Rage Hands Off Preview - Rage... Against The Machine

33
Richard Walker

Awesome is the word. It's the word id Software's Tim Willits uses to introduce Rage and it crops up countless times during the demo, but nothing can prepare us for what we actually see once he fires up the studio's first game since Doom 3 for our viewing pleasure. Our initial reaction is, “this must be running on a high-end PC. It looks...well, awesome actually.”

So when Creative Director Willits declares that what we're being shown is genuine Xbox 360 code (and apparently the current PS3 build is actually more stable) being run on a standard test console, our jaw hits the floor. It might sound like a fusion of Borderlands' open-world of Arid Badlands and Fallout's narrative involving notorious subterranean vaults inhabited by some of the last vestiges of mankind, but Rage is still very much a hardcore id FPS in the same vein as Doom or Quake, and is its own game. It's big, bold and gloriously OTT, putting the guns at centre stage with meaty assault rifles and brassy, staccato shotguns boasting serious impact, but more on that later.

Picking up after an asteroid decimates much of the land, you're an escaped human experiment and “nanotrite” (nano-tech with regenerative properties) injected man-out-of-time who prematurely emerges from one of numerous underground cryogenic chambers known as Arks. As such, you begin the game clad in a distinctive Ark suit, which you'll need to ditch at the first Outfitters you come across, lest you draw the unwanted attention of The Authority – Rage's all-pervading malevolent force.

Of course, the barren desert wastelands are filled with every type of reprehensible scum imaginable, from vicious, marauding mutants to unscrupulous, violent bandits - there are plenty of ugly, ragtag enemies to show the business end of your gun to. And of course, this being id, there is a variety of loud, brash weaponry in your arsenal and you can carry as many of them as you like as there's no encumbrance and therefore no limits when it comes to firepower.

It's not all about the guns though, and in the demo we're taken through by Willits, we're immediately shown the Wingstick – a glaive-like throwing weapon that silently decapitates bad guys with minimal fuss – and the first kill comes when a mutant is messing with our buggy. One throw of the Wingstick later and the bulbous-headed creature drops to his knees with a gushing neck stump between his shoulders.

Jumping behind the wheel of the buggy again brings to mind Borderlands, but Rage's take on desert driving looks so much more robust and accomplished with the vehicle's twin mounted machine guns making short work of the other hostile cars inhabiting the valley. One brief drive across the sandy plain, hemmed in by looming, vertiginous craggy rock formations and we're at the entrance to the town of Wellspring – the first of the game's two main hubs. (It's perhaps worth noting that the game's two hub towns will each form a one disc chapter in the Xbox 360 double disc release).

A brief loading screen pops up, and within seconds we're in a bustling hive of activity, surrounded by a variety of colourful characters and ragged store fronts assembled from salvaged junk. Everywhere you look, there's someone doing something, whether it's Jackie Weeks offering you the opportunity to earn a race certificate, Ginny suggesting you buy some new duds or Dallas in Wellspring's rowdy bar seamlessly issuing an impromptu mission to gather bottles of water.

It's an environment dripping with detail and incidental audio, like the sound of flies buzzing around a flickering lightbulb or the chattering of the folk as they mill around. On a side note, the audio design in general is superlative, fully immersing you in Rage's atmospheric world. Next up, we're taken down into a water-refining plant manned by engineer Carlson, who wants us to enter the lower levels and clear out the bandits who have hijacked the well and are threatening to poison the water supply.

Beneath the surface - covered in the distinctive graffiti tags of the Ghost clan - the crossbow comes into play, with crackling electro bolts loaded into its chamber. Taking out groups of lurking mutants is a simple case of firing an electrified shot into the water they're standing in, frying them in an instant. Each of Rage's weapons will have different ammo types that you can use, and the electro bolts are just one example. You'll also have a range of gadgets in your arsenal such as radio-controlled cars with explosives strapped to them and crawling spider turrets that can be used more than once or salvaged for parts if they get damaged.

