Reviewed for PS4.
As somebody who loved the first Rage, I had hoped for years that we'd get a sequel. After all, if there was one weakness in the first game, it's that it didn't end as much as it just stopped. After my miffedness had passed, I thought to myself "if there's a sequel which resolves this, then all will be forgiven". Well, here it is! Rage 2!
It's been 30 years since the ark survivors were freed at the conclusion of the first Rage, and a great war with the villainous Authority has taken place. With the Authority defeated, the remaining troops of the resistance set about creating relative peace in the wasteland. However, still very much alive, the Authority had retreated underground, performing experiments and rebuilding their numbers. Now, re-grouped and re-armed, they have found their moment to strike. Systematically wiping out the remaining nanotrite enhanced rangers from the arks, you (as the son/daughter of two of the original ark survivors) are the only one who can take on the mantle of ranger, arming yourself with the advanced technologies of the arks in order to take the fight to the Authority and end them once and for all. Sound good? You'd be right!
Now many have complained that the RPG elements are nowhere near as deep as Fallout or Borderlands. To be honest, I don't think they were ever meant to be. This is a shooter, and it's one of the most fun shooters I've ever played. The combat is remarkable, reminiscent of Doom (2016), especially as you upgrade your skills. The feeling of power is amazing as you blast through hordes of bandits and mutants, slam enemies into walls or smash them beneath you with the push of a button.
This is an open world game, with plenty of bandit camps to demolish and vehicles to find, although they're mostly for collecting since your starting car should be more than sufficient. You can upgrade it with new weapons and skills, and it's always fun to tear around the wasteland finding new opportunities to kick butt. I honestly found myself straying from the main story purely because the combat is so satisfying that taking down the various bandit camps around the world and finding all the arks to upgrade my powers/find new weapons was so much fun!
There are a few nitpicks, however. The inventory/map screen is rather laggy sometimes. It's not game breaking, but it can be a nuisance. The main storyline is, admittedly, not going to win any awards. It's not bad, but it's definitely the gameplay which is the star of the show here, not the story. Which brings me to a bit of a weird complaint, but it may be worth noting: the shotgun in this game is brutal, especially once it's upgraded. I felt like there was little need to use my other weapons once I had it. The best shooters utilise their weapons evenly. The best tool for the job kinda thing. Well for most of the game, I found myself using the shotgun, reserving the rocket launcher for bigger enemies, and only changing it up when I ran out of shells, which was rare since there's ammo everywhere! Does this hinder the experience? I'm not sure, because that shotty is so much fun to fight with, I didn't really mind, but you may feel differently.
In summary, this game rocks and I had such a blast playing it. I'm not sure if we'll ever see Rage 3, but I hope we do!
Happy gaming!
