare it, just enjoy it.

“Rage” was developed by id Software and released by Bethesda Softworks on October 4th, 2011. It was reviewed on Xbox 360 but is also available on PS3 and PC.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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