Support NeoGAF

[Simo]

Credit to shinobi for the heads up!

WB Games and Avalanche released some of the screenshots and artwork featured in the last Game Informer and various other magazines:

Mass info dump from OXM and GI's coverage:

Here's the OXM details and i threw a few quotes from the article:

• In regards to open world exploration, points of interest and other title comparisons:

  "It’s an open-world experience that we recognise, but one that doesn’t aim for Assassin’s Creed’s map-saturating, no-effort points of interest. it’s more a case that wherever you go, something’s always happening, or you can make something happen. every time you think you’re heading off to do one thing, you’ll likely end up being distracted by something entirely different.

• No flying vehicles like the Gyrocopter.
• When you get the Magnum Opus it's pretty much a skeleton. Avalanche want you to create your own ultimate car and war machine and that doesn't necessarily equate to upgrading every part with the best possible upgrade. There's no optimal car.
• OXM's thoughts on the driving:
  

  That feeling, that in among the usual tangle of open-world systems sits a proper driving game, is our favourite part of Mad Max so far. the cars are meticulously designed, with an incredible focus on the handling model and real-world physics of each one. Well-armoured vehicles are more sluggish, but ram with devastating force and become harder to roll. Faster, more vulnerable cars will suffer from direct contact, but make using secondary weapons (handled by chumbucket in the back, with ultra slow-motion added to help your aim) feel more efficient and valuable.

  
  

  where most open-world car chases devolve into scrappy,hard-to-control, one-on-one contests,avalanche has made something that feels more akin to the films the game is based on – drawn-out, adrenaline-rush gauntlets that have you sideswiping enemies into scenery, bursting tyres, avoiding hijackers and finally, triumphantly, watching your target explode in a huge cloud of scrap – which can then be used to make your car even better.

• Ammo is scarce so when you engage enemies it's mostly hand to hand combat but again you can use shivs along with clubs and other weapons you can disarm of enemies or find laying around. Max isn't Batman so he can't just vault across a room to take people out so evasion along with blocking is needed and some enemies are just too tough to scrap with. For those guys you'll need to either lure them in to traps or simply wait for them to be exhausted.
• You can build up and upgrade Max. Learn more combat moves and abilities like executions, find and upgrade his gear and more.
• Strongholds or camps are detailed again. Described similar to Far Cry, these places range from old prisons, makeshift homes, forts, scrap storage yards etc.
• One of the enemy camps they encountered was a old oil drilling platform with the main gate protected by 2 flamethrower mounts, sniper watchtowers and 3 guards patrolling. They killed the guards with the car and deactivated the flamethrowers by following their fuel lines to the source of hidden tanks. One of the sniper towers was blown up with the Thunderpoon which resulted in the collapsing tower colliding with the other watch tower and taking it out. Once in the camp and courtyard the rest of the gang will come out to engage you. Some camps have War Criers in watchtowers who if they see you will alert the whole camp which in turn gives the enemies a damage buff. The camp is also booby trapped that you'll have to deal with too or use them against the gang.
• At last count there's over 200 unique locations in the wasteland including the camps.
• Avalanche also created a timeline and concept art for Mad Max's world before the collapse and apocalypse but wouldn't reveal them to OXM.
• Max isn't a big talker like the films.
• Weather conditions can completely change things up. Heres OXM's explanations:
  

  Sun
  The Wasteland’s default state is cloudless and clear, heat haze your only obstacle to seeing all the way to the horizon. It’s harsh, hot and perfect for clubbing bad guys.

  WIND
  Wind is a physical thing in Mad Max, which can be both cosmetic and practical – the right gust might kick up a dust cloud from down the road, indicating a nearby convoy.

  Storms
  Storms are terrifying. Walls of sand kicked up by gales bear down on you, before you’re enveloped and get to watch your own personal lightshow as lightning arcs through the cloud.

  Night
  You might want to wait until the next night to pop out again. at which point you find out how beautiful this vicious world becomes by moonlight, and how easy it is to be ambushed.

  All of the above
  the beauty of the reactive weather systems is that you won’t just notice them, you have to contend with them. every change can alter how you play or where you want to go.

• Day/Night cycle is 2 hours in real time.
• Night time brings out entirely new enemies to contend with and greater chances of ambushes.
• You can only carry 1 jerry can of fuel in the Magnum Opus. Great if you run out of juice but you can also use that can as a make shift grenade too.
• The game’s designed as a seamless series of events..
  

  .. from emergent vehicle chases that lead to on-ground combat when you crash, to a trudge through the desert for fuel that leads to discovering a wandering mission-giver, or a fight in a camp where you find a hauler covered in scrap. Every action can lead to another, endlessly, simultaneously sending you up upgrade trees, reaping rewards for simply playing how you want to.

