Rage: Great Gameplay but Lack of Substance
After years of waiting, I finally got my hands on Rage. I have to say that Rage is a great game, very fluid and precise. What it lacks in the story and the open world it makes up for in it's gameplay. The graphics are beautiful and streamlined. The audio and ambiance are fantastic as well.
Gameplay:
Rage's gameplay is spot on. The controls are wonderful and extremely precise, one of the best FPS's I have played to date. The selection of weapons is nice, and each of the weapons is designed well and proves useful. The wingstick is by far the best weapon of the game and the most satisfying to use. There is nothing like decapitating an enemy or sticking a wingstick the the side of a mutants head of neck. I honestly would've liked to see a few more weapons in the game, but the ones given are great.
The A.I. is impressive, as well as the animations that go along with it. It is very satisfying to see smart A.I. running around and dodging you bullets, even taking shots in the legs, arms, and body and still keep coming at you. The mutants can be absolutely terrifying to battle. The variety of enemies is great. Mutants, bandits, and authority all have their strengths and weaknesses and prove fun to find ways to kill them. Some of the battles can prove vicious and even put me in a state of shock where I start running for the nearest cover firing shots randomly around the room. These can be extremely fun!
The racing is very generic. You'll get a few hours of fun racing, and after that it gets a little old. The controls are great, no problems that I have noticed. There isn't much variety to the buggies either, and in the end they just come down to taking you back and forth through the wasteland.
Story:
I was disappointed in Rage's story. I was expecting something along the lines of Fallout or even Assassin's Creed, but it didn't. The story was scattered all over the place and very hard to follow. Even the ending proved disappointing, but I won't spoil that for you.
I was also expecting a more open world, similar to Oblivion. Rage did not come close to this. Don't get me wrong, the wasteland is beautiful and fun to traverse. But other than the main quest and the few side missions, there really isn't much to explore.
Multiplayer:
The multiplayer works. You'll get some fun from it. The co-op missions are great, but go by fast. The racing could be better. I was expecting a deathmatch type multiplayer from iD software. The gun play certainly fits the bill, as fantastic as it is. The multiplayer experience is average at best.
Overall:
Rage is a great game and a great experience. The gameplay is definitely what I expected out of iD Software. The streamlined combat and gunplay are wonderful, as expected. I wish the story was a little more solid and the wasteland was bigger. But I will take what I can get. It is worth a playthrough for the gameplay alone. I highly recommend this game.
*This review was written a week or so after its release*
