I’m a fan of popcorn movies. I find value in a quick, self contained film that keeps your attention for a couple of hours. It’s the kind of movie that’s fun, but isn’t going to net any awards. You’ll probably forget about it within a month. I believe there’s an argument to be made in support of this kind of entertainment and in terms of video games, there’s no better example than RAGE 2.
Allow me to elaborate. In 2011, id Software released RAGE to lukewarm reception. The title was fun, but lacked charm or staying power. Now, 8 years later, they teamed up with Avalanche Studios to release the sequel, RAGE 2, published by Bethesda/ Zenimax.
Thus far, RAGE 2’s been met with a similar reviews. Game Informer gave it a 7/10, with IGN upping that to an 8. The consensus is that RAGE 2 isn’t the kind of game that we’ll remember years from now but rather a quick, simply fun adventure.
Back to my original point, I believe that 7/10 games have value. I’d even go so far as to say that it’s necessary to have a stock of middling titles at any given time. RAGE 2 came out on May 14th, and while I’d purchased it that day, I did’t get around to having the time for it until that weekend. For those few days, RAGE 2 perfectly fit my schedule. I managed to finish the (admittedly short) story in 20(ish) hours, and while there were some moments that dragged a bit, the time that I spent with it felt much shorter than I remember it.
It was fun. I’ll go into the finer details in a moment, but the key takeaway from the time that I spent with the game is this: RAGE 2 is a popcorn flick. It’s nothing to write home about, but I don’t regret giving it my time or my money. In the most general sense of the idea, it was worth it.
With that out of the way, let’s talk details. I’ll start with the narrative, as it’s the first thing we’re introduced to. RAGE 2 takes place 30 years after its predecessor. Society has somewhat rebuilt itself after the meteor Apophis collided with Earth, nearly ending all life. Humanity had prepared for this in two ways. First, they sent ECO pods into orbit to be brought back down to the surface after collision to restart the ecosystem. Second, they buried cryogenic vaults known as Arks with survivors and technology built around nanobots known as nanotrites, to be resurfaced along with the re-entry of the mentioned ECO pods. You play as a male or female Ranger known simply as Walker, and after your home is destroyed by an army of clones known as The Authority, you set out to take revenge. You meet three war heroes from the previous Authority war six years earlier, and work with them to build up Project Dagger: a permanent solution to taking them down.
It’s a pretty straightforward plot. It works here, but it’s realistically RAGE 2’s weakest aspect. Characters are forgettable, and while the superb voice acting all around helps establish some connection with the cast, the writing is flat and leaves most just feeling like objective vending machines. “Go here, retrieve this, and kill everyone there.” It’s not a problematic plot (looking at you, HBO,) but it doesn’t do much for the title. The factions felt flat and underdeveloped, and the antagonist isn’t memorable.
To get around to story objectives, you’ll use one of RAGE 2’s large selection of vehicles. You start the game with the Phoenix, a beaten up old Ranger truck with basic equipment. Over time, you’ll upgrade it with extra weapons like mortars and weak spot missiles. It’s a satisfying process. These weapons; however, don’t feel necessary. Vehicular combat is expensive, and typically doesn’t justify how long it takes. Sure, knocking out huge convoys is fun at first, but quickly becomes tiresome and frankly, unrewarding. For the most part, once you unlock the game’s single seat helicopter, vehicles exist purely for getting from A to B. It’s a shame, somewhat.
So far, the game hasn’t proven its worth. But, as it tends to go with id Software titles, the value of the game comes from combat. To put it plainly, RAGE 2’s combat is a blast. It’s genuinely some of the best made gun-play in any title of the genre. There are 8 guns total, and I found that I used almost every gun semi-frequently. The shotgun has a satisfying punch to it. The assault rifle is quick and accurate. The heavier weapons are powerful, but balanced. Walker is personally outfitted with a suit of Ranger Armor, giving them access to a wide variety of abilities like a ground pound that drags enemies closer, a force push that strips armor, a blink move that shakes enemy targeting, or even a depolyable energy wall that absorbs enemy fire while charging your other abilities. Overdrive increases weapon damage and regenerates health. There’s a lot to unpack with combat, but it works very, very well. Encounters almost never felt stale, as the game gives you plenty of options for approaching different objectives.
But once you’ve cleared the hostiles at any given location, RAGE 2 slows down to a near halt. Clearing objectives at locations is typically A.) Blow up gas containers, B.) Destroy a Solar Array, or C.) loot all of the containers and find the hidden data pads. It gets very tedious very quickly, and made me want to abandon locations as it took time away from the more fun fighting bits.
Looking back at my time with the game, I think I agree with its middle-of-the-road reception. Despite that, I can still recommend it. If you’ve enjoyed any of id’s other games like Wolfstein or the recent reboot of DOOM, then I can assure you that you’ll find value in this one. Even if RAGE 2 isn’t one for the books, it’ll keep you sated until the next big release.