• OXM didn't get to see some gameplay elements like the legendary car schematics or the Legend system which "turns achievement hunting into a stat-building exercise".
• You can unlock and care for a Dog side kick!

Closing comments from Avalanche about the nature of the game and the Wasteland:

“everything out in the wasteland is operating on its own terms,” says Rooke. “we’re not saying ‘there’s a car combat moment here’, ‘this person shows up there’ – it’s operating on its own rules. You may be driving around, nothing’s happening, getting a false sense of security, then all of a sudden a convoy shows up, and there are six or eight cars you have to deal with.

“or you see something alongside the road, you jump out of your car to see
if there’s something to scavenge, and a couple of guys jump out of the sand and all of a sudden you’re under attack. then on top of that, a couple of snipers show up and start taking shots at you. Suddenly, you’re 20 feet away from your car, which is your
safe haven, and that 20 feet seems like a very long way.”

Here's a couple of random events the guys at Avalanche did or encountered themselves that OXM talk about:

“Every now and then when I do a convoy, my car gets wrecked. I get out of the vehicle, someone else in the convoy stops, then I just steal their car and go after the convoy leader – then a sniper in the distance shoots out my tyre and I tumble around, so
I call for Chumbucket, he drives up and I can continue the fight.” Emil Kraftling,senior game designer

“We’ve got the Boombug, which is like an exploding suicide car – so if that comes up next to you and sets all its fuel on fire, you might want to take out his wheels so you can get away. Or you could harpoon the driver, pull him out, steal the car and run it into a camp.”
Alex Williams, senior game designer

“We have big characters all over the place. You could meet somebody interestingwhenyouleastexpectit – you could meet some lonely wanderer out there, walking around thirsty.” Frank Rooke, game director

Game Informer finished off their month long coverage with a Q&A podcast with game director Frank Rooke and the director of narrative design Odd Ahlgren. Questions came from fans and gamers that submitted them on GI.com:
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/podcasts/archive/2015/03/30/special-edition-podcast-mad-max-game.aspx

Points of interest:

• First Person mode for driving is quite something. It was originally implemented to give players another choice of playing but is something that took off really well and has been worked on since Game Informer tried it.
• Yeah, the Wasteland you're in is Australia...without saying it's Australia. lol
• No aerial vehicles. Just ground based.
• You can customize and upgrade Max like his jacket and other gear. You change Max's appearance like hairstyles or beards.
• Max's shotgun and the sniper rifle on the Opus are the only firearms you wield.
• Finding points of interest with require to actually find them, they don't just magically appear on your map.
• Chumbucket isn't the only sidekick or companion that will help Max over the course of the game.
• They were cagey on if or how long you could drive the legendary Black on Black V8 Interceptor. They said it had to be "earned" so it looks like you can get or build the car again despite losing it at the beginning of the game.
• There are no "safe zones" in the game and even settlements or hideouts have to be "earned", IE freed from enemy occupation and upgraded.
• They had no clue about "The Road Warrior" DLC that Sony announced at E3 2013 during the game's reveal. Of course that would be my question I submitted and doesn't get a answer! lol
• Big E3 presence. So looks like we might not get any new footage until June though..

 

[Reallink]

Even 4k shots downsampled to 1080p look pretty rough, this is clearly a last gen game haphazardly repurposed for current gen.

 

[DOWN]

Not looking too hot if you look close at anything besides Max. No PBR and low geometry thanks to cross gen?

Tires, barrels, the driver's heads. All look low in polys:

 

[Sojgat]

Loving the concept art, but the screenshots underwhelm.

 

[Hoje0308]

"Max's shotgun and the sniper rifle on the Opus are the only firearms you wield."

What?

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Yesssss @ a 2 hour day/night cycle. Hopefully all the times of day and weather effects are given ample time within that 2 hours to play out. I dislike rushed day/night/weather cycles.

Dying to see a big chunk of gameplay for this one. The emergent/seamless gameplay stuff has me intrigued.

 

[Loudninja]

"Max's shotgun and the sniper rifle on the Opus are the only firearms you wield."

What?

The only weapons you can while in the vehicle.

 

[Simo]

Yeah I mean they spent 5-6 years developing this for past gen and then within the last 12 months having to scrap those to focus on current gen. Looks decent enough for me but in the end I'm hyped to just get a Mad Max game that from all the previews is shaping up pretty good. I see the devs are hyping up a gameplay reveal for E3 on Twitter.

The only weapons you can while in the vehicle.

Nah there are no other guns in the game besides those two. You can use other weapons like clubs and whatnot but for guns, thats it.

