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To say that I rage quit RAGE is a bit of a misnomer but I could not miss out on such an delivering such an excellent pun. The fact is that I simply realized after playing for 10 hours that RAGE is not a game designed for console players. For that reason, I shut the book on Id's latest IP and have officially begun to pray for Doom 4. Before I continue, I will preface my argument by saying that Rage is an otherwise excellent game and from a game design standpoint, Id's reputation remains mostly intact. With that said, there are certain facts that simply can't be ignored by the console audience.
I was supposed to write a review for RAGE but the fact is, I simply could not bring myself to finish the game. Is this because RAGE is a terrible game? Not at all, in fact, it doesn't come close to reaching the level of mundane that games like Alice: Madness Returns (another game that I had to quit) managed to achieve. Nothing about RAGE is necessarily bad and despite the boring storyline and repetitive mission structure, it still stands out as one of this years top-tier shooters. Mechanically speaking, RAGE works. The only problem is that RAGE doesn't work (READ: Work the way it should) on a console.
As you know, Id is a studio that known for making great PC shooters and despite some critical successes in the past, they have never been applauded as a lead console developer. Over the past several years, RAGE has been a highly anticipated FPS and Id's flashy new engine (Id Tech 5) was designed with console performance in mind but it seems to me that nothing was made to optimize the gameplay for the console audience. Without something as simple as aim-assist to account for the difference in precision aiming on the PC, RAGE quickly devolves into a backpedaling fest as lightning quick circus freaks charge directly at you. With a bit of balancing, this problem could have been avoided but the mountain of enemies that are thrown at you in combat simply doesn't play to the game's strengths. With bullets ricocheting off of walls and missing their mark almost constantly, I don't feel powerful or foreboding at all. It's a shame really because the other elements in RAGE make for a compelling game and a promising new IP from one of the industries leading developers.
But what about...
As a fan of Doom 3, I can only speculate that thanks to the claustrophobic environments and slow-moving, hulking enemies, the lack of aim assist wasn't as much of a problem. With the team already hard at work on Doom 4, I have some concerns since I don't foresee Id making any dramatic changes to their shooting mechanics anytime soon. Of course, I can still hope.
Has your experience with RAGE reflected mine?
Comments
13 years, 1 month ago
It took me three hours to realise that I wasn't enjoying Rage. Engine wise, the game is fantastic but it lacks in pretty much every other department. I couldn't get into the plot (the lack of plot in the first place didn't help), the game-play wasn't engrossing and the way the missions were structured just didn't stop the rot of my enjoyment of this game. I'd hope for it to be something else, but it just maybe wasn't a game that I was in need of at that precise time, or it just isn't for me. I may come back to it and buy it once the price goes down, or just to ignore it. I'll see how I feel...
13 years, 1 month ago
your opinion on this holds some very good validity! sometimes the pc experience doesnt translate very well in terms of a console experience.
13 years, 1 month ago
Well, I just finished the first disc, and I'm finding myself enjoying the game more than I thought I would. The lack of aim assist is aggravating at worst, but I'm more than capable of adjusting to that style of gameplay with large quantities of buckshot rounds. And the driving physics is just fun as hell, too.
Now I just need to get past the first disc. >.>
13 years, 1 month ago
to me this game was kinda like FF13 for me...It was all about the visuals until i got my hands at it and realised, it wasnt the borderlands/fallout mix that I wanted...really sad, it had potential.
13 years, 1 month ago
Never been a fan of iD. Their tech is great but they just don't design very good games.
Doom and Quake were groundbreaking, but there wasn't really anything to compare them to at the time.
13 years, 1 month ago
So, Nick...Having said all that, would you still recommend this game as a shooter?
13 years, 1 month ago
Making your statement clear the shooting mechanics just doesn't hold up to the fast gameplay on the console version, but do you think they could patch in these issues later on to make the console version just feel a lot better? (for example, Killzone 2, felt pretty different from 3, but when 3 was released, so was a patch for 2, making the game feel almost exactly the same as observed by Jeff Gerstmann (I believe))
13 years, 1 month ago
That's ironic. The PC version felt just like a shitty console port.
