RAGE

Review from Matt - Thursday, 27 October 2011 @ 2:10am

RAGE has inspired mixed but largely critical reviews around the internet and print media. And I can't help thinking it's inspiring a mixed but largely critical review of it in me too.

Among other thing, RAGE is held back slightly by its pedigree. Id Software are responsible for Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake, and it's fair to say they've created and then continually redefined the FPS as a genre. That's a hard standard to keep up, and regression to mean is almost a given in this situation.

And regressed it has. RAGE has seen scathing reviews, giving it 3-4 out of 10, with criticism of its gameplay and a few design choices. I can't disagree with these reviews, they're subjective experiences, and in most cases valid. But I'd give it just a bit more than that if we were enough of a grown up website to commit to a number.

Holy crap! Raidin is in this game!

You can read a lot of reviews of criticisms of RAGE, but there are some aspects to it that are not just good, but exceptional.

Graphics have actually been pretty well praised, but here I was initially disappointed. The PS3 version looked rough, surprisingly rough. Like... standard definition rough. On a modern game this is not what you expect. Textures were messy, and the edges were badly aliased.

Then I realised I had my PS3 set up wrong - I'd only just set it up and the only options I'd allowed were 1080p and SD. So I allowed 1080i and 720p and boy did things change for the better!

When you're not retarded, Rage looks pretty good. Very good. The graphics are crisp and detailed, with a surprisingly effective blend of stylisation and realism. Nowhere is this more the case than character design. NPC characters, both enemy and friendly, have complex lighting on them, depth of character, surprising levels of detail. They've been well realised and very well animated.

In contrast to my mild disappointment with Deus Ex: Human Revolution's character animation and design, RAGE shows us what CAN and SHOULD be done in this area. It may not be at the level of LA Noire, or example, but it's a good bar to set for shooters.

Shooting bad guys in a corridor!

The looks department isn't limited to characters, either. The levels are detailed and well created, with the run-down post apocalyptica being effectively conveyed. Some scenes and vistas are impressive in their own right.

Another place RAGE shines is in the animation and AI of enemies. At one point I was watching my housemate play the Xbox version. He had this mutant thing running at him. As he fired, it leapt to the right, dodging the shotgun blast, jumped up on a railing and sprang from that on top of him. It was a surprisingly fluid and natural movement, and a huge leap up from the running at you or even just taking cover and shooting that we get from most shooters. AI is similarly good. There's a type of morale system in place, and as you take out enemies their buddies will often get the shits with the whole thing, falling back or just running away, usually shouting commands to their comrades. The movement of enemies within the level is also interesting. They'll vault over obstacles, and move around, clambering over things. They're far more fluid and dynamic that the majority of games, and that is impressive.

Little touches in enemy reaction are also impressive. If you shoot an enemy in the shoulder or arm they will react accordingly. If you shoot them in the foot they may well clutch at their foot, screaming, and then limp around. It's this attention to detail that is impressive.

I could end this review here, and give an overwhelmingly positive outlook on RAGE.

Unfortunately I just can't do that. For everything RAGE does right, and very well, there are a number of key areas it fucks up royally.

There are two main areas of the game. Being a shooting game. And being a driving game. Despite looking like an FPS at a glance, there are a lot of driving sections to get from mission to mission, and entire racing sections required to get through the story. Unfortunately the driving mechanic is not particularly profound. It's workable, but it's not amazing, and it doesn't feel like it really adds a lot. As a shooter is where Rage's core really is. And it's just a little bit broken.

The main thing that shits me is the save system. The vast majority of shooter games on consoles have a checkpoint type system. Rage does not. If you die near the end of a mission you can be returned right to the very beginning of the damn thing. There IS a save system that you're expected to use, but that's intrusive and requires stopping gameplay in order to save. Not to mention it means you have to know where it's actually going to get dangerous so you can save in advance.

Shooting bad guys in a corridor

Aside from that, there are other problems. The levels I mentioned earlier as being so pretty are hideously linear. Invisible walls block what seem like obvious paths, and funnel you down this one straight track.

The biggest issue on a technical level I had with RAGE was sound. The opening cutscenes on the PS3 version the sound kept dropping in and out. It was unwatchable. In trying to fix it I skipped the cutscene. My housemate, who played the 360 version, didn't have that, but we BOTH have the sound get "muddy" and confused if you play for more than a few hours. This is, frankly, fucked.

The biggest overall problem, though, is the setting. Rage's post apocalyptic setting immediately invites comparison to games like Fallout and Borderlands, and in a lot of ways those comparisons are deserved. Because of the presence of those two games, Rage gives a sense of having been here before, and not really particularly wanting to go back, especially in the slightly dull and humourless way Rage is presented.

Well... at least that's the biggest problem to me. The biggest problem to many people is that they played it on a PC.

A rare pic: NOT shooting bad guys in a corridor

I opted not to wait for a PC version, which is surprising for me as my PC is good and I hate FPS games on consoles. And by Jove I'm glad I did. The litany of horrors experienced by those who played it even on the highest end or most standard PCs is truly unacceptable. Id defined the FPS, but they defined it on the PC. Fucking over PC players so badly whether by accident or through neglect is a slap in the face of the people who made id what they are today.

Pros

• Excellent character animation and design
• Amazing AI and enemy interaction (with bullets)
• Excellent weapon/ammo change system
• Stunningly well realized game, graphically

Cons

• Terrible sound bugs
• Utterly unacceptable PC issues
• Bland story
• Car mechanics and sections feel tacked-on and pointless.