Damning with faint praise: RAGE.

[theweaselking]

So, RAGE is a video game. It's basically what Fallout or Borderlands would be like if they were made by ID Software, and not, y'know, by companies who make GOOD games.

It is a pure FPS, no levelling or character progression choices beyond "Now I have a Machine Gun Ho Ho Ho". It is PRETTY AS FUCK, no, seriously, this game looks awesome. It's a decent FPS, without falling into the design traps of ID's previous games[1][2]. It's got nods to nonlinearity and some side missions that are great fun, but it's linear. Really, really linear. Half-Life or Bioshock linear. It PRETENDS to have an open world, but the world really isn't open, and the levels specifically once you choose a mission are straight lines with the occasional secrets.

Perhaps the best description of it I can give is "a way prettier Half Life 2, with a less interesting story, a MUCH better combat engine, and the option of doing some of the missions out of order and some challenge missions that you can choose to skip."

It is WELL WORTH the $5 I paid for it, and that you can pay for it, right now. I can see EXACTLY why it's got a $20 non-sale price. Had I paid $60 for it new when it came out, I would be pissed.

But for $5, it's a good game, worth looking at.

And there's a co-op multiplayer that I haven't gotten a chance to try yet. That could be fun.


[1]: While there are combat setpieces, there are relatively few Doom-style "Okay, I've stepped into an obvious combat zone, now all the perfectly normal walls will retract and enemies will jump out of places they could not have been hiding" setups[2]
[2]: So far.

Comments

[argonel.livejournal.com]

For what it is worth I did buy it when it was full price and played through it once. It was exactly what I was expecting plus a little bit. Specifically I view it as a massive tech demo to show off features that other companies can turn into really good games. I wasn't expecting it to have a color pallet that extended past shades of black and/or brown. I really like the art style and the detailing of some of the textures, and the linearity of the game doesn't actually bother me too much, it just doesn't have that much replay value. Steam says I have played for 22 hours, which is substantially better than some games.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I pretty much agree with you 100%, except for the "this would have been worth full price" part. And that's the only relative part!

[almostwitty]

Standard question - are there any creepy-crawly aliens or insects in it?

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Not really, so far? The sentry bots (which you build, and which are on your side) are slightly spiderish. If spiders were made of metal and had machine guns and sang happy little robot songs to themselves as they slaughtered your opponents.

There are harmless flies in several areas.

[rbarclay.livejournal.com]

Ah well, another tech demo by id Software.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I think it would be better if it wasn't SO DAMN OBVIOUS that half the missions are just "go through a previous area, back to front instead of front to back, that's LIKE a new level".

And if the levels were maybe a wee bit less COMPLETELY LINEAR HOLY CRAP.

But yeah. Very pretty tech demo. And okay gameplay, for a $5 title.