There's a very real sense that although Rage is very much an id game, Willits says that the team “didn't want to do another Doom or Wolfenstein,” and this looks as though it'll deliver on that promise by offering more in every department. The visuals look like concept art brought to startling life running at an ultra-smooth 60-frames per second, there's added depths in the upgrades and other details, and most importantly, the core shooting mechanics appear to be every bit as solid as you might expect, although it'll take a proper hands-on to actually gauge just how well Rage is shaping up in that department.

But on the basis of everything we've seen so far, Rage can't fail to be something incredibly special indeed. If nothing else, id's uniquely enviable FPS pedigree will see to that.  And as for multiplayer? “We want to make sure it's awesome before we talk about it,” says Willits. Of course, because awesome is the word.

Rage is gearing up for release in 2011.

Comments
33
  • this game keeps looking better and better. cant wait
  • looking good
  • looks pretty good but will probably be a rent even when he does come out :P reminds me of borderlands from the images
  • i meant it not he lol we really need an edit button :)
  • wow nice
  • Can't wait for some video footage and gameplay. Game is shaping up to be wicked.
  • Wow the scene in pic 12 looks amazingly real for a video game. Might be the first new game I buy since AC2
  • Doom/Quake creator working with Bethesda? How could you ever go wrong?
  • Borderlands + Fallout + Multiplayer ?!?!?! Oh god can't believe it. REALLY can't wait.
  • Bethesda is only publishing
  • Day one buy!
  • @#8 - They own them now =O @#10 - Yeah... id is developing. You know, "id Software" who created Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein...
  • #10, Bethesda owns id software now. I'm sure they're doing more than publishing. Didn't Carmack say something about them putting resources into this game? Good move Bethesda. MD in the house!
  • Here's a quote from ZeniMax head Robert Altman: "Our role will be to provide publisher support through Bethesda Softworks and give id Software the resources it needs to grow and expand."
  • Go Bethesda. They didnt go wrong with buying ID software.
  • Borderlands 2.0, Can't wait for this game.
  • Reminds me of Borderlands.
  • Jeeze people are stupid. Borderlands was, "WOH DIZ LUKS LIEK FALOUT 3" Now this is Borderlands? Anyone that says that is so ignorant, did you just look at the screens, saw it was a FPS and post apocalyptic, then comment to say it looks like Borderlands? Did you know this is a racing game too? You didn't?! Oh! Go read up on it instead of commenting.
  • id is back baby. Rage then Doom 4 and then the world can end.
  • This game looks great...However I want more DOOM 4 info...Still this will definitely be a day one buy for me...Id Software=FPS
  • #18, this looks like gran turismo :o/
  • Looks great so far.
  • This looks fantastic, 2011 is too far away.
  • Shit, how have i never heard of this game!?!? Those screens look bloody sweet!
  • This game screams "B-lands" all over again. But because it's id, it has a damn good chance of success.
  • So...it's like Borderlands only not crap?
  • no encumbrance!!! finally I can carry everything I find
  • "So...it's like Borderlands only not crap?" One can only hope. ID makes excellent shooters, I really wish that they deliver this time too.
  • Id's been working on this game forever...what it must be like to get compared to every other "guns in desert" game that comes out along the way. By most people's logic, Rage would be copying Jak 3 too. Whether it's the original Fallout or anything after, they're all inspired by past media: comic books, novels, movies (Mad Max, anyone?). Why not enjoy that we can now play games that truly do this genre justice.
  • This game keeps looking better & better. The graphics look ace!! Bethesda NEVER dissappoint!!
  • This sounds like so like borderlands... Lol Can't wait what bl2 will look like after this comes out^^ If it has co op like bl it's a must buy tho^^ And boo at Id I was hoping for another Doom game^^
  • @#21 about #18 I thought it was more like Forza3;) Some people just like to hear the sound of there on voice.
  • borderlands?
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