As gamers we've seen the End of the World, both in the conventional sense and in the 'Oh my God, Zombies are chewing on my Jugular!' sense. The Apocalypse is more often a starting point than the end of a civilization. No game is more renowned for this setup than the Fallout series. A staple of gaming since the days of PC dominance in the market, the Fallout games have shown us a somewhat realistic interpretation to what could happen in result of a total Nuclear War. Deep and story driven, the games stand as a diamond in the virtual wasteland of vapid;y generic FPS games. It has been the spawn point for many a series striving to hit it big in an over-saturated market.
In comes Rage, a product of the team over at id, creators of the legendary Doom and Quake series'. A game with clear influence from the team over at Bethesda(which helped with the game's release), but a soul on it's own. id's team used their experience in the FPS realm to craft a gunslinger's tale set on the stage of a ruined world.
The games share some similarities that have caused some to blow Rage off as just a Fallout clone(specifically Fallout 3). The Main Characters being blank slate survivors in protected environments(Vault 101, and an Ark capsule respectively), The mission structures, the first-person aspect, and certain plot points. These are valid examples, but what a lot of people fail to realize is just how different almost everything else is. Where as Fallout is about Exploration and Scavenging, Rage is all about the Action. Where Fallout is equal parts Smooth-talking, Stealth, and Shooting your way out of trouble, Rage focuses on what it does best, Mowing down throngs of bandits and mutated abominations with an inventory that gives you the go ahead to handle a problem in a variety of nasty and efficient ways.
From personal experience with both games(150 hours over 2 play-troughs on Fallout 3, and about 16 hours so far on Rage) I find myself in a sticky situation. I love the open world of Fallout, everything feels suitably grandiose and attracting, making everything you do feel that much more important, but I find myself being drawn much further into the somewhat limited world that Rage presents. Maybe it's the fact that the game looks beautiful top to bottom thanks to id's use of mega-textures, or maybe it's that the NPC's look and act spot on to their world with excellent animations(something that I found lacking in both Fallout 3 and New Vegas) and fairly remarkable voice over work. One thing I can say for certain is I wish that Fallout featured something like the vehicle sections of Rage. It might have kept me from dozing off while wandering the Wastelands, and having to restart from my last auto-save.
Rage has it's issues, like being too easy on the normal setting, minor hit detection issues, and some laughably over the top scenarios, but the fact that I can look past them so easily to get enthralled in the state of the world in it I guess is a sign that it's earned a place on my list of games I'd highly recommend. Would I have loved more exploration? Of course, but for what's here, it's well worth the time I put in. I believe that anyone with a passing interest in it should give it a fair shake and see how it holds up. Anyway, what do you think? Is it just a thief in the night, or a beacon that will herald some new blood in our beloved industry?
P.S. Sorry for the wordiness of the post, but I really feel passionate about these two series.
In comes Rage, a product of the team over at id, creators of the legendary Doom and Quake series'. A game with clear influence from the team over at Bethesda(which helped with the game's release), but a soul on it's own. id's team used their experience in the FPS realm to craft a gunslinger's tale set on the stage of a ruined world.
The games share some similarities that have caused some to blow Rage off as just a Fallout clone(specifically Fallout 3). The Main Characters being blank slate survivors in protected environments(Vault 101, and an Ark capsule respectively), The mission structures, the first-person aspect, and certain plot points. These are valid examples, but what a lot of people fail to realize is just how different almost everything else is. Where as Fallout is about Exploration and Scavenging, Rage is all about the Action. Where Fallout is equal parts Smooth-talking, Stealth, and Shooting your way out of trouble, Rage focuses on what it does best, Mowing down throngs of bandits and mutated abominations with an inventory that gives you the go ahead to handle a problem in a variety of nasty and efficient ways.
From personal experience with both games(150 hours over 2 play-troughs on Fallout 3, and about 16 hours so far on Rage) I find myself in a sticky situation. I love the open world of Fallout, everything feels suitably grandiose and attracting, making everything you do feel that much more important, but I find myself being drawn much further into the somewhat limited world that Rage presents. Maybe it's the fact that the game looks beautiful top to bottom thanks to id's use of mega-textures, or maybe it's that the NPC's look and act spot on to their world with excellent animations(something that I found lacking in both Fallout 3 and New Vegas) and fairly remarkable voice over work. One thing I can say for certain is I wish that Fallout featured something like the vehicle sections of Rage. It might have kept me from dozing off while wandering the Wastelands, and having to restart from my last auto-save.
Rage has it's issues, like being too easy on the normal setting, minor hit detection issues, and some laughably over the top scenarios, but the fact that I can look past them so easily to get enthralled in the state of the world in it I guess is a sign that it's earned a place on my list of games I'd highly recommend. Would I have loved more exploration? Of course, but for what's here, it's well worth the time I put in. I believe that anyone with a passing interest in it should give it a fair shake and see how it holds up. Anyway, what do you think? Is it just a thief in the night, or a beacon that will herald some new blood in our beloved industry?
P.S. Sorry for the wordiness of the post, but I really feel passionate about these two series.
