Rage

Tasty, refreshing, makes you wish for an apocalypse...however you want to describe it, Rage is a barrel 'o fun that combines elements of a first-person shooter and a role playing game. From the makers of Doom and Quake (seriously, it's right there on the box), Rage is a post-apocalyptic first-person role playing shooter that both looks and plays great. Though I must admit, the title makes no sense, and has nothing to do with the plot. It seems to be there just to look cool. Oh well.

In Rage, you play as a nameless, voiceless (it's a shooter, what did you expect?), lone survivor of a cryogenic spaceship crash. Your ship is called an Ark, and it's one of many. It's about a hundred years after the great asteroid catastrophe of 2029. What's left of humanity has evolved into a wacky mix of post-apocalyptic characters from Mad Max and Fallout. NPCs basically break up into three categories: bandits, The Authority, and sane people who won't try to kill you. As an Ark survivor, you're worth a lot of dough to whoever can turn you into The Authority, the ruling faction of the Wasteland. Needless to say, it's up to you to do what you gotta do to survive.

The first thing you'll notice about Rage is that it looks fantastic. Both the camera and the characters move smoothly across the screen, and the scenery shows a great level of detail. Seriously, you need to see this in HD. The sound effects are also well done. Each gun sounds different, and the voice acting is pretty good. In fact, the first person you meet in the game is voiced by John Goodman...yeah.

But don't think this game is all show, because the gameplay is excellent as well. Sure, most of the missions are the same--go here, get this, come back--but it doesn't get old, mainly because every dungeon looks unique, and you get to travel across the Wasteland in suped up offroad vehicles complete with machine guns, rocket launchers, and other fun toys. Vehicles are upgradeable through winning races. To make some extra cash you can play gambling minigames, including a futuristic, wild west version of craps, and Rage's own knockoff of Magic: The Gathering. There's also plenty of id Software Easter eggs to uncover.

The controls are easy to pick up and are very responsive. Looting is easier than ever; just point at a corpse and click, and you've cleaned it out. Even loot laying around in bunches can be gathered all at once, and you can carry as much as you want. You can also carry all of your weapons.

The weapons of Rage vary from traditional arms like assault rifles and shotguns, to awesomely crazy ones like exploding RC cars and boomerang blades (but not the one from that piece of crap, Dark Sector). Most of them are also upgradeable, and some of them can be built with the junk you find around the Wasteland. Many of them can also use different kinds of ammunition, including armor piercing and exploding. Weapons also show a convincing amount of weight when fired.

Enemy AI is also very well done. Every encounter feels different, and they come at you from all sides, including the ceiling and the floor. That being said, they don't always seem to respond correctly when they take gunfire. Before you die, you'll also have a chance to play a button command minigame to get right back into the action.

When campaign mode is over, there's two multiplayer modes: Road Rage and Legends of the Wasteland. Road Rage is an online exclusive mode focused on the game's cars. You can either race or battle your friends, and unlock new cars and upgrades by gaining points. Legends of the Wasteland is about you and a buddy letting the bullets fly in a dungeon overrun with enemies, and the best part is that it can be played on splitscreen.

Alright, so it sounds like a good time, right? Well, what about the neutered third act? That's right. Just when the game's epic conclusion begins, it suddenly ends. I dare you to finish this game without saying "That's it?" out loud. You could probably blame id Software for running out of time or money or whatever, but an ending like the one this game offers is just unacceptable. Hopefully they can fill with gap with DLC or a sequel.

To sum it up, Rage is a great game. Despite the horrible ending, the game looks and feels excellent, and is definitely worth a try.

Available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Rated M for Mature. Developed by id Software, published by Bethesda Softworks.

Image provided courtesy of WikiMedia.org.