RipTen Review: RAGE (Xbox 360)
Nope, totally not a boss. Just a huge mutant looking to kill you.
This is where RAGE might become frustrating for some. The game doesn’t offer auto-save so you must save often, and I mean very often because you never know what’s lurking around the next corner. The checkpoint system is practically useless as it basically respawns you at the start of the mission. If you play a mission for 30+ minutes and die without saving, you’re fucked. Thankfully, saving the game is simple and fast. Press start, hit save, select your save game and it’s done within a matter of seconds. Yet, even with the save system being fast and simple, it can still be a pain in the ass sometimes.
What really makes RAGE so great is how immersive the world is. At all times the game leaves you on your toes with a sense of fear as you fight for survival. Even if enemies are unaware of your presence, you’ll hear mutants scream in the distance as you get closer to their location. In certain situations, you’ll have to defend your position against a horde of mutants. The sounds they produce as they approach can be somewhat disturbing as you cannot see them, but you know they’re coming for you. Add in a 20 foot tall mutant wielding a portable mortar, and you’re in for one hell of a ride. These giant beasts aren’t even boss battles, and you’ll fight multiple versions of them throughout the game.
RAGE also does a great job of pacing itself. In fact, it does such a good job, that it fails at the same time. In this case, I’m talking about the end of the game. I obviously won’t spoil anything but I felt id Software could have taken the story much further than where they had. Especially considering that I found the end sequence very disappointing. Once the credits roll, that’s it. You’re done. The only option you have is loading your last save point. So don’t expect any type of new game plus or backtracking here. This is all really unfortunate because of how much RAGE offers. There’s massive amounts of things to do and places to explore in RAGE, and thankfully you can travel back and forth between the areas in both discs before you reach the final quest. Even though I spent quite a bit of time exploring what I could, and taking on every side quest that came my way, I feel as if I missed out on a ton of stuff hidden within the game.
Aside from the astonishing single player campaign, RAGE also offers competitive multiplayer and co-op. The competitive side of things is vehicle combat between four players and co-op consists of two players rampaging through nine missions. Luckily, the game has a surprisingly deep multiplayer system. You level up as you play through the game modes, and can unlock a wide variety of new vehicles and upgrades. Each vehicle’s chassis, body type, primary weapon, secondary weapon, and defense mechanisms are fully customizable. You’ll also unlock emblems for doing certain challenges to display next to your name.
Co-op can be played online or via split screen, which is a great addition. You can also play solo, but your stats and achievements won’t be tracked. One of the missions, Mutant Bash TV, is essentially an area mode which you survive a series of waves, and in co-op it’s a friggin’ blast. That’s right, RAGE even has a horde mode too.
Vehicle combat is surprisingly well done.
To sum this all up, I simply must state that id Software has taken the FPS genre to a new level. They’ve created the FPS people have been waiting for for years – even if they didn’t know it. Stacked with intense, well polished gameplay, astonishing visuals, competitive multiplayer and and even great co-op, RAGE is easily the best single player FPS this year, and in my experience, the best FPS I’ve ever played.
I was once a disbeliever in this epic title, but I now feel ashamed of myself for how little attention I gave it. RAGE is a must buy for any FPS fan, and what it offers is unlike anything else you’ve played in years.
Here’s the rundown:
+ Astonishing visuals. You will not see a better looking game on any console
+ Incredible AI
+ Intense and extremely polished gameplay
+ The FPS old school fans have been dying for
+ Great campaign mission structure
+ Great amount of variety
- Save system will bother some
- Disappointing ending
- 360 users will need to install the game in order to experience its full potential
Learn more about the RipTen scoring system and what this score means. Visit our review scoring page
RAGE was developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks. It will be released October 4th on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC for $59.99. The copy used for review was provided to us by the publisher. Campaign was played until completion, taking around 15 hours to finish on normal. Multiplayer was played far less due to a lack of available people on the servers.
