It's A Mad, Mad World.
Back in 1979, George Miller created a world that despite being relatively empty (population wise), felt extremely lived in. The people that inhabited the wasteland were dirty, brutal, and unforgiving. Now, nearly forty years since the original movie, Avalanche Studios has released a game that replicates that same feel of grit and grime.
Mad Max takes place in the world established by the movies but leaves the familiar stories alone in favor of crafting a new one. The narrative of the game is much more simplistic and lacks the depth of the movies, as it starts off rocky. The characters didn't seem interesting nor did the familiar revenge tale grab me. However, the story picks up around the third act (of which there are 5) in a significant way that adds depth and purpose to many of the characters who I felt desperately needed it; especially Max. The villains also didn't strike me as having motivation to be as evil and detestable as they were, but that's the nature of the world in which these characters are a part of. People are terrible and awful just for the hell of it. That may seem like a shortcoming, but I think it worked in favor of the game.
The real draw of Avalanche Studios' game is the magnificent game play that they've created. The hand-to-hand combat feels like it has a certain weight to it that makes it feel more realistic. The car combat and general driving mechanics are also fleshed out and tuned in such a way that makes you feel like you're a car that's been made with whatever is lying around.
The world of Mad Max is vast and empty, yet is still packed with enough stuff to do that you're constantly running into something to collect or a mission to take on. Collecting scrap (the game's currency with which you use to buy upgrades for your many variations of the Magnum Opus) feels like a grind at the start, but as you progress and upgrade strongholds (places to receive side-quests) you'll find yourself with more scrap than you know what to do with. Getting from place to place may seem like a long trek but thanks to Max's "Magnum Opus", the time it takes doesn't feel nearly as long as it might actually be. There are a plethora of upgrades to unlock and buy for your car that will allow you to boost more, have stronger attacks when getting into combat, and better control.
One thing that I wasn't prepared for when jumping into this game was how satisfying the Lite-RPG elements and upgrades were. Killing enemies, completeing challenges, and finishing missions rewards you with xp that will eventually level you up, giving you a upgrade token. Taking these to a specific location on the map allows you to upgrade Max's abilities in a passive way like health increases and finding more scrap in the world. By the end of the game I found myself with so many points that I could have upgraded those abilities fully three times over so don't worry about wise spending there. Your conscious spending should be focused more on buying upgrades for your Magnum Opus and upgrading Max's armor and getting new active abilities. Completing everything in the game (that includes going to every scrap location) will allow you to unlock everything so if you're a completionist, don't worry. If not, you have to focus your spending on what time of car you want: speed, defense, or offense. At the same time you need to upgrade Max so he doesn't fall behind the increasing difficulty of enemy camps. While all of this sounds daunting, everything is easily sorted into categories and presented in a way that makes it very easy and simplistic to upgrade. These are the background elements that kept me coming back to the game and gave me something to strive for. I wanted to get the next upgrade. I had to get more scrap so I could get better handling. Every upgrade you purchase, you can see it and you feel as if you're actually getting something so it feels very rewarding and you have something to show for your hard work.
Car combat feels a little floaty and imprecise at times which can quickly get frustrating; especially when trying to take out a vehicle that is guarded by other vehicles. Holding the left shoulder button slows time and allows you to lock onto a target to fire a couple different weapons. This didn't seem that intuitive but it works way better than I ever thought it would have. Ramming rival cars and grinding your tires into the sides of opposing vehicles feels satisfying and fun. When you collide with an enemy, you can feel the hot, jagged metal bend and warp as the two cars are torn apart. It's visceral and it feels fantastic in practice.
The ground combat borrows heavily from Rocksteady's Arkham series (as do most games) but trades the fluidity and acrobatics of Batman for heaviness and brutality. Instead of flipping over enemies, Max will spin around them and throw them down in a suplex. Instead of an open-handed punch to the face, Max will twist an arm and snap it at the elbow. The combat is slow and sluggish, whether by design or not, which I felt added to the immersion. Everyone in this world is fighting to their last breath, constantly dehydrated and malnourished, and toting around some kind of equipment; naturally they would be moving slower. Each punch that Max lands, you can feel the force behind it as he breaks a limb or shatters some bones. I attribute this all to magnificent game and sound design as the vibrations of the controller make you feel the weight of every action and the sounds of combat add to the illusion that you're destroying someone's skeleton.
Despite my love of the combat, it isn't without its flaws. Many times when prompted to counter an enemy attack, the game seemed to not register my input. The timing window was shorter than I'm used to as well but it still didn't seem to be picking up on what I was trying to do which lead to a break in the flow of combat.
The game does have other technical issues that I ran into during my extended gaming sessions. The frame rate dropped anytime that I was attacked when entering into an underground area. It picked back up a few seconds later and after awhile, I got used to this happening. There were a couple times, however, that the game failed to recover and froze completely resulting in my having to reset the game. This happened only once or twice but it's still frustrating to have to restart. Besides those, there was some significant pop-in with the foliage and ground textures while driving around at any speed. I only noticed this when specifically looking for it though. Despite these technical hiccups, I never felt that any of them detracted from the core game play experience that I had.
There's a lot to do in Mad Max and I'm still working towards the Platinum Trophy for it. I've put nearly fifty hours into the game and haven't found myself tiring of it which says a lot about a game and it's ability to evoke enjoymeny. I don't see myself going back to it after I achieve the platinum but I'm fine with that as I feel that I've got more than my money's worth out of the barren wasteland that is Mad Max.
Score: 8/10
Trophy Difficulty - Easy (Most trophies are straight-forward and don't require too much skill. Time is the only thing required for any of them and it's not that much to begin with)
Recommendations - If you enjoyed Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor's semi-open world feeling and Arkham's combat, I recommend this game. If you enjoy car combat and post-apocalyptic settings, I recommend this game. If you enjoy the Mad Max movies, I highly recommend this game.
*This game review was done on the PS4 version of the game. It is also available on the Xbox One and PC*
This review was originally written for Real Dream Productions. You can read more HERE.
