Id Software's RAGE

I mean... wow. There's a lot of stuff there. The combos feel superfluous and the weaponry will probably default to using just the basics but i like how there are at least OPTIONS to handle combat differently (Gravity darts will probs be my least used) - but using abilities to combo and navigate is fun (Vortex grenade to boost your jump etc)

I also like how you hover when you aim down the iron sights!

And a semi flying vehicle... yeah that is a blessing. Makes the world feel big and also more accessible.

I'm digging the vibe - a good blend of Mad Max, Far Cry and a bit of the Just Cause crazy.

They're really leaning into the crazy. More so than Borderlands at this stage it seems:

Basically you get a weird narrator as DLC. I mean... fun? It sounds funny at least. And the trailer is at least amusing.

Also, I think Walker MAY actually be the protag from the first game. I think.

Hmmm, what makes you think that? Legit curious.

The photograph of walker - those we've seen show him as a bit older, but it cuts back in the mock up "VS" part of that video to a younger picture who I seem to remember was in character art for the original Rage as the protagonist.

It's been a while, but I'll see if I can find an image.

"In this new chunk of gameplay from Rage 2, check out vehicle combat, Overdrive attacks, the sadistic new Grav-Dart Launcher gun, a boss fight, and the debut of the BFG 9000 that's been borrowed from Doom!"

Gameplay looks slicker here! And holy shit you can actually side dash in a vehicle as shown in driving sequence at beginning! Cool. Vehicular shenanigans seem improved! I like. Authority forces seem more diverse. Remember those stereotypical soldier goons from last game? This time Authority soldiers have energy wrist blades, wrist rocket launchers and more. They are more durable, being Elite Mooks ! They're a lot more durable, it took 4 overdosed shotgun blasts to kill after shields were depleted. Much better than they were in last game where they just would hide behind objects and wait to have their heads popped by Sniper Rifle.

Damn I just love that grav-dart launcher.

You drive a fucking tank as well! And unlike in original RAGE which it automatically locks onto enemy vehicles, you freely control the turret!

Hey Jerek, you liking this more? Or nah?

Edited by Dhiruxide on Apr 11th 2019 at 2:46:16 PM

Have to say, I really am excited. Some of it looks a bit too familiar (Mad Max-y / Far Cry) but I think that's just par for the course for the aesthetic. The fact it's FPS is helping a lot, otherwise it'd be Just Cause - Apocalypse edition.

I like the gunplay, though still unsure how much of the "playground" side of the things like the grav dart I'll use. I tend to use those sort of weapons if I run out of ammo for the mainstays, but the reactions of NP Cs and the world look great. I like the hover bikes as well.

I have been burnt out on open world games a bit (Got so close to finishing Mad Max, but the last map just annoyed me when I was trying to get the collectibles...) so hopefully this won't be exhausting. The fact the factions all seem to have their gimmicks and are noticeably different to fight is a big selling point. Think this will fill in the gap. Far Cry 5 I'm kinda bored of, no interest in New Dawn, this seems more Sci-Fi fun and with crazy toys.

Only thing is it's trying for a weird Fallout wild wasteland / Borderlands quirk that wasn't quite present in the original Rage... so we'll see how that goes.

But frankly, anything to stop me going for traditional "Find cover, whip out the sniper rifle" pay it safe gameplay. (Knocking back grenades and generally being able to do WEIRD STUFF is fun)

Fortunately for me, I barely played any games released this decade. I can go into RAGE 2 without having played Just Cause, Mad Max, Far Cry! I did play lots of Fallout 3 tho, and one of the last things I did before I got so bored of it was to give myself near infinite land mines, arrange them in long lines, shoot one mine and watch the chain reaction go off! Fun times.

For me, I wholeheartedly would embrace the weirdness tho. Some think grav-dart launcher is gimmicky but if you get a bit bored of "regular" gunplay and want to spice it up, just doing ridiculous combos is fun. Wouldn't you want to see how far can you go with grav darts? Like for that one mega epic finish?

