Every generation has that one game or series that sets a standard in certain genres other developers strive to outdo in the own way. During gaming’s seventh generation, “Gears of War” followed the lead of fellow Microsoft exclusive series “Halo” by presenting a corridor shooting experience that shifted the dynamic of gaming; inadvertently influencing so many games that would follow including the minds behind “Doom” looking to present a new IP that was more neurotic than demonic with “Rage”. “Rage” proved to be solid, yet uninspired in comparison to other offerings at the time. Fast forward almost a decade later and a sequel has arrived with a more playful attitude attached to the ability to shoot through hordes of enemies featuring a mixture of rockets, bullets that can explode upon snapping the protagonist’s fingers, and super powers that will send enemies sailing across the screen. Doused in neon pink and promising there will be a lot of blood, “Rage 2” seemed like the type of game to get a slight adrenaline rush while laughing at that adversary who thought crossing a Ranger with an upgraded shotgun actually had a chance of winning.
Did I Complete “Rage 2”?
With a relatively small map compared to a lot of what’s on the market in the open world genre, “Rage 2” actually packs a lot for the player to do. As either a male or female version of Walker – the main character the player takes control of after choosing their gender at the start of the story – the game quickly introduces the action-oriented fundamentals before thrusting the player into a world teeming with random races, roadblocks made to be opened, abilities & weapons to be discovered, and so many enemies just waiting to meet their untimely end. The world being so expansive thanks to the various side quests & mission options definitely helps pad out the actual narrative as the main story itself barely lasts ten hours (more on harder difficulties mostly thanks to tougher enemies). Those who don’t care about fully exploring the world, upgrading Walker and his/her weaponry & vehicles and just want to see how the story plays out will be done relatively quickly. Others will find a lot to do, though after a while things get terribly repetitive with a trophy/achievement list that has some luck-based criteria & grinding requirements. I found myself right in the middle being a person solely looking to complete the story while hoping to find every weapon & ability Walker can attain – a goal achieved around twenty hours after witnessing the birth of a Ranger who didn’t get their head bitten off by a gigantic beast.
Did “Rage 2” Live Up to the Hype?
After a short moment of exposition & setting the stage for The Authority from the original “Rage” to arrive for another round of attempted world domination, “Rage 2” gives the player a chance to really test out their twitch first-person shooting skills in a world just teeming with a variety of ways to kill everything from homicidal squatters who love to unpredictably jump left or right at any given moment when a firefight breaks out, laser beam-shooting mutants, and apparently gimpy acrobats that’ll hit & run to annoying levels. “Rage 2” quickly introduces the player to a variety of options Walker has beyond shooting an enemy with an assault rifle or throwing the deadly boomerang “Wingstick” introduced in “Rage” by giving Walker unique weapons and abilities that both can be upgraded via points & objects gained through completing missions, picking up feltrite crystals via storage boxes & meteorites scattered around the map, or simply going to a trader/vendor. Walker doesn’t get the most expansive amount of weapons, but each one feels incredibly useful in their own way like the stopping power of the combat shotgun or the insanity of being able to use sticky exploding bullets via one pistol.
