Shocking Introduction: A First Look at the First Hour of RAGE
By Jason Joseph at October 4, 2011 | 6:30 am | Print
Good things come to those who wait. For the folks at iD software, today may have seemed like a day that would never come, but alas, it has. RAGE is a game that has taken forever to finally see the light of day, as it was initially announced at QuakeCon all the way back in August of 2007. Two Fallouts and a Borderlands later, it may seem as though the whole post-apocalyptic thing has been done before, but RAGE is brought to you by the same people responsible for Quake and Doom, so quite frankly, they kind of get to do what they want.
The premise behind RAGE is that an asteroid crashes into the moon and then Earth in the year 2029. The Governments of the world had been tracking it’s course for many number of years and started an ark project in which people would be cryogenically frozen and stashed underground until a specified time. When that day came, they would rise from their pods and help recreate the world in the aftermath of destruction. So the asteroid hits, the planet gets demolished and some people make it, while others don’t. Your dude, he totally makes it, and he wakes up with a hundred year hangover and totally baffled by everything going on around him. So what happens? Some wastelander named Dan (who FYI, is voiced by John Goodman!) decides to hand you a revolver and send you out to bust some heads. I mean, after a 100 year nap, that’s totally what I would do in the first my first hour of consciousness. But hey, Dan just saved your bacon, and those bandits are going to be level 10 pissed when they find out Dan popped a few of their buddies to save your ass and they are going to come a’lookin your way soon. Oh, and you suddenly know that there may be a bit of a bounty on your head for getting caught wearing the ark suit you seem to have on. Yeah, better do what Dan says, right?
All kidding aside, that is definitely what I would do in RAGE, and that is where all the fun begins. It is abundantly clear from the get-go that this is not going to be your average shooter. The bandits in RAGE move in unpredictable patterns with quick and nimble precision, making it a challenge to get a decent shot before they actually get close to you. The weapons promise to be very unique and crude. Basically the type of weapons you would expect to 100 years after the whole world got crashed into by a giant rock that killed off about every living thing on the planet. One of the unique weapons you will get your hands on early is the Wingstick, a three bladed boomerang of sorts. I am not too far in, but having followed the build-up to the release of the game, I definitely know there are more cool toys coming.
As you’re about to see, the graphics in RAGE are incredible. I’ve only managed to get an hour into the game and the biggest challenge in writing all of this is my wanting to get back at it, so below you will find the first few missions of RAGE, which adds up to close to an hour. This should give you a good idea of what the game is all about, and should also be all you need to realize this game is worth your $60 and then some. RAGE is in stores now.