When I played RAGE on PC, it was a buggy mess with a drab world and a run-of-the-mill campaign. When RAGE 2 was announced at E3 last year, however, I was pleasantly excited by the improvements and the colorful presentation exhibited.
Of all the games in desperate need of a proper sequel, no one expected RAGE 2 but who wouldn’t be excited for it when they learn that Avalanche Studios of Just Cause fame and id Software were collaborating on this? RAGE 2 hit stores on May 14 and made for a disappointing experience as it was riddled with bugs and the same problem as many open world games which lure players in with an alluring world with nothing worthwhile doing but the game makes up for it by its mixture of creative gunplay and madcap powers.
More Color, Less Fun
The world of RAGE 2 is lusher and more colorful this time around with the map being separated into 6 different biomes each with their own distinctive environments. We have the deserts of the Dune Sea, the swamps of Sekreto Wetlands and rich forests of The Wilds among others. The buildings covered with blazing yellow and purple graffiti and, trash and rusted remains from ages past add to the eye candy of a world, but there’s little reason to explore it as the side quests only consist of exterminating mutants who are confined to certain areas without any chance of random encounters with enemies or friendly NPCs.
The game takes ideas from Far Cry 5 for its mission structure, requiring you to complete side activities to gain points for the three faction leaders to gain access to their specific missions. While Far Cry 5 had an increasingly dangerous number of enemies coming after you as you progressed, RAGE 2 grows tedious really quickly. The world maybe vast but it’s a pain to navigate around it. Fast travel is limited to the three main outposts and the vehicle controls are unstable which makes drag racing unnecessarily taxing. The vehicles boast an impressive assortment of weapons but the roads lack mayhem for them to be adequately utilized. For the studio that made Mad Max, the absence of vehicular combat in this game is bizarre and astonishing. The world is only worth exploring for the various ARKs which contain your Ranger weapons and powers, Mutant Bash TV and the resource filled random meteor crashes or Ranger echoes.
An Ephemeral Journey
The story of RAGE had you play as a cryogenically frozen marine called Raine who found himself in a war with the usurping faction, The Authority. RAGE 2 takes place 30 years after the original and (surprise surprise) the Authority is back and are continuing their world dominating ways. This time you’re put in the shoes of an inhabitant of Vineland called Walker (who can both be male and female), who starts his journey of revenge after his adoptive aunt is killed by General Cross during the Authority’s destruction of his home. You need to complete tasks for returning characters like Doctor Kvasir, Loosum Haggar and John Marshall.
The story has its zany and gory bits but is let down by its brief length of 8 missions and missing action set pieces and diverse boss fights.
Guns Blazing
With id Software handling the guns, the gameplay was bound to be reminiscent of DOOM in all its bloody insanity. With a wide array of guns to offer, RAGE 2 never feels boring while blowing up your enemies or bashing their brains in with the heavy melees. Perhaps most creative gun is the Grav-Dart Launcher which gives the player the freedom to either tie the wasteland mutants into a neat bowtie of death or hurl them towards their certain doom (which can be over the canyon or straight into exposed objects). The most robust weapon is the Combat Shotgun which never fails to deliver and with the proper upgrades, it really packs a hell of a punch along with the Smart Rocket Launcher. Alongside the arsenal of raw firepower, you have nanotrite powers at your disposal. These powers which range from creating a barrier, shattering bodies or going into overdrive can be combined with your weapons to discover inventive ways to kill your enemies. Also, powers like Dashing, Rushing and Defibrillation makes maneuvering and survival easy in a difficult fight.
In the End
RAGE 2 tries to be both DOOM and Mad Max and fails to be a perfect matrimony but it does offer deliciously fun combat. RAGE 2 has some guns and customizable items locked behind microtransactions and with it being released as a games-as-a-service product, one can hope they can fix the game with more content but without the high-octane gunplay and gratifying gore this game is just a barren wasteland.
