An unwanted sequel to an already mediocre shooter, one of the more baffling AAA releases of recent years. The original Rage was as bland in its gameplay as its desert brown color palette but at least it was somewhat focused and fairly inoffensive compared to this. Rage 2 seemed like such a desperate concept since the initial reveal, from the "how do you do, fellow kids" level Twitter antics to the Andrew W.K. promo at E3 I just kept rolling my eyes at it all. That same lame, in-your-face attitude comes through in the game's writing as well - it's like a rotten mix of Borderlands and Mad Max. Pretty asinine stuff.
So, the narrative blows and the tone is off but surely the gameplay is where Rage 2 shines then? Well, yes and no. The gunplay can feel really good if everything goes just right in an explosive shootout but more often than not you'll just end up bumbling around, waiting for your ability cooldowns to recharge while an armored enemy in front of you refuses to die from the third shotgun blast. There's a bizarre feel of half-baked design lingering around a lot of the game, not so much just a lack of polish in one department. The open world does not add much, if you've played a Far Cry game after 2012, or Avalanche's bona fide Mad Max game... Mad Max, you've seen what Rage 2 has to offer as well. At least there's some variety in the different regions of the wasteland. Driving feels solid but it's not much more than a means to get from point A to point B. Vehicular combat on the other hand feels really cumbersome and it sucks that you can't repair most of the vehicles on the road.
This is at its best a serviceable podcast game, I couldn't even entertain the thought of actually paying attention to the plot or worse yet: reading the data pads. Imagine reading the data pads in Rage 2. Now that's insane!! Will never ever return to this one, thank you Xbox Game Pass.
So, the narrative blows and the tone is off but surely the gameplay is where Rage 2 shines then? Well, yes and no. The gunplay can feel really good if everything goes just right in an explosive shootout but more often than not you'll just end up bumbling around, waiting for your ability cooldowns to recharge while an armored enemy in front of you refuses to die from the third shotgun blast. There's a bizarre feel of half-baked design lingering around a lot of the game, not so much just a lack of polish in one department. The open world does not add much, if you've played a Far Cry game after 2012, or Avalanche's bona fide Mad Max game... Mad Max, you've seen what Rage 2 has to offer as well. At least there's some variety in the different regions of the wasteland. Driving feels solid but it's not much more than a means to get from point A to point B. Vehicular combat on the other hand feels really cumbersome and it sucks that you can't repair most of the vehicles on the road.
This is at its best a serviceable podcast game, I couldn't even entertain the thought of actually paying attention to the plot or worse yet: reading the data pads. Imagine reading the data pads in Rage 2. Now that's insane!! Will never ever return to this one, thank you Xbox Game Pass.