13 years, 1 month ago
I actually think you're being rather kind in your evaluation of the game. I spent six hours with the PC version, and at least half of that time was spent cracking up over
1. how broken the engine was, or
2. how badly designed it was.
When I was instructed to go to the Sheriff, who directed me to the mechanic, who directed me to the race announcer, who directed me to the race manager, so I could play the damn game, I had already been done with my judgement of the game. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. They would get mad at me.
The textures are nice so long as you don't turn right or left. The animations are reminiscent of Jak and Daxter on the PS2. Throwing bladed boomerangs is fun, but the combat is generally repetitive. SOMEHOW, there is actually too much dialogue in an id Software game (they say barely anything with far, far, far too many words). This game is a mess, and it didn't even inspire rage from me. My reaction was worse. I was bored.
13 years, 1 month ago
I only played it for an hour but what you said about the enemies was a problem that I had. Also, it took to much to kill an enemy, which would make things difficult. Still want to play it, at least for a few more hours.
13 years, 1 month ago
With all these good things and bad things I hear I keep getting the itch to play it myself just because I know I'm the only one who can judge whether or not I like a shooter but it is the vehicle aspect that keeps pushing me away. After all in a shooter I just want to kill dudes, I don't want scripted events, I don't want a huge story, and unless the world has some interesting places or aesthetics I don't really give a shit about that either. I guess another reason I didn't pick this up is because I hear the texture popping is bad on the PC version as well, I guess I will see what the winter Steam sale brings.
13 years, 1 month ago
I would normally say : screw console gaming and just become a PC gamer already! In this case however, the PC version is pretty terrible as well. Perhaps a lack of development time for the fine tuning?
13 years, 1 month ago
oh nick, this game is PERFECT on console. what the FUCK are you talking about? after watcing you play games for a couple years i know you suck at FPSs but come on...... ive played through rage on the console twice (secound on nightmare) and its a dream. turn it down to easy an finish if your suck
13 years, 1 month ago
At least you're being honest Nick!
Sad to hear that RAGE isn't living up to expectations though :(
13 years, 1 month ago
I've been saying for a year and a half that I had no idea why people were excited for this game. It's hard being right all the time.
13 years, 1 month ago
Rage played exactly the same on pc as it did on 360 weather thats bad or good is a matter of everyones own opinion i guess but to say its made for pc just isnt right. as far as the aim assist complaints does every one want the enemies to just stand there so you can hit them or do you like at least a little challange. having said that i managed first time through on xbox 360 on nightmare difficulty without too much trouble hitting the enemys. sure i missed some like people speak of but it wasnt any where near frustrating. Maybe i dont understand but there have been MUCH worse games this year get less shit and more praise than rage has so i just dont get the hate. its easily my top five so far.
13 years, 1 month ago
What amuses me and also worries me, is how a number of people I know aren't happy with RAGE because its apparently a pretty bad console port on PC. I do hope that id can do something cool with their new engine, if not them can ZeniMax at least throw id Tech 5 and some decent programmers to Bethesda?
13 years, 1 month ago
Good thing I didn't pick this up. Might get it when its going for 10 bucks or so.
13 years, 1 month ago
I also didn't get far, played for about 5 hours and realized I wasn't enjoying myself.
13 years, 1 month ago
Despite the graphical glitches, the short game, and lack of mission complexity, I did enjoy this game. I mainly felt that the feel of the game was pretty good (I played on PC.) The blood and gore was also pretty cool. This game was definitely disappointing, but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's bad.
13 years, 1 month ago
I am loling quite hard. The youtube PC gamers all say it's a shitty console port and now I have console players saying it's designed for PC gaming.
Either way I'm buying it when I get free time because it actually looks fun. D:
13 years, 1 month ago
I've played a lot of FPS's, and this one takes the cake. I understand that it may get stale and repetitive for some but the shooting and the character animations kept me going. The fact that missions give you so much money I was able to create a large arsenal for every weapon and just blast away anything in my path. Although the pop-in is RIDICULOUS, the graphics and characters look awesome. The weapons feel great. It is, by far, one of the best first-person shooters I've ever played. It's amazing how two people can have such different opinions about the same game...
However, the ending was, pardon my language, SHIT. Pure shit. Shitty, shitty, shit shit, shit.