Review - Rage

One of the most highly anticipated games of the year was released today. Rage comes to us from Id, the makers of Doom and Quake, and is published by Bethesda, the makers of Fallout 3 and Elder Scrolls. Good things will come of this sacred union, but let's first forget about Brink. I don't know what happened there, and I really don't want to have anyone try to explain it to me. Maybe after Skyrim ... wait, maybe after Mass Effect 3.

First things first, 60 frames a second. On console. Install to your 360, you're going to enjoy this one. Refresh rate makes everything feel smooth. Movement is quick, almost like a PC mouse on console. Not overly aggressive movement, but quick. Everything has a Borderland feel, but with texture layers. Don't worry about getting it on PC either, I don't believe they changed the graphics for the console version. Lighting from room to room will change, and you'll notice the awesome color changes. Weapons feel quick, but the enemies are sometimes quicker. AI is very well done. You'll be aiming down your sights for a clean head shot, when all of sudden, WHAM! Did the AI just avoid my bullet? Did he just roll under my shotgun blast? Did it just jump and hold onto the top part of the doorway to avoid getting shot?!? Oh, and the melee attack is almost completely worthless. What the hell guys? Quick AI. Quick movement. Good times.

So for the first two hours I thought to myself, "Do I really want to go through another wasteland game?" I spent a couple hundred hours on Fallout 3 and New Vegas combined. Now add up the old Borderland hours, Red Dead kind of felt like that too ... so I was thinking twice about sticking with the game. Then I found myself thinking, "Do I really want to scavenge for stuff again?" Fallout 3, New Vegas, Red Dead Redemption, and I just dropped over 40 hours into Dead Island. Also the story line isn't that gripping. But I got my hopes up when I heard John Goodman's voice.

Then I got to my second two hour mark, having tried a few of the mini games, and upgrading my armor, weapons and clearing out some junk inventory when I arrived at a side quest to the main story line. Some good ol' fashioned run and gun a la Quake and Doom. I'm about 8 hours in right now, just arrived at disc 2 on the 360. Debating on whether or not I should stay up and keep going or get some rest. Hmm, nothing else to play ... back in to the wasteland I go.