 

[Loudninja]

Yeah I mean they spent 5-6 years developing this for past gen and then within the last months having to scrap those to focus on current gen. Looks decent enough for me but in the end I'm hyped to just get a Mad Max game that from all the previews is sounding pretty good.



Nah there are no other guns in the game besides those two. You can use other weapons like clubs and whatnot but for guns, thats it.

Ah ok thanks.

 

[DOWN]

Yeah I mean they spent 5-6 years developing this for past gen and then within the last months having to scrap those to focus on current gen. Looks decent enough for me but in the end I'm hyped to just get a Mad Max game that from all the previews is sounding pretty good.



Nah there are no other guns in the game besides those two. You can use other weapons like clubs and whatnot but for guns, thats it.

I feel the same. I am disappointed they basically developed it with last gen restrictions and assets that scale to 10 year old hardware, but I'm really excited by their descriptions of the atmosphere and scale.

 

[texhnolyze]

"Max's shotgun and the sniper rifle on the Opus are the only firearms you wield."

What?

Nah there are no other guns in the game besides those two. You can use other weapons like clubs and whatnot but for guns, thats it.

Wow.
Not even a pistol/handgun?

 

[DOWN]

Wow.
Not even a pistol/handgun?

It's Mad Max. Go for the shotgun.

 

[NickatNite]

Visually speaking it looks little rough around the edges, but the overall art direction looks great.

I can't to see gameplay and get my hands on this.

 

[shinobi602]

Nah there are no other guns in the game besides those two. You can use other weapons like clubs and whatnot but for guns, thats it.

Well that'll definitely get repetitive.

 

[-MD-]

I really wanna see some gameplay for this.

 

[Simo]

Wow.
Not even a pistol/handgun?

Nope. Just the sawn-off shotgun and you can only use that sparingly as ammo is scarce for it.

 

[ndawgdrake]

WTF is that Joel?

 

[PerezDeCorcho]

I feel like this could look really great in motion. I'll reserve judgment until E3.

 

[autoduelist]

"That feeling, that in among the usual tangle of open-world systems sits a proper driving game, is our favourite part of Mad Max so far. the cars are meticulously designed, with an incredible focus on the handling model and real-world physics of each one. Well-armoured vehicles are more sluggish, but ram with devastating force and become harder to roll. Faster, more vulnerable cars will suffer from direct contact, but make using secondary weapons (handled by chumbucket in the back, with ultra slow-motion added to help your aim) feel more efficient and valuable."

I'm trying not to set my expectations high, but if they nail the car customization, it will be the culmination of a multi-decade dream for me. I remember spending hours designing cars in Autoduel... balancing weight and power and speed and chassis, making my very own vehicle of destruction fine tuned for highway or arena combat.

Please, please, get this right. I know the odds are stacked against me, but I've been truly been waiting for a modern version of this for decades.

<<-- avatar quote, etc.

 

[Jedi2016]

"Screenshots"... yeah.

Gameplay, motherfucker, do you speak it?

 

[DOWN]

I feel like this could look really great in motion. I'll reserve judgment until E3.

Hopefully they throw amazing motion blur on it since they've got some wiggle room thanks to ditching cross gen. They seemed to like blur on Just Cause 2 and that can make a great difference, as the Battlefront trailers show.

 

[Infernal Monkey]

You can unlock and care for a Dog side kick!

GOTY

 

[Simo]

Right there in the podcast mate!

Its not like you're fighting against enemies with firearms either. I think it's because of the lore too because the area of the Wasteland the game takes place in is but a small area occupied by one main gang/hub (Gastown) that answers to a bigger player.

Given that it's a prequel to the new movie that bigger player would be Immortan Joe who has another major stronghold and group under his power called "The Bullet Farm" which of course manufactures arms and ammo but thats in a different part of the wasteland not in the game.

 

[Goldenroad]

Still showing off concept art at this stage of production is kind of worrisome, no?

 

[Anos Voldigoad]

"You can unlock and care for a Dog side kick!"

Day 1

 

[NickatNite]

heres some old gameplay
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ON6MEqe8Lrg

 

[Net_Wrecker]

heres some old gameplay
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ON6MEqe8Lrg

Can't believe it's been almost 2 years since this leaked. I remember liking how weighty it looked as well as the dust effects. Curious to see what it looks like now.

 

[Simo]

Can't believe it's been almost 2 years since this leaked. I remember liking how weighty it looked as wekk as the dust effects. Curious to see what it looks like now.

It's not much but if you go to the madmaxgame.com site they have a few flash movies that cycle and a couple of them actually have new footage.

 

[RK9039]

Yeah the gameplay in the video is pretty cool but that video was from awhile ago.

 

[etta]

Is Mad Max similar to that Denzel Washington movie when he was blind? Maybe I should watch it, hmmmm.

