Rage 2 is a game I have been quite excited to play. I really enjoyed the first game and was curious what Avalanche Studios and ID Software could achieve together. Avalanche Studios is known for their open world games; the Just Cause series and 2015's Mad Max. Of course, ID Software is well known for its rich body of work on first-person shooters; and created both Quake and Doom.
Anyone that knows me would find it hard to describe me as refined. When it comes to food it's not much different, although I am partial to cheese and crackers with a drop of red wine. There are so many great cheeses and quite a variety of crackers, don't even get me started on red wine. I have, unfortunately, had some mediocre experiences with cheese and crackers. This is normally caused by the cheese drying out or the crackers getting soft. Playing Rage 2 I found asking was this a tasty experience or a mediocre one leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth?
Story
Rage 2 is set in a dystopian world, where the world as we know it is gone. There are few safeish places for people to hang out but it is very much a cruel cruel world with bandits and mutants ready to kill anything that moves. There is an army of sorts fighting the good fight who have specialists called Rangers. Life wasn't hard enough so General Cross, an old enemy long thought dead, appears to remind everyone it could always be worse. After Cross wipes out almost every soldier including the Rangers he leaves smugly. You play as Walker, a young soldier who has stolen/borrowed some Ranger armor. If Doom Guys and Master Chiefs armor is full-fat Coke then the Ranger armor is Coke Zero. Walker swears revenge against General Cross and goes in search of a way to stop him once and for all.
There are side missions/stories but with the exception of rewards it doesn't add anything the story and most people you return seemed to give you a shoulder shrug and 'meh' reaction. I thought this was a shame as it would have been a great way to expand on the Rage universe. The main story itself is okay but with so few missions it never really fully drew me in.
Visuals
The visuals in Rage 2 are...interesting? Despite the world being pretty much a wasteland, there is actually a lot of bright colors. I liked this for the most part and helped provide light in a very dark world. The non-human enemies look really well and could certainly see how Doom influenced the game. When it comes to the human faces and details the world sometimes looked a little simplistic, non-rendered or slight underdeveloped. I found this to be a real shame and similar to the story it just seemed like it never reached its full potential.
Overall there were some great visuals, but they were let down by some the lesser ones used in the game.
Music
I enjoyed the music used in the game, a few styles of electronic music blended together to make a great soundtrack for the world of Rage 2. Unfortunately, it's not very easy to find the actual music just a Spotify 'Official Soundtrack' none of the songs the best of my recollection were used in the game. The score was composed by Swedish composers, Andreas Kinger, Johan Nilsson and Eirik Røland. Between them, they worked on the music for, Gauntlet, Elite Dangerous, and Renegade Ops.
There is a one-hour main theme you can listen to on YouTube which seems to contain some of the music used in the game. Elias Adaptive Software was used to produce the soundtrack, it basically helps create a dynamic soundtrack rather than a static to help produce a more immersive experience.
Overall a pretty solid soundtrack that was well suited for the wasteland of Rage 2.
Gameplay
The game is a first-person shooter and playing it did remind a little of playing Doom (not really a bad thing). There are a limited number of weapons in the game, all of which can be upgraded. There also secondary items like grenades, drones and the return of the wing stick (kind of like a mix of the Glaive from the movie Skrull and a boomerang). Then there is your Ranger armor, it offers some interesting abilities like ground smash, das, and vortex. While they were good I found most of the time I relied on my weapons as they were faster, especially the assault rifle and combat shotgun.
Each ability you learn can be upgraded and additional perks can be purchased too. There are also projects which can be used to make minor and major changes to the gameplay. Some of my favorites being able to carry more ammunition, health, being able to find items more easily. A pretty solid system and a bit different from the normal skill tree leveling systems found in many games.
There are cars available in the game, which you will need as the world is quite vast. There are many upgrades to purchase and some of them can help you own the roads, such as rockets, improved chassis, and auto-cannons.
There are tons of side objectives which all help in making you stronger. Initially, I was thinking 'yeah I'm going to get everything' and then after twelve hours I thought 'no I'm good'. Quickly they became very rinse and repeat and decided to focus on the main story. Unfortunately, the story itself is extremely short and definitely could have used, well, more.
Overall I had fun playing Rage 2 I was always felt wanting something a little more that never quite materialized.
Final Thoughts
So after sixteen hours how did I feel? A little underwhelmed. The story was okay, the visuals were okay, the music was good and so was the gameplay. The issue I had overall was that the game had potential but never quite managed to achieve it, the game was okay but nothing beyond that. This one gets 3 out of 5
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