Translated for the lazy:
All that the eye can see is desert, ödelandskap and hopelessly inhospitable. On top of everything, it is difficult to take a step without a gang of bandits or mutated freaks should put in. Chrille have loaded shotgun crashing breaker, and shot himself through the Rage ...
It does not take many seconds before I narrowly escapes death for the first time by many. My reflections on the context - who I am and where I am, down-prioritized. Instead, I jump up in the passenger seat next to my new-found friend and savior, throws after the tank in the back seat and realize that where I am is survival not something you take for granted. Once in a small desert community simmering act small forward. A nice kind here, a nasty type there. A few completed assignments later, I have a small number of firearms that speaks every language I could possibly need, and a vehicle that can take me wherever I want.
Then my desires, primarily, to find exciting new ways to shoot mutants in the head on, it is initially gun muzzle and not carburetor that runs hot. Shooting of bandits and corrupt humanoids can be performed here and there, but the game's all campaign missions are preferred for this purpose. This lead track of the action consists of fairly conventional design action levels, interspersed with the relatively open world.
As new areas are unlocked, especially the two major hub cities, this chain of action, however, more and more competition for attention from the various side missions and minigames. The game's racing element has attracted most attention in advance, and it is also where much of my time invested. In organized races against three competitors I fight for first place in order to thus be able to switch victories against upgrades to my growing fleet, through the special racing currency.
Mutant Bash TV is one of the game's more unusual - and fun - elements. The concept of mutants, entertainment violence and TV cameras never stop fun.
I will not hide the fact that the driving experience does not belong to the most magical I've experienced, regardless of whether I drive a quad bike, a buggy or a hell of steel, flames and horsepower. The documentation does not run one-tenth as much as it should, but control is functional. To my vehicle I want it is really all I want from an action game. Especially as powerups and weapons are important enough to keep track of.
There are also fyrhjula challenges that are not as organized by nature, but that pop up here and there when you right around the wilderness. Moreover, one of the few reasons to actually bother to explore the world, sadly. These challenges consist in carrying out death-defying and a maximum of spectacular jumps between rocks, dunes and canyons. First, it is about the game world consists of many more people with armed vehicles, of which exactly all want one badly. To shoot these competitors in the marshy rewarded in cash, while the shop generates gadgets of all kinds.
Sadly, this one little side effect. To quickly and easily able to amass ammunition and other supplies are at odds with the desolate and barren landscape it all takes place in. It violates not only with the design in general, but also makes the game a bit too easy for those who are willing to take a little time. What begins as smart survival strategies moving quickly to the exploitation of the fragile balance games. Another clear example of this is the system of mechanical home construction.
What it suffers so do the opponents really nasty and annoying. No enemy is more powerful than the combination of EMP-grenade and fatal boomerang.
Both transactions far less hospitable places contain a limited amount of drawings, almost recipe, the ammunition, grenades, assault robots and everything else that hobby MacGyver might wish for. The concept is of course nothing wrong. That after a fierce firefight find that essential piece of sheet metal that makes the shotgun can be filled with exploding ammunition for some time, of course, a nice reward. But when you realize that a little planning and smart shopping will lead to an abundance of weapons of death occurs, sadly, the choice between playing well and playing as intended.
Smart ideas with good execution, but lacking in some more or less important detail is a bit of rages hallmark. One of the game more blameless qualities, however, is variation. In addition to motorized entertainment time I sucked in by everything from sniping to card games. The game world feels quite simply, both alive and well designed, although a more linear structure than the wish to make light of. The best rating I can give the variability is that I almost always choose new siding and forms of gambling not because I have to or because it benefits me, but because I want to.
My first big disappointment has to do with graphics. Partly it has to do with very high expectations. Rage has throughout its development period looked like a delicious feast the eyes of distorted faces and the grim landscape. And sure, some of the outdoor environments are gorgeous. Likewise, the knife equipped enemies that somersaults forward in a zigzag pattern as smooth animated as they are difficult to meet. On the whole, looks mostly good or very good in motion. What truly constitutes a clear majority of playing time.
As the action escalates becomes the enemy as usual, more and more powerful. There will be short, increasingly difficult to cope on their own. Fortunately, most clients make life safer in exchange for a payoff.
But the pace is reduced in Rage, and when they do show painfully low-resolution textures and the desperate need for anti-aliasing, their ugly snouts. The contrast with the most spectacular parties is enormous, much greater than the time difference between today and when Rage announced, 2007. That these abuses occur equally clear on the PC as the console is a bit strange, but maybe gossip about the graphics engine Id Tech 5 has been endowed with large forces that carry a price with them. It is not only boring, but also the first time that John Carmack and colleagues do not seem to belong to the frontline of technology.
That Rage would be a first person shooter of the old school also has its charms, but only to a certain limit. When the enemies that carry coveted weapon will not lose them when he died, but once the ammunition, it is immensely annoying. More remarkable than disturbing is that the surroundings are totally unaffected, no matter how much machinegun they suffer. I do not expect to blow up everything, but no lasting bullet hole in the wall or a broken shot glass bottle's not unreasonable demands in 2011?
Also the AI ​​is stupid of classic cut. What could be the fantastic firefights are usually quite one-sided stories where opponents ducking and running around like dizzy chicken alternately, instead of putting pressure on my injured hero and his dwindling magazine. The height of the war inefficiency arises when the enemy soldiers at the sight of a grenade will be incapable of anything but to take cover and wait for the blast, even when I'm standing right next to the machine gun trigger in the bottom.
Most weapons have four different ammunition types, with different application or strengths. For a modest weapon pistol and shotgun, the difference may be quite enormous for those who find, buy or build their own super ammo.
Developer's background also makes it hard not to get stuck on the fact that Rage has no deathmatch, capture the flag and the like. Multiplayer is instead in the form of a co-op campaign and a set of auto racing, with equal parts of missiles and wide rack. Chasing checkpoints, set your sights and take the curves at the highest speed has its charm. The bet type is not, however, a substantive depth and is not something that will steal too many hours for too many.
Cooperation State, however, feels very right. Anyone who spent any significant length of time for shooting murderous mutants to smithereens know it is a pleasure that is suitable for two. But working in the law does not prevent an entertaining contest moments present themselves, then just all achievements are translated into points in a morbid sort of meta-duel. We must therefore work better than the other. Another point with these completely independent tasks is that they tell little bits of back story to the main adventure.
The feeling after eleven hours of solo campaign, seasoned with multiplayer and some replayability, is that Rage lacks that extra touch that top games have. There are no boring scenes to speak of and tempo variation is really good. I'm also fond of how the courses design is linear and dense, but with a constant illusion of transparency. But always there are small things that drag down the overall impression. Pledged enemies and graphics blur is obviously there. Lack of weapon balance, and a limited amount of bosses also helps to nail down the grade at a relatively low eight. It is especially a shame considering that the negative aspects often feels unnecessary, rather than as fundamentally flawed.
