Rage is not a bad game. Let's just get that out of the way now. The problem is that it's not a really
good game either, but rather one that has excellent parts that long for the rest of whatever puzzle they fit into to make a true blockbuster. Instead those great features help keep the much less polished aspects of the game from dragging it down into the shadowy realm of 'straight to the steam sale' titles. I'm looking at you Duke Nukem Forever. So what is Rage?[cutoff]
In Rage you play as the amnesiac sole survivor of an underground Ark, built to preserve the human race after a massive planet killing asteroid dubbed Apophis strikes the Earth in 2029. You are immediately thrown into the harsh new reality of the post apocalyptic world that survived outside the Arks that mostly seems to consist of Mad Max 2 extras that were never told that the movie stopped filming in 1980. The short campaign that spans roughly 8 to 12 hours, depending on how obsessed you are about finding every possible side quest and the difficulty setting, makes you into the new saviour of this harsh and and eventually pits you against the mysterious, and only non-Mad Max related, government force known as the Authority. In the spirit of fairness, let's start off listing what Rage does right.
After the opening, a surprisingly somber and poignant look at humanity's impending doom, is the amazingly rich environment upon stepping out of the Ark. This is still a wasteland, but it's one with a startlingly blue sky and richly detailed landscape. The feel is much like Borderlands in that mid-western desert look, but everything has a gritter, more realistic feel. From the major towns with their dripping water pipes and neon lit bars to the ramshackle hideouts of the vicious bandits that are littered with pieces of history being used for everything from housing to bloody altars Rage's graphics paint a beautifully destroyed world. This detail extends to the look of the characters you encounter. The townsfolk to interact with especially are rendered with a distinct look that makes it so you'll never confuse one with another, each is clearly a unique individual. Add in battered cars along with guns that range from an assault rifle held together with tape, hope, and stubbornness to sleek, modern looking weapons of black polymer and you have a game that simply looks stellar.
The guns themselves, and how you use them, are Rage's other highlight which shouldn't come as any surprise. Few companies can claim more success or history with the FPS genre that id Software. Each gun has a solid feel, like you're really using a dangerous weapon, and the gun play is always satisfying. Enemies react to being hit nicely and return fire, taking cover and occasional making desperate runs for fresh cover when you've been hammering them with fire. Combat itself feels exactly like an id game should, fast, slick, and visceral. With the various types of ammunition for each weapon you have a lot of variety in your carnage. The only real complaint that can be leveled is that the guns themselves aren't terribly innovative. You've got the usual selection: a battered assault rifle, a small pistol, shotgun, sniper rifle, and a mini-gun aka BFG. The crossbow is probably the most out of the ordinary for a 'standard' FPS, but still is nothing fancy after its inclusive in games like Half Life 2 and Deus Ex among others.
Accompanying your guns is a crafting system that allows you to make a number of different items, from ammo for your guns to small spider-like combat drones armed with machine guns. Don't expect a deep and complex system, however, that requires you to forage in exotic locales for materials for that perfect bit of tech. You can build stuff anywhere just by having the random stuff you pick up in your inventory, allowing you to craft everything from explosives to spinning razored boomerangs with your bare hands.
Where visuals dazzle and the roar of a shotgun provides an exciting shooting experience, unfortunately the rest of the game is where Rage stumbles. Some things are simply average, like the music. In combat you get a frantic rock beat, while a more mellow tune plays while you're around town or in a peaceful area. There are a few inspired voice acting choices, like a woefully under utilized John Goodman, but while the voice actors are good you never get attached to any of their characters, ruining any impact they might have had. There's also the entire sub-game of racing your armed and armored vehicles, but while it provides a method of getting around the wasteland it never feels completely fleshed out. Controls for the vehicles are... questionable at best, with most possessing a degree of traction that would indicate that their tires are comprised entirely out of some sort of futuristic duct tape. And where the personal weapons have great kick feel to them the rockets, miniguns, and pulse cannons just feel tinny and plastic.
Considering this racing game is the entirety of the competitive multiplayer modes this presents a problem that id games don't usually suffer from: a lukewarm multiplayer experience. It's not to say that the racing cannot be fun, but it becomes rapidly tedious. The only other multiplayer mode provided is a co-op mode that lets you and a friend play through side missions together but it also feels rather tacked on as you can't complete the campaign in a truly co-op fashion.
The greatest failing of Rage, however, is in its story. Or should I say lack of one. In an era where games are pushing the boundaries between gameplay and story telling Rage seems a throwback to the Jurassic period of game writing. Your mute protagonist is sent off with a gun in hand within less than 5 minutes of having awoken to discover a devastated earth with little more motivation than 'some guy asked you to' and 'apparently you're damn good at killing people'. Combined with the astoundingly generic heroic Resistance and evil Authority it leaves the player with little motivation to advance the story other than to see what else is around to kill. The characters you encounter are visually designed well and often have good voice actors, but they never move from their assigned positions, just standing there waiting for you to talk to them and hand out another quest. There is never anything to engage you, to make you care what happens to the people and towns that you're doing these services for. They're just providers of cash and guns to further a little more shooting. And since your own persona is so devoid of personality that it makes Gordon Freeman look like a daytime talk show host you're left wondering why they care about you either.
In the end Rage is a sum of its parts, some good, some bad. And it's plenty fun to pick up for an hour or two and blast some mutants. The real tragedy here is that id Software had a chance to create the Fallout of a new generation, all the post apocalyptic grit but without the 50's slant, a more modern take on the classic mold. The parts and pieces are all there. But in the end they couldn't break out of the familiar long enough to reach such a lofty goal.
Final Word
Graphics - Stellar visuals, great character designs, and sleek guns
Audio - Average, but with moments of excellence
Gameplay - Polished gunplay but combined with a racing game made by a shooter company will give you highs and lows
Story - A superficial attempt is made to give the shooting and racing meaning, but is extremely generic