RAGE Review
It took me a bit of time to finally get this game in my XBOX 360, but when I finally got it in I was excited. This was going to be an adventure that would bring me back to the old school id games, in the new generation. You will be putting on the personal of an Ark specialist, a person who was put into a hibernation chamber for the coming apocalypse and who is just now waking up to a whole new world. You'll find a world full of bandits and an organization with an agenda, the Authority.
Graphically this game, at first, looks top-notch. There's a lot to this game, and even though most of it is a barren wasteland there's something about it that draws you in. Well that is until you notice that there is something going on with the textures in the game. There are a ton of different geometry in the game that have an infinite refresh cycle. You'll be looking at a gray box, that will then bet some texture to it, and then you get to see the finished product, and then for some reason it resets itself. Now if you're trying to move quickly through the game chances are you're not going to catch how often this happens, but it happens much more often than I would like. The different enemies you face definitely put some fear in you, or make you think you're going up against some badasses, so in that regard that got it right.
The music not really something that you're going to be paying attention to, but its there, and it works. I do like the fact that everyone is voiced, though it is wierd that you're going to hear certain voices recycled, especially when the voice starts off as a random NPC and then later takes on a role as a major player in the game, and yet its the EXACT same voice.
The controls in the game for the most part feel about right. There were times where other FPS controller layouts would entry my head and I'd end up throwing a grenade instead of doing something else, but overall I really can't complain all that much. I do wish that during the driving portions that the controls were a bit tighter. I understand the need for the racing mechanic, but I felt that this aspect didn't get the polish it needed.
So as a just woken up Ark person, you find the world has changed dramatically. You've also learned that there have been others just like you who have either join a resistance movement, been experimented on and died, or have go to join the Authority. You'll have to face off against outlaws that have splintered into packs to try to carve out their own place, and you'll have to battle mutated beings who don't like to be disturbed. To advance through the game you're going to have to win different vehicles, which to me seems like a really odd way to deal with quest progression. You'll also get an ever growing arsenal of weapons to play around with, from a rocket launcher to a pistol. I know this might spoil a little of the game for people, but you're going to have to join the rebels because the Authority has done something to stack the deck in their favor. You'll have plenty of missions to keep you busy, and then you'll have a final showdown. Well at least that's what happened, to me it felt as if the true game was about to open up and then the credits rolled. So my recommendation to all is that even though the game is on three discs, once you're on disc number 2 you're already halfway through the game. The third disc will not come out of the case.
Sure there's multiplayer in this game, and I'm sure its quite fun, but after dealing with an ending like that, I had no desire to give that piece a spin. This game definitely has/had potential, with a little tweaking here, and there, and perhaps a better ending to the single player, my review would be better, but for what I got I'm going to have to drop my score of this game to a 6.5 out of 10.
