WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
A first-person shooter from id and Bethesda where you control a sole survivor of an Ark, one of the many capsules buried underground to preserve the human race from an asteroid armageddon, from which you emerge only to shoot the life out of countless mutants, rebels, armored soldiers, giants with tentacles, giants with bazookas, and literal mountainous giants
PROS:
- Spectacular and very enjoyable first-person shooting that'll have you frantically flailing your guns (or arrows) around as you anticipate the hoards of enemies out to gut you open, and afterwards feel incredibly satisfied as you see them flip or lose their heads or splatter into oblivion with a barrage of incredibly powerful bullets
- Extremely challenging opponents which are acutely aware of the environment, effectively making use of cover, swerving in and out of sights, hanging on walls and ceilings and railings like insanely acrobatic pros, and popping out of every darn crevice of the area
- Great enemy reaction to every single bullet; shooting one on the leg, for instance, would cause them to limp out in pain, making the final blow just a bit harder to do
- Powerful guns with several ammo types suited for distinct enemy types and environment interactions, not to mention that ridiculously powerful wingstick that can decapitatate even highly armored enemy types
- Intricately designed environments and, albeit pretty linear, interiors matched with great sound effects and that realistic screen distortions from the water dripping from the walls
- Great enemy and character design, though animations during conversations are cartoonish
- Spectacular car combat and racing events that'll have you screaming your heart out as that last car explodes in glorious slow motion, or rage in frustration as you keep hitting that rock in the middle of the road and those turds overtake you
- Several nice and enjoyable side activities, namely the Rage Frenzy card game where all you do is pick the right cards and let the game play out, the guitar chord memory game and the rather hard knife-and-hand game
- That funny self-referential joke by the developers on one of the car upgrades, as well as quite a few easter eggs on id/Bethesda's other game titles
CONS:
- A pretty weak story betrayed by the great combat, as such that it would make you care less to finish the quest giver's dialogue, or even what's really going on in the world, and just proceed to the next area to shoot those turds in the face
- The game feeling like one gigantic fetch quest, where every single person in the world just sits still in their places and you do every... single... freaking... thing, most especially the freaking Resistance who would make you prepare for their long-planned assault against the Authority alone, only to have you assault their heavily-guarded fortress... ALONE while they just wish you a freaking 'good luck' (they would give you a sweet pulse gatling gun though)
- Pretty convoluted controls and inventory/quest menus that take some time to get used to, making things like switching weapons/ammo especially during high-octane action sequences problematic, which happens quite a lot
- The pretty weak and anticlimactic final mission, where you'd expect some gigantic robot ala Fallout 4 or some other really challenging boss, only to be bombarded with pretty much more of the same enemies
- Noticeable texture popping on every game element, especially during fast camera movement, which will happen constantly
OVERALL:
If you get over the fact that much of the killing you do in the game is pretty pointless due to the weak story, and see the many other fun things to do, namely the racing, minigames and that awesome combat, Rage would turn out to be a very fun experience indeed