I mean, I loved Bulletstorm and how it just went mental. So more of that. Wackiness because "that's what would happen in the apocalypse" feels off; but completely in line for Rage's art and thematic direction.

I have found that gimmicky weapons come into their own when your fallback options are too time consuming. So, if you have an assault rifle that just "does the job" then why would you go with the fun stuff?

Games like Horizon Zero Dawn where you NEED to use the gimmicky weapons (Rope launcher, bomblets, tasers etc) - that was great. I even find myself using the grapple in Just Cause; or the combo primers in Anthem. Or abilities in Division.

If the oddball weapons are easier to use, then brill. I can see myself using the abilities LOADS and that fire pistol as a primer is brilliant - mainly because I like being as efficient as possible in combat - get as many opponents off the board as possible with an alpha strike, then you can take your time. I like controlling the field of battle - so tools that are easy to use and enable that I am all for.

The grav gun, fire pistol, darts. Love it. Sliding in, air dropping and being able to ignite people is great. I'm sad we've lost the turret and spider bot though.

Basically, i went through pphase of just being a sniper in games - Tribes, Unreal Tournament, Ghost Recon, Mass Effect, Far Cry. Sniper. Keeps me safe, far away, allows me to do a one hit kill on things, or massive damage to bigger enemies. So, this should help take me out of that comfort zone. Which I like.

Plus I love that there's a Danny Dyer voice pack as well....

Ok, this trailer sold me. I'm there. I'm FUCKING THERE.

Hell yeah. I had a good laugh as well!

Just don't let that smug cliff get to you!

The extra videos out there are really showing how well the studios have collaborated - the cutscenes are channeling the original RAGE and Wolfenstien in terms of grotesque characters. And The mutant fights look amazing.

So... I may have no pre-ordered the Wingstick edition (I KNOW - No preordering... but you get extra MISSIONS. Yeah I'm a sucker).

I'm still nervy the open world will be a collectible icon fest. But gameplay looks good enough to offset that.

I wouldn't mind some world building. And excuse for more connection to other id games :P

For me, RAGE 2 is gonna be a good appetizer to DOOM Eternal. Well... while I do believe that, I am sincerely interested in RAGE 2 as well. I was very skeptical at first and felt cringe watching the trailer almost a complete year ago but I did a complete 180.

I hope there's easter eggs like there was in original RAGE. Like you teleport to some UAC Facility on Mars or Deathshead's Compound :P

Can't wait for Patolog TV's walkthrouhgh of it. And you Jerek, do post impressions and anything with the game when you get your hands on it!

Edited by Dhiruxide on Apr 15th 2019 at 12:36:38 PM

Game Informer did a 100 questions with the dev... and they mention there may be some canon-welding going on. Perhaps more an Ubisoft way - in that Abstergo gets a mention in Watch Dogs...

So we may see some links to things.

Car combat is, weirdly, the weakest thing in the game still it seems, so I do hope they tweak that - Mad Max was great.

Yep, this pretty sums up what RAGE 2 is. And we get to see Cross's ugly face! I was expecting something strogg-like and uglier but I'll take it.

Seems like his head may be all that's left that's organic... the rest seems mostly metal.

Great trailer, they've gone for a punky, gritty tone, with OTT elements. Very stoked still.

I need something with fun combat as Assassins Creed has started to get stale and Division I got bored of.

Hey Jerek, you planning in participating in these events the game will have? Okay so you need to be online to participate and I think multiplayer is involved but no pvp because I saw a brief description of battling giant desert worms and piloting mechs. Willits also described the game will get su substantial updates after release, like expansion pack dlcs. That is my impression, I would love to have updates and expansions to an already potentially good/great game, enrich it some more.

Reckon so - I prefer leaderboards to most overt multiplayer - unless the game is geared towards a type of co-op of course.

