For the longest time, Id Software has produced some of the finest and most iconic games to date. From the humble Commander Keen & Wolfenstein 3d, to the classic Doom, and to the game-changing Quake, Id has created some of the most memorable franchises. Even those who’ve never touched one of their games can attest to their longevity, simply through their reputation. So, it comes with some surprise as to their recent outing, RAGE, that things have taken a turn for the worst on PC. How, you may ask? Well, read below to see why.
Story
We start off the story in the year 2029, when humanity is preparing for the impact of 99942 Apophis, a real-life asteroid. As the populations of the world gather in Arks (bunker-like building that house people), Apophis hits the Earth, causing massive amount of damage. Luckily, the Arks are protecting from the asteroid’s impact, as they burrowed underground to avoid getting affected. From here, things look bleak.
Flash forward to the year 2135. You emerge from your Ark, which has just recently surfaced, only to discovered a blasted wasteland. As you move around a little, you get attacked by one of the new natives, who doesn’t seem to like you much. Luckily, one of the less savage individuals comes to your rescue, and takes you back to his place. From there, you begin to gain knowledge of this new Earth, and all of the things that have gone wrong with it.
As you progress through RAGE, you eventually discover the main villains, the Authority. As one of the main characters explains, the plans for the Authority’s rise to power began just before Apophis landed. One of the generals in charge of the Ark Project had sabotaged everything, ensuring that only Arks with individuals loyal to him would rise, leaving Arks with disloyal people underground for all time. The player’s attack against the Authority heightens, leading up to a showdown at their headquarters. The end result is that the remaining Arks emerge from the ground, and the revolution begins.
The story of RAGE is rather interesting. A little bit of Mad Max, sprinkled with some political intrigue and science fiction, and you get something quite unique. Problem is, the story itself is not all that fleshed out. In fact, you’re only given shreds of it as you go through the game. Even worse, the game ends on a cliffhanger, so you’re confused as to what will happen next. Usually a cliffhanger can be a good thing, but with the one used here, it just feels like a lazy way to end the game.
Setting
I don’t have any problems with RAGE’s setting, save for the fact that I’ve seen it before in Borderlands. Unlike that game however, RAGE tends to be a bit more on the realistic side of things. Many of the ruins within the wasteland look quite believable, and even some of the more fantastic locales have a hint of realism to them. Over all, Id Software captured a lot of ambiance when they created the world of RAGE, save getting up close a majority of the surfaces, but that’s for later.
Characters
This is another area in which RAGE fails, regardless of the system. It wouldn’t be fair to say that the characters within the game have no...character. It would be fair, however, to say that they only have moments of character. Once you’re done with one of the main characters, there’s nothing else to gain from them. This is all compounded by the fact that a few of the main characters go missing when the Authority get more involved. In addition to the primaries, there’s also a lot of secondary characters, but they really aren’t given the time of day, as many of they can be a little entertaining.
Even worse, your character doesn’t speak or have any personality at all, ala Gordon Freeman. You’re supposed to be this important individual from the past, yet you aren’t given a voice, and you’re about as bland as cardboard soup.
Gameplay
Here’s where RAGE both succeeds and fails. First and foremost, this game is a first person shooter: there’s no gimmicks (apart from having a ungradable, interactive revive that requires charging after usage), there’s no tricks, and your arsenal is unique and varied (certain weapons can be upgradable, giving you more of an edge on the battlefield). The enemies that you face are also varied, with hideous mutants that attack with a blind fury, to the numerous bandit clans with their own styles of combat, to the Authority and their military tactics. The main AI might not always work perfectly, but it does give the various opponents some flavor.
Despite RAGE being a FPS, it does have some RPG elements to it. You have an inventory that can store a variety of items that you either buy or take from bodies, there’s various ammo types for many of the guns, the ability to customize your car & it’s color, and you have the option to create some items as well. There also optional side mission, as well as some minor exploratory features. Despite being secondary is some sense, the RPG elements to add some play variety to the game, and they can actually be quite entertaining.
Another big component of RAGE is the driving. As you get into the game, you’re given a vehicle to use as your primary form of transportation around the wasteland. At first it can’t do much, but you can later upgrade it with guns, armor, and a variety of parts that alter steering, traction, etc. The driving for the most part is fun, but things can be a little stiff, even when upgrades are used. The racing aspect of the game, however, I don’t like. I never really got into it, and even when I did a few races, it appeal disappeared quickly because the style of said races often repeated.
Graphics & Sound
Yet two more aspects that both succeed and fail within RAGE. As I said in the setting section of this review, things look really good...until the player gets up close to a surface. Despite the advanced graphics, many of the surfaces look quite dated, as if they were ported from previous engines. Although I somewhat understand why due to how the engine works, that doesn’t give them an excuse to be a little sloppy. To complicate things a little further, many of the sprites with often clip when they die, but only when multiple bodies topple on each other after they die. Luckily, the sprites that populate RAGE look, whether friend or foe, look very good.
The audio, on the other hand, doesn’t fail in the slightest. Everything sound exactly as it should: explosions sound like explosions, bodies getting run over sound like bodies getting run over, etc. Although minimal, the music in RAGE fits with the scenes that they play in, just like in Doom 3.
Overall & Rating
Due to some very poor choices, Id has shot themselves in the foot with the PC edition of RAGE. When news of the game first came out, John Carmack said that the game was going to be made for the Xbox 360. I can appreciate the honesty, but I can’t ignore the fact that when they ported the game to the PC, they half-assed it a little when it came to the graphic department. Not long after the game came out, there were a small number of patches (2 or 3, I think) just for fixing the graphics. Because of this, and perhaps a few more things, they ruined their reputation among PC users, who once considered them the gaming gods of their domain. Now, very few come out to show their love for Id, and that’s a shame. With all that’s been said, RAGE gets a 5 to 7 out of 10.
See you all next week, when I’ll be covering a classic 70s comedy. Until then, stay Otaku!
* If you are interested in 99942 Apophis, then please look at the link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis
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