Oct 26, 2011
Why id Software should develop Fallout 4.
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Pros:
+Absolutely stunning visual design and graphics
+Vistas and locations are serene, recognizable, yet completely destitute and foreign
+Controls are superb for both FPS and vehicular combat
+Great soundtrack sets the mood
+Enemy reactions to environment, your performance and actions are very well realized
+Runs at a full 60fps without a single hitch
+NPCs and enemies animate smoothly and lifelike, animation is simply amazing
+A.I. isn’t just smart, but aware of you, the environment and how situations play out
+Guns are very satisfying both during gameplay and aesthetically
+Fully realized and believable world
+Great audio and voicework ranging from Tara Strong to John Goodman and Steve Blum
+Menu system is organized
+Unique approach to the apocalypse where so many games before rely on war
Cons:
-Texture pop-in plagues the game
-Latter part of the game, when action begins to pick up, is over fairly quickly
-8GB install eats up space
-Joystiq was given a free copy
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I have never played a game by id Software. Now, that half of you have stopped reading, while the other half continue to do so while shaking your collective heads in disgust, let me say that I have a lot of respect for the developer’s track record. Again, while I haven’t played DOOM, QUAKE and other titles by them, I can see that id is a very talented team. And, I see that shine with RAGE. I’m a sucker for the post-apocalyptic, and id has taken a very cool approach to it in premise and design. An approach that honestly makes me wish that Bethesda would hand over all development duties of Fallout 4 and beyond to them. Right from the start, RAGE had me hooked with its opening cinematic, haunting score and while there isn’t a lot of freedom in choice, there is in exploration, experience and excitement.
In the near future, the human race faces extinction in RAGE, when an asteroid is set for a collision course with Earth. To combat this event, mankind creates arks, capable of housing up to 6 human beings, that are put into cryogenic stasis in hopes that man will emerge and begin again following the catastrophe caused by the asteroid. As with all plans, things don’t go accordingly and your ark is damaged, leaving you the only survivor and emerging into a desolate, yet serene, wasteland over 106 years later. Bandit gangs rule the wastes, good folk huddle together to eek out a living in small to moderate sized settlements and the Authority keeps it all in check, or so they say. As John Goodman’s character, Dan Hagar, puts it upon your awakening… “Welcome to the future.”
You take up the role of a nameless, silent protagonist that is an ark survivor from the old world. These people are hunted down by the Authority and redeem quite a bounty for those that turn them in, as Dan points out, the first of many NPCs you meet. The game itself is full of a very vibrant and robust cast of characters ranging from the crazy to bizarre, and most are memorable.
Character development is a bit limited, but again, the wide range of personalities among the characters more than makes up for it. The protagonist, in particular, has limited backstory, but a lot can be left up to the imagination of the player to fill that role. As for the story, it takes a few twists here and there, as you learn more about the current state of the world and its origins within the old world.
Whether you’re racing around the wasteland or gunning down bandits, in the aforementioned world, the controls work very well. Mere moments after getting my buggy, everything felt like second nature, while running and gunning, in such detailed environments at 60FPS, is an absolute joy. And, there are plenty of tools to aid you in your fight. RAGE offers the standard gun types like an automatic rifle, pistol and shotgun, but whereas in other FPS titles you’d use a certain gun for a given situation, this game goes one step further. Each weapon has 2-4 unique ammo types. For example, the shotgun has its standard slugs, but also explosive slugs to turn it into a grenade launcher and EMP slugs to short out technologically dominant enemies and do damage. With this, a weapon is useful not only in certain situations, but also against certain enemies, so there really is no useless gun in the game.
When paired up with the likes of various gadgets, killin’ goes one step further. There are a few different grenade types, but also gadgets like the remote controlled car bomb, which has a mounted camera to scout out the area, but also blow enemies sky high. Besides that, there are sentry turrets to hold down a position, and sentry bots that stay at your side amidst a gunfight. Among many others, my particular favorite is the wingstick. A boomerang with a homing sensor that seeks out enemies, with a bit of aiming. Its very satisfying to lodge one of those bad boys into an enemy’s skull while reloading or even pulling the trigger.
RAGE is absolutely gorgeous. The new id tech-5 engine, which makes this possible, is stunning in practice. Not one crevice, mountain peak or valley looks the same in RAGE, and draw distance for all of this has as much depth as the world has detail. There is, however, a bit of texture pop-in, but its very easily overlooked when you take into account the amount of detail the open world has and the fact that it all runs at 60FPS – something you almost have to get used to.
Character models and the like, NPCs, vehicles, robots – you name it – it animates fluidly and realistically. NPCs have very lifelike and natural animations that are superb, while getting behind the wheel of car and leaving a dusty trail, in its simplicity, looks dazzling. Getting back to NPCs, while some are simply fixing or idling about, plenty can be seen bumbling around town and they also recognize your efforts throughout the game, as well as your status within the settlement. My first visit to a large settlement, many people scoffed at me, some didn’t even acknowledge me walking passed. But after winning a race, a few people complimented my driving skills, and following a favor, for the mayor, that helped the town, a few more began to open up to my presence in their community. This gave the world another layer of depth not found with just good textures and a heap of polygons.
Enemies also have great animation, as they not only react to the stimuli you place upon them, whether you shoot them in the leg causing them to limp away or their arm forcing them to grab it in pain, but also their surroundings. Some enemies will wall run at you, leap off barriers or simply take cover behind them. Meanwhile, depending on player performance, enemies will have different chatter amongst themselves as they’re either forcing you to retreat or getting massacred. Enemy A.I. is not only intelligent, but aware of not just you, but its surroundings and current state of being. That isn’t to say its like taking on a human opponent, but enemies don’t file in, take cover and wait to get slaughtered.
And, the overall design of the world in RAGE strikes a beautiful balance between the familiarity of our world and the estrangement following a disaster of apocalyptic proportions.
RAGE has a lot of lasting appeal to it. There’s always something different to do that breaks up what dominates most shooters… shooting. Around the wasteland are things to find and collect, arenas, races and deathmatches to participate in and, when you’ve had your fill of side missions and whatnot, continuing on with the main campaign is always an option. Various NPCs go on with their daily lives and will have new dialogue and quests at certain points in the game, as well. And, there are an assortment of mini-games to take part in, all of which are unique and fun. There are also multiple difficulty levels for the single player experience, while co-op missions and competitive races to take part in online.
RAGE is, again, a beautiful game. From its rich world, that finds serene beauty in desolation, its estranged familiarity with an incredible amount of depth to its bizarre and memorable NPCs that populate it the game was quite an experience to be had. I had few complaints as I explored the world and navigated its dungeons and before even making it to the halfway mark in this, my first id Software title, I knew I wanted a sequel… I wanted more RAGE. This game stands as a brilliant example of how big and beautiful a game can be, as well as why Bethesda needs to hand over all development duties of the Fallout series to id Software. In the end, RAGE did not make me want to quit.
RATING: 9.5/10
This review is based upon having over an 80% completion rating, in the status screen, and finishing the single player campaign and some online, clocking in at roughly 15 hours.
Developer: id Software
Release Date: October 4, 2011
Platform: PS3
# of Players: 1-4
Online: Yes; Co-op, Competitive
Trophies: 49 Offline/2 Online
Install: Yes; 7.7GB