Mechs are always interesting - didn't realise they were an option!

I watched a preview vid a couple of days ago and the guy playing was.... terrible. As if he'd never played an open world game, or FPS before. No switching skills, not really "getting" the environment. Was frustrating to watch.

I think there might be something like that... oh well, only 2 weeks before we find out!

Who's the guy? I might've seen. I watched bunch of other dudes previews.

Think it was Tommy T 999. Good snapshot - shows the finding of downed Rangers, a couple of bsses (Very reminiscent of the bigger mechs you fight in Wolfenstein) and a good spread of abilities overall.

He doesn't QUITE tie them together fluidly, so it isn't the best showing of the game, but you can see flipping between guns, being more stylish with abilities etc could be good fun. My only fear is each bit of combat gets samey, a bit too repetitive. But I think the game will be fun for a blast through.

Eh only if you go typical AR/Shotgun blazing way it'd get boring. Mix it up, which might be out of your comfort zone (or not, don't wanna assume how you do Jerek) so... yeah. And even if you do hit that point, future content is there to save the day!

I am still concerned about driving feel, controls and combat. You see, considering driving makes quite a large part of Rage 2 (or maybe some 40-49%), it'd be quite tricky to balance it right. I want to indulge in vehicular combat as much as I'd engage on foot combat. Like you drive in your monster truck out in the middle of a desert and get ambushed by Goons driving their tanks. I hope they did tweaks before release, if not... patches/updates should do it.

I really want vehicular combat to mean a lot to Rage 2 besides just being on foot most of the time. And racing as well!

Edited by Dhiruxide on May 4th 2019 at 9:08:57 PM

Racing minigames I always dislike - especially if the game has vehicles but the driving feels weak - because the AI often gets... cheats. hated it in Mad Max as it felt really off. Prefer demolition arenas with vehicles more. Or if we're allowed to actually destroy competitors that'd be great.

Arbitrary racing seems to set me fof - time limits and an event I can't beat always frustrate me. I felt similarly about the Horizon Zero Dawn Hunter challenges (Time limits, man) but I managed to gold star ALL of those, which was weirdly cathartic so maybe I'm just fickle.

If they get the driving done well, then I'll be happy.

I've been playing Ghost Recon: wildlands recently and one of the criticisms there was the driving - I'm playing on PC with KB+M and the driving works, so maybe it's just a gameplad thing? If they can give the cars weight and not have you ricochet off of small potholes like you've been hit by a Skyrim giant, then I'll be happier.

Demolition derby... I am reminded of that old game Flat Out. It'd be swell if you could ram into objects and get thrown out of your vehicle through windows and see how far can you land. An easter egg minigame in Rage 1 has you launching yourself from bike to do a score! An arena would be awesome too.

So you have your Phoenix and the opposition are goon tanks. Or you have an unarmed vehicle and all you do is ram into others. Again, Flat Out! I think it was so in Flat Out, not sure. It's been so long since I played but I had so much fun ramming into and destroying the oppositions vehicles! Since there is a degree of Vehicular Combat In Rage 2 they need an armed vehicles arena. Unless it's already in, I'm not complaining...

Either way if driving is weakest point, they better fix it in patches or an update or one of the future dlc's.

Edited by Dhiruxide on May 7th 2019 at 1:28:26 PM

Double post but here it , the launch trailer!

Kickass trailer and it gets surreal at end

...I do not take kindly to this pre-order bonus bs. BFG-9000 is only available thru special and collector's efitions.

Besides you Jerek, any other tropers here interested in playing this?

Yeah the BFG thing is a bit weird but I can see WHY.... it's a fun weird crossover... thing?

Also... SANDWORM!? Fuuuuck yeah.

Glad they're having fun AND gave us a sneak peek at the character selection screen there ;) Got mine pre-ordered so may be "ill" next Tuesday to pick it up..... :D

Looks good. Not super fond of the male VA, though. Who voices the female PC?