Review: Rage

In show business, it’s said that you should always leave them wanting more.

The creators of Rage must’ve taken that to heart.

The open-world/first person shooter depicts the activities of a human recently emerged from an “Ark,” one of many suspended animation units built as humanity anticipated a large meteor strike on Earth. The plan was for these Arks to be reactivated when things have settled down and then have civilization rebuilt.

Your Ark is accidentally reactivated, with all aboard but you long dead. Embued with microscopic nanotrites that help you to heal, you’re rescued and begin life in the new Earth, one ravaged by war and dominated by mutants, bandits and the Authority – an all-powerful militia seeking all who come from Arks for thier own nefarious purposes.

Befriending a small enclave of survivors, you perform tasks to strengthen your position in the community.

Playing the game involves talking to denizens of the towns and encampments to buy supplies, learn of missions and play games.

The towns offer places to purchase ammo and supplies and to sell found items and some diversions as well.

The principal diversion is racing, as vehicle use is a large part of the game. Speedways offer time trials, non-combat racing and combat racing. Winning races earns you racing certificates that can be exchanged for vehicle upgrades.

Other diversions include several simple games. Five-finger filet is the classic “tap the knifeblade between fingers” game. There is also a dice-like game that involves a holographic shootout and a music-rhythm game similar to Simon Says.

Then there’s a card game similar to Magic the Gathering, in which you begin with a starter deck of weak cards that you construct into a selection that you think might beat your opponent’s choices and have them do battle. Better and more powerful cards can be found during the course of the game.

Following the main arc of the game leads you into several rather extensive battles, with the opportunity to use several slick weapons. A fun one is the wingstick, a three-bladed boomerang that can neatly sever heads and then return to you. Several weapon also have multiple types of ammo to choose from, such as the crossbow, with regular steel-tip bolts, electrified bolts, mind control bolts and explosive bolts.

Another thing aiding your efforts during missions is an embedded defibrillator that will activate when you “die.” Doing so correctly (moving left and right thumbsticks in the proper configuration) will electrocute nearby enemies. But the defibrillator needs time to recycle, so if you die before it can reboot, you’re dead for real. Which brings up another point – save often. If you don’t save during a mission, you return to the last checkpoint – the beginning of the mission.

Many of the gadgets must be constructed of parts found in the game or purchased from merchants. Lock strippers, explosive RD cars, medical help and others can be assembled.

Another distraction from the main mission is Mutant Bash TV, an arena to face off against waves of mutants for fun and prizes – well, for money, anyway.  The carnival atmosphere and TV host vooice add to the incongruity of the killing.

The towns also have job boards – a place to pick up small jobs for cash. There is also a package delivery service that rewards you for speedy delivery.

There is so much to do in Rage that it’s a shame when it ends. And if you focus on only the main storyline – you’ll find that the game ends too quickly.

Rage also offers multiplayer action, but it’s limited in scope. There is a slew of vehicle combat options and a group of co-op missions (Legends of the Wasteland) for two-players, but that’s it. Having no FPS multiplayer is glaring in this day when every game at least tacks on basic play. Maybe the creators felt it wouldn’t add to the experience.

The game is a hefty one – 22GB – on three separate discs. Those with hard drives smaller than 40GB are out of luck if they want to install it to play. You can, however, install only one disc at a time to make gameplay smoother. That method does necessitate disc exchanging at points in the game. For instance, to play multiplayer, disc 3 is required.

In the final analysis, Rage’s environs are beautifully rendered, the game is visually glorious, the  controls are like butter and the driving is smooth as silk. But it’s over too quickly. Before you know it, the fight is won and you wonder why you can’t keep battling. It’s good enough to leave you begging for more.

Helping out a little bit with this is downloadable content available in early copies of the game (Wasteland Sewers Missions) and there will most likely be more, if the game sells well. But a little more meat on this Rage bone would have been nice.

Platform: XBox 360, PlayStation3

Manufacturer: id Software, Bethesda Softworks

Rating: Mature

Score: 9 “mutating” chilies