But Walker’s special abilities are where it’s at when it comes to exciting gameplay. By discovering usually enemy-loaded Arks, Walker has the chance of learning new abilities like the Grav-Jump to allow for double jumping or being able to create vortexes that will twist & collide enemies into each other. Certain abilities like “Shatter” work well against specific adversaries such as the armored goons who can temporarily turn invisible during a hectic shootout. By upgrading these weapons & abilities, Walker can jump higher before slamming her/his fist into the ground to create a shockwave of violence or make it quicker to reload certain weapons. Walker’s base stats & skills can be upgraded as well with points gained by completing missions or objectives in the specific territories associated with the three notable allies Walker must convince to help in overcoming The Authority. These characters – the gruff old timer Marshall, the uppity mayor Hagar, & the reclusive scientist Kvasir – present Walker with “Projects” (the game’s equivalent of the skill tree) to upgrade how little damage bullets & explosions do to Walker, add a radar to find those pesky storage boxes hidden in plain sight across enemy encampments, and even knock back grenades thrown by enemies with a well-placed melee strike. While the game does a pretty good job informing a gamer about these Project upgrades, it does very little to educate the player about weapon, ability & vehicle upgrades with someone potentially not even going through the oddly slow-moving menus to notice Walker can now upgrade a defibrillator so it fully restores Walker’s health. Another thing that can be upgraded is Walker’s “Overdrive” ability. When Walker kills enough things in succession, the player has an option to put Walker in an Overdrive state that not only changes the screen color & allows Walker to regenerate health faster, but also turn whatever weapon Walker is using into its most powerful form such as the combat shotgun becoming the equivalent of a short-range rocket launcher. Using Overdrive at the right time can be the difference between a failed mission and sheer bloody blissful success.
While the gameplay is definitely a blast (no pun intended), the story leaves something to be desired. After the first half an hour, Walker is given the duty of stopping The Authority by working alongside the three aforementioned returning characters from “Rage” to create “Project Dagger”. With only a handful of story missions that usually last anywhere from thirty minutes to, at most, an hour each, “Rage 2’s” narrative essentially sees Walker go out, set up a couple of things, then takes on the big bad guy without much issue or complications before the final credits roll. Walker’s journey for redemption is relatively mundane & forgettable, and the marketing campaign that seemingly promoted sheer insanity doused in neon pink across the board doesn’t exist especially when presenting certain characters such as the rotund Clayton.
Beyond the story is the world chock full of things to do, though after a while a majority of what is offered proves to be no different than what was seen before or after it such as going to an enemy-captured gas station, blowing up the fuel tanks alongside its new owners, and looting the area. This violence loop permeates every side mission involving taking on enemies with the only differing side objectives involving racing & the destruction of vehicle convoys, hunting down missing NPCs, and taking down highly powered sentries. For some this redundant design will keep players coming back for more once the main story has reached its conclusion, but for others they may just find it too repetitive to enjoy after doing the same thing at hour fifteen that they were doing at hour two.
Technically “Rage 2” can be rough around the edges. In the opening mission there was a huge section of dialogue that I never heard thanks to the audio going out (thankfully I had subtitles on); and it wouldn’t be the first time there would be audio issues during my playthrough. Graphical problems can occur at any time including a moment where Walker somehow ended up stuck in the walls during an important boss battle. While some issues playing “Rage 2” were frustrating, nothing proved to be game breaking. Gamers looking to play with or against friends in this post-apocalyptic world will be disappointed as “Rage 2” features no multiplayer or co-op options unlike its predecessor. Micro-transactions do exist, but are solely connected to weapon skins & the like.
“Rage 2” keeps the adrenaline pumping when moving around arenas both small & large while shooting guns, throwing Wingsticks for decapitations & turning the battlefield into a blackhole. Unfortunately everything else surrounding “Rage 2” including the story, world building & repetitive side missions feel cookie-cutter at best and uninspired at worst.
Should You Play “Rage 2”?
“Rage 2” lives up to providing wild action when bullets start flying and Walkers surprises a group of maniacs or soldiers by bashing the ground and sending them flying across the area. Everything else making up the “Rage 2” experience is definitely uninspired or tacked on like various missions simply to give the player another group of enemies to shoot or items to discover that’s completely up to the player to attain or not. The story is lackluster and something no one will remember in a week’s time. Yet, the gameplay is so satisfying that it’s hard to completely dismiss “Rage 2”. The ways players can go throughout the world and obliterate enemies is glorious. This is a great game for those looking to have a mostly high-octane FPS experience; though it would be best to wait for “Rage 2” to go on sale before picking it up like so many feltrite crystals after using a rocket launcher to blow up a gigantic Cyclops.
