Rage – Review – Xbox 360

After being announced at QuakeCon in 2007 Rage has been a very anticipated game. Rage was developed by the guys at ID the creators of Doom and published by the fine folks at Bethesda. With all the positive publicity a lot of people have been looking forward to this game. The only thing most people have on their minds is how the game plays. Some have wondered if this game will be great or will it flop like Brink?

Story: With the future of humanity being threatened by an asteroid the size of Manhattan. All the governments around the world began collaborating to secure the future after it hits. They created the Arc project. The Arc Project places a few chosen people in small secure bunker like structures under the ground spread all over the world. The Arcs are each set with timers so that they release at the same time. Well some things don’t always go according to plan. The game follows an unnamed man from the past. Stored inside a hibernation device you awaken to a future unknown ruled by a high power called The Authority. As you emerge from the Arc you are placed into immediate peril. You come under attack from an unknown group of people and your only help comes from a man named Dan Hagar. You are quickly ushered away from the area and are told you are in danger. You are told the aforementioned power called The Authority pays handsomely for Arc survivors. The reason for Dan saving you becomes clear rather quickly. He needs you to help him with some things.

The story starts out great but soon starts deteriorating rather quickly. As you play information gets more and more muddled. You only learn small tidbits of information about the various factions spread throughout the wasteland. In the game, Clans control different areas of the wasteland. You encounter these Clans on various occasions but you never learn anything about them other than the occasional muddled conversations you have with people in the Towns. With each missions completion you rarely gain any insight into what’s going on in the wasteland. One thing you learn is that The Authority is after you but you never learn why and the reasons are rather unclear. As with all stories there must be an enemy, the Authority is that enemy. The authority apparently is an oppressing force but you never see them oppressing anyone. You know they are your enemy because you are told they are but you have hard time understanding why. You never learn to hate them and they never truly become the antagonist of the story. There are also various side missions to take part in and most are rather simple and only a few actually add anything story wise.  The only other problem with the story is the ending. As you start the final mission you get geared up for a huge final conflict and that conflict never happens. You aren’t quite sure you are at the end until the final cut scene rolls. The ending of the game leaves you with more questions than answers and you find yourself just a little disappointed. The best way I can describe the story is by using an analogy. The story in Rage is like watching Kill Bill 1 and 2 and never seeing the bride actually kill Bill or finding out why he shot her in the first place and why he wants her dead.

Gameplay:  The game is a first person shooter that is rather simplistic in a nice way. You can create items and ammo for various weapons in the game using blueprints and items found during the campaign or while exploring. Some of the items you can create can give you a slighted advantage against the enemy at times over the standard items you can buy. While playing you will find yourself favoring a few weapons over the others and you will focus on making ammunition for them. Some of the items you can create almost make the game too easy. You will find out what these are while playing as I do not want to give away the surprise. One of the other features I like it the regenerating health system if you take enough damage you can hide and wait for yourself to heal. If waiting is not your game you can create and purchase bandages to instantly heal yourself. If you die you are placed in a type of mini game. It’s called the defibrillator. Using your two control sticks you move the two icons over a highlighted area in the game and press both your triggers upon completing this timed game all you have to do is get your timing down and hit the right and left trigger to revive yourself. The nice thing about the defibrillator is that it kills any enemies close by so you don’t get pummeled as soon as you get up.

You will have the chance to do some exploring outside of the story in a large but not huge area. You can proceed on foot which will take you hours to explore the entire area or you can hop in suped up car that has boost and totes some nice firepower. You can upgrade your car to go faster, handle better, and even upgrade your weapons. To upgrade your vehicle you need race tickets. Race tickets can be won by racing or by killing bandits patrolling the wasteland. Racing is actually rather simple. Some races are time trials while other include some standard head to head racing or racing with weapons. When racing with weapons you will need to pick up ammo crates to refill your weapon. Once you finish a race you gain the tickets required to upgrade your cars. There are two areas you can explore one area is on disc 1 the other is on disc 2. You can actually move between areas by visiting a man you find in the story. Once you want to move to a different area you must change discs to continue playing. It is a rather nice way to keep the gameplay and story cohesive.

Graphics/Sound: The game looks amazing. I have to say it is one of the prettiest games on the Xbox 360. Pop-in is noticeable if you play off the disc but quickly disappears once you install the game. The game looks simply mesmerizing. The music, tones, and sound effects are presented gracefully. John Goodman makes a noticeable appearance in the game as one of the main characters named Dan Hagar. Rage’s presentation of its visual and musical aspects is great and you are left with the feeling that every game should be like this.

Multiplayer: Multiplayer is rather simplistic. The first option in multiplayer is a type of co-op. You go through different challenging levels with a friend or random person. You gain points through kills and earn multipliers by not getting hit. You start out with full ammo for four weapons and as you progress through the level you will find stations that give you a refill. As you play you will find hidden items throughout each level that will help make each mission easier. This includes grenades, weapons, wing sticks, and various other items.

Overall: The game really strives to get you involved with the story but as you play you find yourself being left out of the loop. Re-playability also comes into question. Once you get to the final mission you are only left with 2 options to continue playing. You can do various races to take up your time or participate in a pseudo TV show called Monster Bash TV. The only problem with doing these two things is that they upon completion they don’t change and quickly become boring after repeated completions. The game overall leaves a lot to be desired. You really feel like it started out great but the story seems to teeter off somewhere. The one thing I will say about the story is that it reminds me of Fallout 3. I know this is one game I really wanted to see really hit its stride but it misses that mark.

Score: 6.5 out of 10

A copy of the game was provided to the reviewer from the publisher for reviewing purposes.

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