Rage for Xbox 360

Game Details
News (19)
Review
Previews (7)
Videos (16)
Images (73)
Cheats & Walkthroughs

Rage New Impressions

By Abbie Heppe - Posted May 04, 2010

At first look, Rage appears to be an unholy trinity of Borderlands, Fallout 3, and BioShock. Since that involves traversing post-apocalyptic wastelands, vehicles, weapon modifications, and engineering crafty elements of destruction, you might wonder what sets Rage apart from those other games. Well, Rage has been in the works for quite some time, as has iD Tech 5, the updated iD engine technology that is the foundation for Rage and, eventually, Doom 4. For those who don’t get excited over sexy new game tech, I’ll illustrate how noticeable the engine is within all the trappings of the game. The initially arresting component of the demo is the sheer amount of detail in the world. Tim Willits, lead designer and iD co-owner, joked that “perhaps too much time” had been spent in the details, but it’s certainly apparent in the game’s locales. Of course, that’s a combination of the engine’s abilities and the art and design of the game. The world feels like it actually has people living within its borders. But sure, we see an awful lot of pretty games in this day and age, so there has to something more, right? Glad you rhetorically asked.

First, the backstory: Rage takes place in a post-apocalyptic Earth, devastated by the impact of the Apophis asteroid. Thanks to Google search, I’ve now learned this is an actual asteroid that scientists fear may strike Earth in 2029 or possibly head back for a second try in 2036. At any rate, I’ll sleep well tonight and see, kids? Video games is learning! Anyhow, in preparation for the event, the government stored its best and brightest away in underground Arks to ensure the survival of humanity. You are the lone survivor of a horribly damaged Ark, and you emerge into a vastly changed Earth populated by fellow survivors of the asteroid's impact…some of which are horrible mutants. Yes, the Fallout comparisons are inevitable, but Rage does many things to divorce itself from the obvious similarities.

That brings me to the exciting part. As a huge fan of shooters, and iD shooters in particular, I’m always excited when a game does something I haven’t seen before. This became apparent as we left the open world and embarked on a mission. There’s a lot of combat variety in Rage, through engineered weapons (like turrets and a toy car with a bomb strapped to it), environmental kills (electrocuting water, etc.) and your arsenal of guns. But I was not prepared to see how the AI moves through the world and reacts to damage. There are many clans in the Rage world, all with their own attributes, and the one we saw were particularly acrobatic, swinging down from the pipe fixtures and flipping off walls as they executed attacks. Most impressive was when the player turned down a hallway and one came in, bouncing off the walls before roundhouse kicking our character in the face. They quickly knocked down turrets and got right back to their primary target; so quickly, in fact, that we didn’t get a good chance to see the turrets in action. But hey, that’s good AI, and I can’t wait to see what surprises the rest of the game has in store. It’s amazing to think that every enemy and NPC in the game is mo-capped and animated so carefully.

Rage

Rage is certainly a distinct break from the corridor shooter one might expect from iD (though last year’s Wolfenstein began to play with open-world elements), and it already hints at more story than Quake, Doom and Wolfenstein combined. There is a massive body of fiction behind Rage and it’s hard to tell what’s more impressive: the technological advances that we expect from iD, or the massive feat of storytelling that’s traditionally absent in their games. Rage has absolutely made it onto my “most anticipated games” list.

Screenshots & Images »

2 Images
6 Images
2 Images

More Screenshots & Images »

Comments

Oldest First

Displaying 1–20 of 37

12 2

Dynamo903 Show Hide(5 Replies)

Rage *looks* neat, but, I'd rather they spent their time and resources on another Doom game.
iD are legends in the gaming industry.

Posted: May 4, 2010 7:47 AM | Reply | Report

-19 thumbs up thumbs down

5 Replies
CrimsonDusk

Great insight, I was glad to hear you got to see so much of that game and can't wait to get it so that gets me to my question: when is it going to be released, 2010 or 2011 because I heard you Rage it's one of the games you'll expect next year and that would be sad.

Posted: May 4, 2010 7:49 AM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
ricktrip0821

Rage is looking better and better every time i hear about it. I Love Fallout Borderlands and Bioshock, So if the game takes some key gameplay elements from those games and makes them the same or better thats fine By me. I Can't wait to play this game.

