Rage

[Hoserman117]

Installing the game as we speak... it's at 63% right now. Can't wait to play

[theMileHighGuy]

First impressions?

[CoryWinget81]

I like it. It's probably the best FPS I've ever seen on 360, graphicswise. Gunplay is smooth, story is pretty enthralling.

It's what Borderlands wants to be when it grows up, basically.

[DoomTrooper]

I like it. It's probably the best FPS I've ever seen on 360, graphicswise. Gunplay is smooth, story is pretty enthralling.

It's what Borderlands wants to be when it grows up, basically.

That sounds good to me!

I'll be picking up my pre-order on the way home from work tonight. Can't wait!

[#87Birdman]

I think to me this game will fall into the same fate as Batman AC because of the length. It will probably be a game I get next year when they drop the price and they have buy 2 get 1 free at gamestop. And I will pick up this and Batman then. Its just hard to spend that kind of money anymore unless the game can last me for awhile.

Borderlands had the multiplayer with mulitple characters and it also had a new game + so while it wasn't as great (came out a few years ago) it had pieces to add to replayability.

But Rage looks good just looks like a game I will just wait on.

[theMileHighGuy]

I think to me this game will fall into the same fate as Batman AC because of the length. It will probably be a game I get next year when they drop the price and they have buy 2 get 1 free at gamestop. And I will pick up this and Batman then. Its just hard to spend that kind of money anymore unless the game can last me for awhile.

Borderlands had the multiplayer with mulitple characters and it also had a new game + so while it wasn't as great (came out a few years ago) it had pieces to add to replayability.

But Rage looks good just looks like a game I will just wait on.

Me too, too many other games I want that I already can't afford.

Maybe Christmas.

[DoomTrooper]

I think to me this game will fall into the same fate as Batman AC because of the length. It will probably be a game I get next year when they drop the price and they have buy 2 get 1 free at gamestop. And I will pick up this and Batman then. Its just hard to spend that kind of money anymore unless the game can last me for awhile.

Borderlands had the multiplayer with mulitple characters and it also had a new game + so while it wasn't as great (came out a few years ago) it had pieces to add to replayability.

But Rage looks good just looks like a game I will just wait on.

Me too, too many other games I want that I already can't afford.

Maybe Christmas.

That's fair enough, I understand why you feel that way. There is definitely more of a feeling of "justification" to buying a game that can be played over 40+ hours on your first playthrough, rather than 10-12 hours.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money on games this year, it is definitely a good idea to sort of stretch your money and wait for the longer games that'll keep you busy for more than a couple of weeks.

[Amari24]

Definitely Shooter of the year. Gears 3 doesn't even come close, neither will any other shooter that comes out this year. Simply amazing. I'll be back to post a review when I get a chance.

[theMileHighGuy]

Definitely Shooter of the year. Gears 3 doesn't even come close, neither will any other shooter that comes out this year. Simply amazing. I'll be back to post a review when I get a chance.

Lol.

Don't fault me if I take your opinion as slightly biased

[Puddleglum]

Lol.

Don't fault me if I take your opinion as slightly biased

While you do have a point, I would like to hear what he says. At this point I feel like I've read enough of his posts in this section to have some inkling as to what he likes/looks for in a game and I'm prepared to say that his preferences coincide with mine in more than a few ways. With that in mind anything he says (or Hoserman for that matter) about Rage will probably be weighted more heavily in my book than anything the "professional critics" have to say about it.

[theMileHighGuy]

While you do have a point, I would like to hear what he says. At this point I feel like I've read enough of his posts in this section to have some inkling as to what he likes/looks for in a game and I'm prepared to say that his preferences coincide with mine in more than a few ways. With that in mind anything he says (or Hoserman for that matter) about Rage will probably be weighted more heavily in my book than anything the "professional critics" have to say about it.

Indeed. I'm just having fun. I often disagree with Amari, but I definitely respect his gaming opinion. Hoserman, well...

[canadiansbronco]

Definitely Shooter of the year. Gears 3 doesn't even come close, neither will any other shooter that comes out this year. Simply amazing. I'll be back to post a review when I get a chance.

I dont know about that even if it would deserve you just no COD will win it....

[#87Birdman]

Yeah I would like to hear what they got to say about the game. I will probably get Sky rim so that can take my many hours lol. But the game looks interesting so looking forward to the reviews.

O and if Call of Duty wins the award it just because the masses swarm to those games that keep pushing out the same game reskinned. The only reason those games are good are because they have a good multiplayer, and thats all I have played on any of the last few installments is just multiplayer. So I hope Rage can take shooter of the year and it leads to some good games down the line. Just wish I had the money to buy a few of these great games that are coming out.

[Hoserman117]

Only got to play it for about 2-3 hours, had to head back to campus to study.

Definitely looks like Borderlands from an art style perspective, which is great. I loved the Borderlands art style, this is that but with graphics ramped up the wazoo. You definitely need to install the game, I read about some of the technology behind the game, basically the game world is one giant texture, so if you install the game, this loads much faster, saving RAM space for everything else. The game runs at a buttery smooth 60 FPS the entire time. As far as graphics goes it's the best looking game out there IMO. Some textures look pretty ugly up close, but as long as you don't sit there to stare at random walls inside buildings or use the sniper to zoom in on cliffsides just to scope out the textures you'll never notice.

