The Misadventures of Shawnsey

So last tuesday I went out and bought my pre ordered copy of Rage from ID sofware and Bethesda softworks. I just want to start out from the get go saying that this game is the best visual game i have ever seen. Now I was taken aback by the insane amount of area coverage and detail in the previous Fallout titles that Bethesda released, but this Id tech 5 engine blows those graphics out of the water. The attention to detail in ever ounce of the game's landscape, from the graffiti on city's walls or to the facial features on the NPC's.

The game is definitely an Id software game at its base with bountiful way of disposing of enemies, but with a Bethesda twist to its core. Each weapon that your character finds has its distinct purpose, and also has up to four different types of rounds it can fire. These round can vary from the "Pop-rockets", which is a shotgun based round that turns your weapon into a grenade launcher, to the electric arrows of the cross bow, which if use properly can dispatch a handful of enemies with a well placed shot into a puddle of water. Besides all the fun you will have with the different rounds, there is also the customization of the weapon with the purchase of additional parts the weapons become a little better each time. Another feature that makes this game show its Bethesda colors is the fact that your can pick up tons of random junk in the wasteland and use your engineering, yes I said engineering, to create items within the game to help you throughout your travels. These extras items range from some basic bandages, to an advanced sentry bot that follows you into the fight.

Now with your usual FPS there are enemies that shoot back at you and take cover but this game changes it up with amazing AI and erratic movement. Two fantastic examples are the mutants which come running at you with whatever it seems they can grab at the time, leaping from windows, climbing up objects, and dropping down from rafters, making for a tuff time looking down the barrel of a gun. The other example is the Enforcers of the Authority, these are advanced military force that can take loads of damage and use there surroundings quite well. Usually in groups of three or more, when greenlighted to attack they jetpack in from a drop ship. With one member leading the way with a holo shield, that you may was well forget about shooting, and the following member trailing right behind until cover is readily available. They move just like SWAT time would upon entering a building. Takes a lil bit to develop a good tactic against these units but once you can stick to it.

As for the plot of the game its a similar tale as the fallout games, sans the fact that your are linear in your story, they give you the notion that you have a choice in tasks but you don't. They try to hide this fact by giving you the ability to do side quests for non important NPC's as well as the use of a job board, which has posting of mission you can do for more money or items such as schematics. Even though it's linear the story holds up well and you like the characters you interact with, especially with the use of famous actors, example John Goodman. If I am to be honest the last mission is a little lack luster, incredibly easy, and uneventful, but definitely leaves a huge opening for DLC and second game.

Overall the game is worth buying it is a breath taking view into the way that FPS's can and are going. If you are a fan of Doom or Fallout you will enjoy the gameplay as well. If I were to rate it a 8.75 out of 10.

I don't know why I wrote this, I think I was really bored and wanted to see if anyone would read it