Posted: May 4, 2010 7:53 AM | Reply | Report

+11 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
ScienceOfSleep

man that looks good.

Posted: May 4, 2010 7:55 AM | Reply | Report

+3 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
Clariget Show Hide(3 Replies)

Come on, G4! They have never spelled their name lowercase "i" uppercase "d."

Posted: May 4, 2010 8:07 AM | Reply | Report

-11 thumbs up thumbs down

3 Replies
d3stroyer427

I can;t frakkin wait! I have been hyped over this game for quite a while (since it debuted at E3), and it looks amazing!!! I'm glad some info is finally comming out about it =)

Posted: May 4, 2010 8:07 AM | Reply | Report

+2 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
Neotech

This is looking really cool, can't wait!

Posted: May 4, 2010 8:07 AM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
lowkevmic

I'm really excited for this game!! I never played Fallout 3 or really got into Bioshock, so to me this will look like a completely new original game!!

Posted: May 4, 2010 8:21 AM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
JustTheBeginning

Looks great.

Posted: May 4, 2010 8:30 AM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
Tman88

@Dynamo903

iD is currentlt working on Doom 4 as well as Rage.

Posted: May 4, 2010 9:26 AM | Reply | Report

0 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
Klok Show Hide(2 Replies)

WTF?!
Why is this labeled as only crappy xbox instead of PC?

Are these people really that stupid and dishonest?

Posted: May 4, 2010 10:23 AM | Reply | Report

-18 thumbs up thumbs down

2 Replies
blueboykc

adam and abbie just sold me on this game..i didnt know a lot about it before watching the video...very very informative..

thatnks for the awesome talkabout you guys..

Posted: May 4, 2010 10:34 AM | Reply | Report

0 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
UnJaked

Dude can;t wait for this game fells like I've been waiting three years already. You can't go wrong with ID they are by far my favorite studio Bungie is next

Posted: May 4, 2010 10:58 AM | Reply | Report

0 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
Randeh

The game sounds pretty amazingly detailed and fine tuned, but let's be honest here: Borderlands 2 and Fallout 4 will most likely come out before Rage. By then everyone will realize what I already know: post-apocalyptic FPS is the new WWII FPS. At least Borderlands was self-referential and produced a new style of FPS gameplay.

Posted: May 4, 2010 11:22 AM | Reply | Report

0 thumbs up thumbs down

1 Reply
NUKEMANN1995

lets hope it can hold its hipe, looks cool though

Posted: May 4, 2010 12:46 PM | Reply | Report

0 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
nikolijobes

I know that what I am about to say is hurtful and insulting internet prattle from a troll who does not know thing one about this game (ME), but between this preview and the one on IGN, the uniformly bombastic enthusiasm for this game makes me think that either this game is the digital second coming (obviously a possibility) or that something sucks in Interwebsville.

I guess I'm apologizing for cynicism everywhere, but the linguistic gushing over a game that's evidently something like a year out from being released is unsettling. Again, this game really could be the digital second coming, but after a while, imbibing from the continually renewing font of hype trends towards a bitter after-taste. Oh, and for comparison's sake, IGN is way more gratuitous in their exclamations.

Here's a probably meaningless apology for questioning your professional integrity, Abbie Heppe and Adam Sessler, but you guys are great and do deserve one. Sorry for Troll.

Posted: May 4, 2010 2:56 PM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

1 Reply
bloodysilence19

rage pretty much takes BL awesome gameplay and mixes fallout 3 great open world style and ups the visuals to make it a great Rpg style game. cant wait till play it defently looks great

Posted: May 4, 2010 5:53 PM | Reply | Report

+2 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
TheFeedMack

i saw this in like August of last year and i was immediately sold if this gets released in 2011 ill get it first day but this year i have to buy brink reach crisis 2 and either Call of Duty black ops or medal of honor maybe even Madden 11

Posted: May 4, 2010 7:45 PM | Reply | Report

0 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
franticsociety

Looks exciting, let's hope it makes it onto all platforms.

Posted: May 4, 2010 7:47 PM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
TheFeedMack

i would love a coop or multiplayer aspect but i will be getting this game no matter what

Posted: May 4, 2010 7:50 PM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies