But Rage 2 is basically “screw around: the game.” I completed one of three requirements before I even got to that point, then chain-completed the other two while I was doing the first critical questline.Īt no point was I gated out of a campaign mission. After the first five or so hours of NPC intros, the second portion of the campaign basically involves “doing a bunch of stuff on the map to level up three VIP NPC ranks to progress with the story.” Now I dig that! If it was a narrative-heavy experience with nothing to do that would be the worst kind of gating. Yes, admirable, but mostly unsuccessful.Ī narrative isn’t really something that Rage 2 sells with any degree of zeal. It also makes a point to show you who every named character is (with a little Borderlands zoom up freeze frame intro), which seems cheesy but is actually admirable, as I can’t remember who practically anyone is in most modern shooters. Times are tough in the apocalypse, and different factions have popped up amid a mostly reconstructed technological era of warfare. You have one job to do: kill the evil commander (who is part of the equally evil-sounding “Authority” regime) that obliterated your home. Once the neon vision hit after engaging overdrive for the first time and I saw the arcade-like multiplier on-screen, I was in. Even though Rage 2 has a lot of by-the-numbers mechanics (detective vision, a devil trigger/rage of the gods super-state called overdrive) it owns them. Very quickly you’re gifted “ranger gear,” the main gimmick that grants you superhero-esque powers. Although the two aforementioned shooters have plenty of company, it feels like we’ve made it into a brave new era of aesthetics.Īfter a very serious intro you’re thrown into the rainbow world of Rage 2‘s apocalypse with a pistol and the Krull thing. Rage 2‘s resting state is what I can only describe as “macabre wackiness.” There’s lots of death, lots of shooting, and an array of bright colors, which, like Far Cry New Dawn, feels like a direct response to the “brown shooter” motif: broad strokes the original Rage employed. Gone are the drab aesthetics, empty world building blocks, and tight shooting compliments of Id. It is truly a singular analog for their work thus far.
Yet, the boisterous bombastic nature of the Rage series lends itself well to Avalanche’s chaotic design philosophy. They’re an open world box of chocolates: you never know how much busywork you’re going to get.
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