RAGE 2

Rage 2’s nonsensical story is unbearable, and the unskippable exploration parts are mostly irritating and boring. Luckily, the shooting gameplay is so amazing that it’s easy to forgive these flaws. And while encounters can become repetitive, new weapons and abilities make sure there’s always some fun to be had.

A pretty well done FPS game, with some problems with its structure as an open world game.

Rage 2 is one of the year’s most disappointing titles. However, the shooting is some of the best this generation when you’ve finally dedicated enough time to unlock different abilities and poured a couple of upgrades into one of the best shotguns in gaming. Unfortunately, the middle chapter is full to the brim with busywork that taints the entire experience. At one stage, I was spending 10 minutes driving for a five minute firefight before getting back in a car for another 10 minute drive and a stilted vehicular combat section. Shooter fans deserve better.

There simultaneously needed to be a lot more of Rage 2 and lot less; a lot more depth in its driving, story, and missions and a lot less repeated content and long stretches of empty landscape. With all of the fluff in between frenetic firefights, most of Rage 2‘s incredible moments are bookended by elements that are underbaked by comparison. But id’s knack for making impeccable first-person shooting mechanics makes Rage 2 succeed despite having faults that would doom a lesser shooter.

If narratively shallow yet entertaining movies are popcorn flicks, Rage 2 is the ultimate popcorn game, and that’s okay. At no point during my 15 hours running rampant around its post-apocalyptic wasteland did I feel the need to know more about a character’s subplot, or question the antagonist’s motives. I was too caught up in the spectacle of carnage to care.

Rage 2 is ugly, silly, and dated, and yet, I still enjoyed the hell out of most of my time with it. The game delivers the kind of low-stress, high-satisfaction fun you don’t often get from big-budget games these days. If you’re willing to check your brain at the title screen, I suggest you jump into this apocalypse now.

Rage 2 sticks to its own nature of an open world sandbox game, offering a short plot but at the same time an incredible, genuine quality of action.

RAGE 2 is probably one of Avalanche’s best games since Mad Max came out in 2015. The wildland offers plenty of content, and the fun is always there, thanks to the input of id software for everything FPS related, and Bethesda’s trademark humour (including those hilarious cheats).

Overall, Rage 2 is definitely a step up from the original, with a bigger world that feels a lot more desolate (in a good way). It has a variety of lands to explore, unique bosses to run into, and a bevy of leveling trees that will keep you motivated throughout the gameplay. What it needed and didn’t get were a better story and less repetition. The game has grown, but it still has more than enough room to continue to grow.

RAGE 2's unique visual style and genuinely fun gameplay mechanics ultimately outweigh a bit uninspired mission design, a disappointing story and at times flawed technical execution. If you can live with that, you'll absolutely have fun.

Rage 2 has room to grow, but it's also a great game to pick up and play. Combat is visceral in all the right ways, and exploration is always rewarding. A few technical issues and a general sense of sameness keep it from pure excellence, but Rage 2 still represents a good time.