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RAGE
PC (Steam)
Don't Get Mad, Get Even
3.5/5 stars
The venerable id Software has long had their bread-and-butter in the FPS genre. Being a fan of the (non-multiplayer) aspect of said genre, I thought RAGE looked like it had enough promise to give it a whirl. While the game is not ground-breaking nor entirely memorable, it does what is does well enough to recommend it to fans of shooting things in the face while providing an above-average experience.
Presentation: The game looks pretty good. There are plenty of characters to talk to and thought the game suffers from lack of color (like so many other FPS games) that's to be expected in a post-apocalyptic setting. The enemies aren't quite as varied - mostly you fight either fast-moving mutants (which a good shotgun blast to the face will take care of) or a variety of bandit enemies (who can either run at you or shoot from afar). Towards the end of the game you deal with more heavily armed (and armored) enemies - and they present a bit more of a challenge than the typical bandits.
The game world does suffer from some tearing issues - and at times I even had an annoying line that would crawl down the entire screen - so it's not exactly the most polished game around. But despite the jaggies - it still looks good.
Story: The game begins with an ending - the destruction of the world by rogue asteroid - but luckily we have a plan - arks are used to dig deep down into the earth and, putting people in stasis, will arise in the future when everything has calmed down. You come out as the lone survivor of your ark to finds a world where bandits and mutants continually harass the few pockets of civilization that remain. There is also The Authority - a group of ark survivors that were brought out early to form their own world (and guess who is responsible for all those mutants wandering about?). Of course you get roped into the Resistance (very original name, guys) who hope to stop this Authority from going through with their plan by raising all the remaining arks. The story is not particularly deep or original, but at least it is well developed (even if the end leaves you wanting more).
Gameplay: Typical FPS gameplay - but, I have to admit, I wasn't expecting it to be so linear. While the game gives the feeling it's an open world - the actual areas to explore pretty much limit you to a straight-line with little in the way of exploration available (aside from some doors you can unlock and a few destructible areas you can find). While you eventually unlock various weaponry - you have to either buy, find or be rewarded with the various weapons as you progress. There is not picking up of anything besides ammo (and crafting/selling materials). You start off with just a trusty pistol and wingstick (a bladed boomerang if you will) though it doesn't take long to get an assault rifle, shotgun and (if you bought the Scorcher DLC) the nail gun. BTW - I highly recommend purchasing this add-on and doing the scorcher missions as soon as you can - found the nailgun (and the Rebar option in particular) to be the most useful weapon in the entire game.
The game starts off in a small area, though you gain access to the bigger "towns" as you progress. There are various mini-games thrown in (from a well-developed card game to typical games of chance - poker, roulette and the like). I did play them all and found most are entirely luck-based - through both the Strum and five-finger filet take some skill (or memory at least) to achieve. The areas you are sent to clear out are populated by the various bandit and mutant characters. You collect a few different kind of materials - ammo for weapons, junk you can sell and crafting materials. The crafting materials can be used to make everything from specialized ammo to remote controlled RC car bombs to turrets - I didn't use these optional items too much (aside from the wingsticks - which really get better when you find the upgrade later in the game) but it gives you another avenue to take down enemies aside from brute force (I always prefer my trusty shotgun - it rarely let me down).
At least they manage to keep things varied - some enemies will rush you, others will hide and pop out to fire on you, there are even snipers that get really sneaky. There are a few mini-boss types enemies, as well as a handful of "boss" fights scattered throughout the game. One warning - the auto-save function is not nearly as robust as it should be - so I encourage you to save often - because having to play through nearly an entire level twice is never that fun (as I found out the hard way). You do at least get one (or two) second chances - a defibrillator built into your chest gives you an extra chance. Plus it electrocutes nearby enemies to boot. Still, I found that enemies did tend to blend together a little too much - a bit more variety would have been appreciated.
I also have to mention the racing aspect. You have three different vehicles throughout the game - small and fast, heavy and super-heavy duty. As you race, you earn upgrades to these vehicles (both helpful in races and in the overworld where you come up against bandit vehicles). Unlocking these upgrades makes the races much easier to handle. In face, the only trouble I ever had in this part of the game weren't the races but rather the "Rocket Rallies". In this free-for-all mode you have to race to checkpoints or destroy opponents to win - the AI seems uncannily apt to be right next to the checkpoints when they pop up and more than a few times I found myself frustrated at the results. Still for an FPS, the racing aspect is more fleshed out than I would have expected.
Replayability: The game is "open" after beating it so you can go back and collect anything you might have missed (cards, schematics and the like) and it also has a decent 2-player option (thought he difficulty certainly ramps up). The game does have multiple difficulty settings as well - for those who like that kind of punishment.
Overall: This is decent game for fans of the genre. I won't knock off any of the classics, but for the right price it will provide plenty of entertainment.
Presentation: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Gameplay: 3.5/5
Replayability: 3/5
Overall (not an average): 3.5/5
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