As explained in our preview from last year’s E3, Rage starts off typically enough with the player forced to seek refuge under ground due to an impending meteor crash. Upon remerging from this the players finds that most of the world has been turned into a wasteland, quite heavily populated with all manner of ‘infected’ freaks, nasties and mutants. Still, the lid on the story of Rage is still being kept on quite tightly, despite assertions that the player’s situation will be much clearer and more readily understood when they get a few hours in. This didn’t prevent some hands on time with three diverse areas in the game.
It's just like Mario Kart, but with more deserts and explosions.
The first level on offer was a buggy race. It was akin to a more deadly and post-apocalyptic version of Mario Kart. The addition of upgrades and power-ups such as speed boosts and homing rockets would do that for just about any game. The most encouraging aspect of this part of the game was that it handled like a proper racing game, and very deliberately avoids using the dual analog controls from Halo, which seem to have infected the majority of shooters with vehicles. And for the record, it controlled extremely well. However, the opponent AI was quite ruthless and most had a difficult time keeping up with it, which will make it interesting to see how this aspect turns out.
The second level threw players into an improvised arena, complete with waves of freaks/mutants and a mini-boss. Not that the boss was that mini… it was actually a freak/mutant the size of a small office block. While impending death seemed to at the end of each swipe of a club, a very generous demo load out meant that following some persistent rocket launcher and shotgun fire, all the foes were dealt with. Just. The enemies were fast and brutal, while the boss took a lot damage before going down. Following this battle, the players had to find an entrance to a hospital. While coming across an offline switch, the game showed off some intuitive level design, where inquisitive players would find that following the cable coming out of the switch would lead you to the required power supply.
No, that's not the one you should be worrying about.
The third demo level on show threw players against human AI. But first, in order to progress, players encountered laser grids, which needed to have their power supplies shut down by using EMP grenades. The first one was simple enough, as it sat next to the grid. However, they got harder, as the power supplies got further and further away from the grids. One was only visible through a few tiny doorway gaps, but in an example of how finely tuned the controls were, getting out a precise grenade wasn’t a serious issue. Keep in mind, the demo was played on the Xbox 360.
Once the humans were encountered, they were tough. As they are heavily armoured, the best way to take them down was to first shoot off their helmet, then go for the head shot. Enemies would use advanced tactics too, such as retreating and using cover. While it didn’t seem consistently effective, the team tactics required you to stay on the ball. Furthermore, outside of the reassuring stable of Id weapons (such as shotguns and rockets) and other standard and possibly new weapons, there are numerous assisting tools, such as fixed and mobile turrets, as well as a remote controlled car that doubles as a remote controlled explosive. This is apparently the tip of the iceberg.
Spider turrets, a must for all post-apocalyptic escapades.
What really stood about Rage though, was that it was among the best running and finely tuned console games of this year’s show. It controlled like an absolute dream, and the frame rate was ridiculously smooth. Id Software stated last year that it was their goal to have the game running at 60 fps on all three release platforms and are definitely on track for realising that goal. Finally, the designs detailed above, such as following the cable to the power supply, finding the grid power supplies and differences in enemies that you face show just how robustly designed Rage is and that Id still has something to show despite years out of the limelight.
Rage is very much on track and looks like it will finally be released this year. And it’s making a lot of the right noises; heaps of gameplay variety, astute designs, fine tuned mechanics and what could end up being some of the best technology across HD platforms. Still, it’s a very ambitious title with a number of potential pitfalls and Id Software still has a lot to prove before players can start celebrating the return to form of the famous development studio.
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