E3 2013: Mad Max First Look Preview – We Don't Need Another Hero

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Richard Walker

In Mad Max, Mad Max doesn't look much like Mad Max. That's to say he doesn't look anything like Mel Gibson or indeed Tom Hardy, who's supposed to be filling the boots of Mr. Rockatansky in the new movie. Who cares when it looks this damn appealing though? Taking its cue from Avalanche's Just Cause games, Mad Max takes place in a massive open-world that looks to be comprised mostly of sand. Post-apocalyptic sand that makes up Mad Max's post-apocalyptic Wasteland. It's a desert out there.

An all-new story and a fully modern realisation of the movie series, Mad Max sees the Road Warrior without his beloved car, the Interceptor, meaning you'll need to build a new one for him called the 'Magnum Opus'. It's a vehicle that you'll come to rely on in the hostile Wasteland, so you'll want to make it as good as, if not better than Max's old Interceptor. There's a ton of customisation options to help you do just that and as vehicular combat plays a major role in the game. There are over 50 different rides in Mad Max, but you'll want to pimp the Magnum Opus as much as you possibly can.

Enlisting the help of Mad Max's 'idiot savant' mechanic Chumbucket, you'll fit the Magnum Opus with a variety of upgrades that have an impact on the vehicle in multiple ways. Say you equip the car with a huge ram on the grill; it'll cause the front suspension to drop, meaning you'll need to fit beefier tyres and a more powerful engine to compensate. That's precisely what Avalanche shows us as it takes the Magnum Opus from a standard growling muscle car, to a roaring turbo-injected, armoured beast that can withstand almost anything. It'll handle differently too, based on what upgrades you've got fused to the vehicle.

Out in the “dangerous, brutal, vicious and treacherous” Wasteland, you'll need all the help you can get, as bandits and marauders will attempt to jump onto your vehicle, batter it to bits and shoot you through the windscreen. Max can lean out of the window and blast attackers off his car with his trusty double-barrel sawn-off in slow-motion, while Chumbucket rides in the back doing his bit to lend a hand.

Max needs to take down the Top Dog during this bout of vehicle-based mayhem, requiring a few shotgun blasts to the bad guy's red fuel tanks on his car. Ride around with those, and you're bound to end up leaving a huge trail of billowing orange flame, before exploding in spectacular fashion. With the Top Dog out of the picture, Max is free to pick through the twisted metal and scrap left behind by the destroyed vehicles, scavenging precious resources that can be used for upgrades on the Magnum Opus.

Scavenging and gathering resources will be one of the most crucial aspects in Mad Max, ultimately determining whether you'll be able to survive the inhospitable Wasteland and fend off its insane, unrelenting inhabitants. Max retrieves the 'talon', a harpoon grapple that he needs to tear down a gate in Dead Barrens Pass called 'The Jaw'. With a huge ramming rig attached to the front of Max's car, rugged spiked tyres equipped for the terrain and a massive engine that'd make Jeremy Clarkson weep like a frightened child, we're ready to assault The Jaw.

Setting a waypoint for Dead Barrens Pass, Avalanche zooms out to show Mad Max's entire world map. It's gargantuan, and made up of a bunch of locked areas that you'll need to gain access to during your journey. Getting out of the car outside the pass, Max proves as efficient in hand-to-hand combat as he is behind the wheel, taking out a sniper with a brutal execution, before hurling an explosive thunder stick right into the chest of an attacking bandit.

Wielding a knife and shotgun, Max can also bust heads over his shoulder, blast foes at point blank range, or simply bludgeon them to death. It's a dog eat dog world in Mad Max. You also have tactical options to utilise, as we're shown with the binoculars, used to scope out the defences around the gate. Max busts out a massive sniper weapon that fires hefty 50.cal bullets, blowing up fuel tanks around one sniper nest that falls to flaming pieces, before executing a bloody headshot as the camera follows the bullet from muzzle to brain in cinematic style.

The bandits bang the alarm – an empty oil drum on a rope – alerting the rest of the maniacs stationed around The Jaw, prompting some more frenetic vehicle combat. Bandits can latch onto your car with grappling wires just like you can, swinging you out of control, and they'll gleefully hurl thunder sticks at your ride with nary a second thought.

