Rage
At the outset, “Rage” was a game I didn't want to like. I am an unashamed PC elitist who will always prefer the desktop environment. Unfortunately due to growing software piracy, PC gamers have lost clout within the industry. Former PC developers have been switching their lead platform to consoles for years now, giving PC gamers a thrown-together port a month or two after the console release if anything at all.
“Rage” was created by what is probably the most important development team in PC gaming history, id Software. The three-man team of John Carmack, Tom Hall, and John Romero, gave birth to the first-person shooter in 1992 when their tiny upstart released “Wolfenstein 3D.” The team gained strong community support thanks to their liberal policies of releasing substantial free demos, providing level creators, and releasing the source codes of older games for free. Over the past 20 years id has remained dedicated to that core group of nerds that helped get them to where they are. Releases like the blindingly fast-paced “Quake 3 Arena,” which without question remains the best death-match game of all time, catered to both hardcore players and software tinkerers. It has been over seven years since the release of id’s last original title, “Doom 3,” and in that time period the industry has taken a hard swing toward consoles.
I launched the game still holding the belief that id Software was one of the PC’s remaining champions, but the truth smacked me in the mouth when I opened the video option menu and was presented with a single graphical performance option, anti-aliasing. This struck me as more insulting than just excluding graphical performance tweaks altogether as the measly little anti-alias selector rotated between its four options. Not even an option to enable V-sync was present, an oversight I immediately realized was a big problem for my system as screen tearing was a major issue.
I began my campaign through the asteroid-devastated wasteland on a mission to find as many flaws in the game as possible, the tinge of betrayal still fresh. This proved quite easy as the opening hour or so is an absolute bore. Most of the player’s introduction to “Rage” is a linear series of corridor shooting sequences where a weak feeling pistol is the primary weapon. However, when the game finally begins to open up and your arsenal of firearms is a sufficient size, the game becomes a satisfying, though largely unoriginal shooter.
The best part of “Rage” is the most important part of any FPS, the shooting. The shotgun will pop mutant heads into a splatter of maroon gel while their body will continue the momentum of the moment before death. Each of the guns feels legitimately useful and can be fed special ammo with effects ranging from a simple damage increase to transforming the shotgun into a grenade launcher.
The main quests of the game are almost all on foot shooting sequences, but the action can be broken up with the optional side quests and mini-games. Some of these are what you would expect like racing and a shooting gallery, but the most surprising one is a fairly involved card battle game similar to “Magic: The Gathering.” Cards to improve your deck are scattered throughout the world but a basic starter deck can be purchased from the town shop.
The graphics are as incredible as the pre-release screenshots made them out to be most of the time. The background vistas and character faces are obvious highlights, but some random textures legitimately look like they came out of a PS2 game when closely inspected. Id was obviously proud of their new graphics engine because they completely disable your HUD when you are in a city so you can better appreciate the environment. This is effective, but it takes a while to learn where everything is in the twisty post-apocalyptic cities, and having no map for assistance is annoying.
The story, which is fairly similar to “Fallout 3,” is interesting enough to not be irritating to sit through in between shooting sections, and the very end sets up what could be a much better story for a sequel. Ultimately what id Software has made is a really solid shooter with enough side activities to keep the action fresh. It is by no means revolutionary and the clear emphasis on consoles is disappointing, but “Rage” is simply fun to play.