 

[SliChillax]

The car requires fuel? Ugh they have to suck the fun out of something.

 

[Scully Scully Scoo]

this just remind me of rage and i wasnt high on that game. just seems very meh

 

[Net_Wrecker]

It's not much but if you go to the madmaxgame.com site they have a few flash movies that cycle and a couple of them actually have new footage.

I mean, you didn't lie. "It's not much" might've been an understatement though

I just really want to see an extended demo. The harpoon mechanic, car physics, Chumbucket in action, and the scavenging/emergent gameplay can, in theory, make for some really cool encounters and random moments. I don't know if that ebb and flow of "supplies vs. no supplies" in a post-apocalyptic adventure, and the impact that has on high intensity moments has really been captured in these kinds of games.

 

[Lionel Richie]

I really don't know if it sounds awesome or I just love the movies too much. I hope it turns out great, Avalanche seems to be on the verge of legit greatness, I really hope they achieve it with Just Cause 3 or Mad Max.

 

[Simo]

I mean, you didn't lie. "It's not much" might've been an understatement though

Yeah I know but it's something. lol

I just really want to see an extended demo. The harpoon mechanic, car physics, Chumbucket in action, and the scavenging/emergent gameplay can, in theory, make for some really cool encounters and random moments. I don't know if that ebb and flow of "supplies vs. no supplies" in a post-apolayctic adventure, and the impact that has on high intensity moments has really been captured in these kinds of games.

Yeah that or one of those gameplay series of videos like Rockstar do for their games to go over the various mechanics and options. Even through the podcast and game magazine features I still didn't cover everything.

EDIT: This is what Christofer Sundberg tweeted last week:

This is just a fragment of something unbelievable that was just passed around here at @avalanchestudios. #MadMax #E32015 #Hype

https://instagram.com/p/1fu4cMpwni/

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

Is Mad Max similar to that Denzel Washington movie when he was blind? Maybe I should watch it, hmmmm.

Just a similar setting, but they do have different tones. I've only seen Thunderdome.

Is this game going to be good though?

 

[KissVibes]

Is Mad Max similar to that Denzel Washington movie when he was blind? Maybe I should watch it, hmmmm.

Well, Mad Max is actually good and really popularized and innovated the post-apocalyptic genre, so not really.

 

[DOWN]

Can't believe they're releasing their barely-AAA open world desert action game on the same day as the other huge open world desert action stealth juggernaut The Phantom Pain.

 

[Iscariot]

I want a Kenshiro mod.

 

[antitrop]

Those are some boring-ass screenshots.

 

[Overside]

Two men enter! One man gets bored and leaves!

 

[Stencil]

Man, after gen 6 consoles, I still can't shake the feeling that games from licensed properties just cannot be good.

There was Batman with the Arkham stuff that was pretty good, and Lego I hear is alright... I don't know guys. I'm scared.

 

[DOWN]

Man, after gen 6 consoles, I still can't shake the feeling that games from licensed properties just cannot be good.

There was Batman with the Arkham stuff that was pretty good, and Lego I hear is alright... I don't know guys. I'm scared.

This a big year for licenses. The Witcher, Arkham, Star Wars, and Mad Max off the top of my head.

 

[Falchion]

I'm excited for this, the idea of exploring the wasteland on your own and upgrading the Magnum Opus is really appealing. Kind of like the desert section of Fuel except with stuff to do and see.

 

[RexNovis]

I swear the protagonist in this game is the most boring looking every man I have ever seen. There is 0 personality in his face. Like holy shit how do you even do that? It's kind of impressive how bland it is.

 

[jediyoshi]

Man, after gen 6 consoles, I still can't shake the feeling that games from licensed properties just cannot be good.

There was Batman with the Arkham stuff that was pretty good, and Lego I hear is alright... I don't know guys. I'm scared.

Alien Isolation? Chronicles of Riddick - Escape from Butcher Bay? OH GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING

 

[Nokterian]

No other guns? check Car requires fuel? check Boring generic max character? check i will skip this game and wait for Just Cause 3 instead.

 

[Unit24]

I really hope they move the release date for this game. Releasing right next to MGSV is absolute suicide.

 

[kingpotato]

I swear the protagonist in this game is the most boring looking every man I have ever seen. There is 0 personality in his face. Like holy shit how do you even do that? It's kind of impressive how bland it is.

Would you rather pay for a skin pack that made you look like Tom Hardy or Mel Gibson?

 

[DOWN]

Would you rather pay for a skin pack that made you look like Tom Hardy or Mel Gibson?

I think it is pretty obvious that they tried to move him closer to Tom Hardy but they aren't actually connected to the films with this game so they can't use the actors.

Also I totally would pay for those skins.