Clearly Max needs to smash through The Jaw fast, highlighting that sometimes fleeing a particularly fraught and dangerous situation like this one can be the best strategy for survival. Ramming through the imposing gate, the demo concludes, and Avalanche look rather pleased with themselves. And based on quite a strong next-gen demo, they should be. Mad Max looks like yet another promising next-gen title, and another expansive open-world to lose yourself in. We couldn't care less that Mad Max neither looks nor sounds like Mel Gibson; he kicks ass.

Mad Max is coming to Xbox One and Xbox 360 in 2014.

Comments
25
  • The Road Warrior.
  • "Post-apocalyptic sand" Game changer. Sounds like Red Dead Redemption in that they're taking a template of another open world franchise (Grand Theft Auto) and reeling it in, doing less with it (i.e. No cars, horses, no radio, etc.). Do you feel like Avalanche are doing the same here? Maybe the melee combat will be a bigger thing. The locked areas seem to hint at a more linear story but that's kind of worrying since the founder of Avalanche recently said; http://tinyurl.com/n97bc6s "6-12hrs story-driven AAA games makes no sense commercially any more," he said. "Story missions are not important," Keep in mind that's from the context of an open world game where you can go anywhere and do what the hell you want within an hour of starting. Still, I guess he isn't personally writing the storyline.
  • Can't wait. My Dad who loves the movies is really anxious to play it :D
  • @2, Are you saying RDR did less with the open world model than GTA? Heresy I say! It's a shining example of how to construct a huge, believable open world full of dynamic encounters and stuff to do. OT: I like the idea of this, vehicular combat could be quite interesting especially with the level of detail they seem to be boasting. Keeping an eye on this.
  • @2 talking out of your ass.
  • Wonder if you'll get to give a man the old 'cut off your todger or burn to death' choice.
  • the game may be shite, but those screens- especially the explosion- look rather tasty!
  • I want the old XB Falcon back not this Magnum Opus shite..
  • I'll wait for reviews but I'll still pick this up regardless. Mad Max is awesome.
  • #4: Doing more (or the same) with less. Simplifying/streamlining what they've done before as opposed to the More Of Everything approach you see with most studios successive output. #5: Thanks for the insight Angry White Male Who Plays Video Games.
  • With American accents?? No!! Should have Aussie voice acting no less.
  • I love the Road Warrior movie. One of my faves of all time. The game looks worth a look and I'll keep an eye on it. Looks like a third person Rage. Will Mel Gibson do the voice? Can they put Lord Humongous in it ?!
  • wait that isn't max, it's ethan mars?
  • it's a Movie game, so it'll be crap.
  • I did see somewhere in my internet travels an interview with someone who got there hands on this at E3 and they weren't impressed. I no it's still early days but my heart sunk a little...I really hope it's not going to be shit.
  • So it's a Mad Max game that doesn't have much of anything to do with Mad Max: different car, Max that resembles neither actor, a super hero super soldier Max instead of a ruthless cop / former cop who gets shit done by the skin of his teeth, and no dog partner. Well all right.
  • Wasn't at all impressed with the short trailer, but I still like the concept (loved the movies and I'm stoked for the reboot). Hopefully Tom Hardy voices Max to have some continuity between this and the movie, as well as any Aussie actors they can get to play the other characters (god knows there are enough Aussie actors, and I don't mean Steve Blum with an accent). I know at least one dude from Mad Max will be back for the reboot, so might as well cast him too.
  • I wasn't the biggest fan of Just Cause games, but if they can fix some issues and offer a fun time I will definitely check it out.
  • I love Just Cause 2 and love Mad Max! I can't wait for this game!
  • I remember watched classic movie in few years ago. I enjoyed it movie and it is so fun. I hope game do same to how great classic movie were. Look forward to play as Mad Max and exploring Open World's game world. :)
  • Woah woah woah.....so you telling me theirs a mad max game & movie coming out? Dafuc have I been.
  • Curious to see how this will translate into a game. Big Mad Max fan, but gameplay-wise I wonder what this will be like. It isn't as if you have an arsenal of weapons; maybe a knife and the trademark sawn-off shotgun. Will that be enough for a fun game? Never owned Just Cause 2, but enjoyed the demo quite a bit. I have faith in the developer.
  • That last pic, glad they're keeping the outfit. That shoulder setup is iconic.
  • I love the Mad Max series, which was family movie night at my house. if the game is anything like the movies then it will be kickass, the one line I want to hear more than anything is,"Greetings from The Humungus! The Lord Humungus! The Warrior of the Wasteland! The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla!" That should be somewhere in the game and I would buy it just to hear that line.
  • Not for me. This seems like it will require a lot of time that I don't have.
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