Rage 2
GAME PIONEERS TEAM UP FOR THE POST-APOCALYPSEWITH MIXED RESULTS CHRISBURKE
PUBLISHER BETHESDA SOFTWORKS / DEVELOPERIDSOFTWARE/AVALANCHESTUDIOS/RELEASEDATEOUTNOW/COST£49.99/$59.99
vehiclewithitsowngatlinggun.
AlthoughthereareotherMadMax-
stylemetal-platearmouredcarsthat
youcandrive,mostofthesearen’t
armed,andin truththedrivingis
theleastinspiringpartofthewhole
package.It’snotthatthevehicles
don’thandlewell,they’refine;there’s
justnotthatmuchfunin drivingalong
theWasteland’sroads,andthere’s
nothingmuchtodooff-road,either.
Seta waypointandtheroadwillbe
litupwithpinkneonchevronspointing
youtoyourdestination.Whilethis
workswellinBatman:ArkhamKnight,
wherenegotiatingtheroadlayout
ofdarkGothamcitycouldbetricky,
heretheroadsarestrictlyA toB,soit
feelslikea hand-holdtoofar.There’s
nosenseofexploration,ofbeinga
seeker,oranimperilledtravellerofthe
wastelands.Thedistancesbetween
keylocationsjustaren’tallthatbig,
either,butit’snotthesize,it’sthe
lackofanythingsignificanttodo
that’stheproblem.There’slifeoutABOVEThisguy’s
wearingthe dead
expressionof an
accountant,not
an anarchist.
LEFTThe first
Ragegot a bit of
flackfor being
a bit brown,so
the devshave
splasheda lot
of colourfor
the sequel.The first Rage was spread across three discs on Xbox 360 and took up a whopping 22GB of hard drive spaceMore Xbox news at ga THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 073REVIEW
me aof good and, following a devastating
attack on your base by the evil
Authority, the last of the Rangers. This
means being allowed to wear some
special Ranger armour, and have
everyone in the Wasteland say things
like, “A Ranger! I haven’t seen one of
those around here in a long time.”Bad Authority
To defeat the Authority, and its
mostly-mechanised leader, General
Cross, Walker must seek out legendary
fighters of old out in the Wasteland,
and along the way locate Arks, pods of
nanotech which handily upgrade your
abilities and give you new weapons.
Obviously the Wasteland is also filled
with mutants, Goon Squad raider
gangs, psycho cults and the Authority.
There are friendly settlements, where
you’ll find your allies and which also
act as hubs where you can buy
ammo and upgrades, and take on
a side-mission or two. To help you
get around, you’re given a tank-likeWe’d quite forgotten
about Xbox 360 game
Rage. The 2011 post-
apocalyptic shooter
was left rusting by
the roadside until
Walmart accidentally leaked its sequel
in its listings of upcoming games
last year. Intrigued, we dug out id’s
original, and found it to be a solid
enough if slightly lacklustre Mad Max-
themed shooter with some decent
mechanics and interesting ideas.
The news that id was going to take
it even more to the Max (pun intended)
by teaming up for a sequel with
open-world expert Avalanche (which
also did the Mad Max game), intrigued
us. On a promise of some seriously
over-powered first-person shooting,
plus a huge open-world to explore
on wheels, has Rage 2 delivered the
crazy, apocalyptic mayhem we didn’t
even know we needed?
You play as Walker, in either male
or female form, a badass on the side