Rage: Another quality release from the fathers of FPS
The number of quality games id Software has produced over the last two decades is simply astounding. Listing DOOM, Quake and many others as their prior achievements they have a back-catalogue which would make any company jealous.
Marking their 20th year since the company’s foundation is the release of Rage; a first person shooter and role play hybrid set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, which definitely does the developer’s legacy justice.
You wake up after the asteroid 99942 Apophis collides with the earth, after being cryogenically stored underground with others who could rebuild the Earth after the disaster. However, after the device known as the Ark fails you are left as the only survivor.
The game itself is a pretty conventional first person shooter at heart, but with a racing side to the game as well. For those not fans of racers, don’t be alarmed as it’s arcade style and is heavily focused on blowing up other racers with rockets.
Rage plays really well, you run around shooting enemy clans and bandits to complete objectives to help others, who in return help you. You also must avoid the Authority, who offer rewards to anyone who can bring them an Ark survivor.
It also looks brilliant, with the wasteland deserts and destroyed cities portrayed in amazing detail for something so massive. Up close as well, it looks superb too.
The shooter element sees you take on a vast number of weapons, ranging from wingsticks (think boomerangs but blades) to assault rifles to rocket launchers to defeat enemies, including one massive boss fight. There is also the option to buy upgrades and different ammo types for your weaponry.
Racing is necessary in order to get upgrades for various vehicles as you receive tokens which can be used to buy machine guns, rocket launchers and different paints amongst other things. Also a major part of this involves fighting off bandits as you travel through the wilderness.
There is very little I can fault with this game, apart from maybe it is a little too focused on vehicle combat, which can get a little tedious at times. Apart from this, it is a great looking FPS which plays brilliantly well and has to be a strong contender for game of the year.
