Rage was demonstrated to us on the Xbox 360. A couple of hours prior to that, we had witnessed the PC version of Crysis 2 and suffice to say, Rage managed to hold its own. The developers on hand commented that they were committed to releasing a product that would run at full 60Hz and 60fps, and were unwilling to release it in any other state. From what we saw, id Software are well on the way to fulfilling this.
The original concept of Rage was pitched as a cross between a racer and a first person shooter. While this requires some context, the demo shown to us has managed to shed a bit of light. Firstly, the early word from the story tells us that an asteroid is heading towards Earth. The governments of the world have gotten together to set up ‘life pods’ to be buried just beneath the Earth’s surface, so that survivors can get out post armageddon to repopulate and rebuild the world. However, something has gone terribly wrong with your pod and nothing seems to have gone to plan as you emerge and see the ‘new’ world.
Welcome to New Vegas! Out wait... Wrong game.
The demo dropped us off somewhere roughly three hours into the game. We were informed that by this time, you will have found that a lot of the survivors of the asteroid hit have become mutated and aggressive. And numerous paranoid NPCs seemed to be more than willing to tell you this. What struck us immediately was the visual integrity of the early build. Rage is looking to do the whole ‘open world’ thing, and while we were impressed by the scope and attention to detail, we also noticed something 'natural' taking place, which we'll elaborate a little later.
Rage is likely to get compared to three recent shooters/open world games: Fallout 3, Borderlands and Bioshock. And to an extent these comparisons are inevitable and warranted. All three of these games have made a significant impact on FPS gaming, so they’re likely to be fresh in player’s minds. Still, there is time for Rage to show what is does well on its own.
It would be easy to lop the driving in Rage in the same boat as something like Borderlands. However, aside from the size of your game world necessitating the use of vehicles, the developers are looking to offer much more. Not only will you be able to customise your vehicle, you will be able to participate in a variety of racing options, which are set to reflect just about any respectable racing game. The customising depth becomes clear, as early on in the game, you are presented with a mission that has you building your own vehicle. Given that your landscapes look a lot like the deserts of Nevada, you might be reminded of the original Motorstorm.
Do YOU come with the game?
One aspect of Rage that was mentioned and definitely noticeable, was a natural and streamlined interaction with NPCs. If you were looking for someone in the irradiated Washington DC in Fallout 3, you'd have to open up and go through a conversation and then try to decipher the directions. In Rage, we walked into a room to find some NPC’s gesturing in the direction of the person we were looking for. If this were to be implemented well, it could really make an impact on how player interaction is developed in games, as well as how a player is kept involved in the game. Such natural actions were also evident when you actually talked to other NPCs, and become more prominent as the demo was played through.
So we’ve mentioned the racing, which we only saw a little bit of, so another aspect that should be mentioned is the combat. As a first person shooter, you know that the game will be at least more functional than a VATS-less Fallout 3, and it will include some of the traditional corridor shooting that made id Software famous. A circular saw-like disc was shown off and it would return to you if thrown successfully, occasionally taking off an enemies head along the way as well. In another mission, we were shown how electrocuted crossbow bolts could have been used on enemies standing in water. That, and you’ll eventually get weapons such as remote-controlled bombs and walking sentry guns.
To get some of the more exotic weapons, you’ll need to collect plans and build them. Sound familiar? Regardless of that, it seems that we’ve only been given a sneak peek at the surface of the combat that will be involved in Rage. One minor concern for us was that the enemies seemed to make good meat bags that took a lot of bullets to take down. Still, there is time for this to be rectified and the overall combat to be spruced up.
Unemployed Mad Max extras take revenge.
Given the open world nature, the game will have numerous distractions in the form of exploration and mini-games. As mentioned, you’ll at least have plans for weapons and accessories to find, as well as an economy to sustain in the game, so we’re looking forward to seeing what else will be on offer. While we’ve only seen dusty Western-styled environments and townships so far, we were informed that there will be a lot more diversity as you play through. This includes one town that was apparently built out of a subway station, where the locals are meant to act differently to the locals in the ‘Western’ towns. Finally, we’re informed that there will be some sort of sci-fi element introduced at some point in the game.
It’s likely that when you learn more about Rage in the coming months leading into its 2011 release, you’ll get the impression that you’ve played it all before. Through out the demo, it did sometimes feel like Rage was a couple of years late. However, it’s not until you really get your head around the differences and subtleties implemented into the game that you realise the potential that could be on offer. Furthermore, id Software is a highly experienced and proficient team to have at the at the helm of development. As such, Rage is a title that you’ll definitely be hearing more about over the next year or so.
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