As far as gameplay goes, it's definitely an Id shooter. Very responsive controls everything feels right, guns give good kick and sound great. It's definitely not a realistic interpretation of guns as you'll pretty much be getting pinpoint accuracy, but that's not an issue, it fits with the game. One of the cooler things I've found so far is a monocle that basically acts as a scope for your pistol, you raise it up to your eye with your left hand and then shoot the pistol, it doesn't make any realistic sense, but it's awesome. I've also dabbed a little bit into engineering new weapons, the wingsticks are really fun to use, I built a sentry turret but didn't get the chance to use it. Videos make it look pretty cool.

One of the more satisfying things about the gunplay are the animations that enemies have when they're shot. If you shoot them in the leg their leg will get kicked out and they'll stumble, if they're sprinting at you and you shoot them in the shoulder with the shot gun they'll spin to that side and stumble, enemies will get knocked down, stunned, etc. It all feels a lot better than somebody sprinting at you, and you just pump 2-3 shells in them till they run out of health.

One complaint about the game so far is that it isn't very hard. I'm playing on Nightmare (hardest) difficulty and it's pretty easy. They do have a pretty sweet death minigame where you defibrilate yourself, it's a lot of fun and a good idea, but you only get to use it once every 5-10 minutes so if you die within that time span after reviving yourself once you have to revert to an older save.

The game definitely isn't an expansive open world, but it's still pretty open, you use vehicles to drive between mission hubs and then to get to your objectives. The combat is always in enclosed environments, I did encounter a sniping segment, so I'm sure they'll be some more of those. Driving is a lot of fun, but I haven't gotten a vehicle with weapons yet, I was just about to and then had to shut it off. Based off of videos I've seen and the driving I've done I'm sure it'll be a blast.

Overall storywise there isn't much there just yet, you kinda just pop into existence without much back story (very similar to Borderlands) and start doing your own thing. I'm sure more will get fleshed out, but so far all I've been doing is fetch quests, luckily the gameplay is good enough that this won't bother you. The levels and enemy reactions and combat are varied enough that you'll keep having fun.

Can't go too into the whole game since I haven't played much, but I'll keep posting thoughts as I make my way through it. Looks like a good purchase so far

[Amari24]

Not all that far into the game. I've only clocked about 2 hours or so, but I have a lot to say based off that. MileHighGuy, I'll try my best to be as unbiased as I can possibly be, but id has won me over with this one.

First thing I have to say is RAGE looks ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. It looks far better than any shooter I've seen on the PS3 and 360. Even better than Crysis 2, which I held as the best looking console game before this. The art style is just stunning, and it has visuals that won't fail to disappoint. There was one point where I was just standing around for a few minutes, observing anything and everything, and you normally wouldn't see anyone do that for a console game. It looks THAT good. Awesome work by id.

Moving on to probably the most important thing. The GAMEPLAY is also really really good. It has real fluent control, the sprinting feels actually realistic, as if you were the one running with the weapon in your hand, and the movements are mind blowing. The shooting mechanics work better than any shooter I've played, not named Killzone. But what I really want to gush about is the AI. INCREDIBLE work by id once again. I don't think I've seen the same AI movements/animations yet. There's always some cool or different way you'll kill someone. The AI reacts in ways that you'd never think possible in a video game. I thought Killzone 2 had some realistic AI when it came out, but RAGE takes it to a whole new level. They'll retreat, flank you, group up, and try all types of different maneuvers and tactics to outsmart you.

The story so far isn't nothing to boast about. It's your typical sci fi story I think. You're basically new to the world and the environment, and you go around earning trust of other citizens, while avoiding the Authority, whom I have yet to encounter. But I can tell it's going to be epic. So while the story is nothing amazing as of right now, it's certainly good enough to set the pace for the game. It could be a whole lot better though.

The driving is surprisingly good as well. When I first saw footage, I though "meh", but once you actually get used to the driving, it's like you're playing a whole different game. It reminds me of a Twisted Metal type game, and the mechanics, once again, work really well. 343 should take notes, so they can improve the vehicles in Halo.

The game itself isn't as open as I thought it would be, but there is still a lot going on. It's not Fallout/Skyrim big, but don't kid yourself. The environments which you traverse are pretty large. Do I wish they were bigger? Yes, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices, and I feel that they were for the best.

I also like the mood that the game sets. It gives you a better visualization of "post apocalyptic" than Fallout in my honest opinion. When you're walking around, looking at the sky, or the background, it makes it more believable that a comet actually hit the Earth, and this is the end result.

I know some of you were talking about RPG elements a page or two ago, and let me tell you, there is a lot more going on than even I thought. You can craft and combine different materials to form one new object, you can buy different enhancements or add ons to your armor, weapons, and vehicles. It's actually more than id led us to believe. Not one the scale of Borderlands or Fallout, but it's certainly there.

So far, that's all I have to say now. And note, I've only played about 2 hours, and I've already told you this much. I'll periodically post here as I encounter things worth sharing throughout the game. It's a really great experience, and I don't think you guys should miss out on it.