Why Rage is one of the best shooters of the decade (Topic)

The Rage 2 announcement hit players like a bolt from the blue. The original shooter was released in 2011 and was a real revelation for the fathers of the FPS genre from Id Software. It was in Rage that the developers decided on genre experiments and instead of purebred action like DOOM, they gave players a complex hybrid of racing, open world, RPG and shooter with elements of Bioshock. Unfortunately, the miracle did not happen. The brainchild of Id Software was well received by critics and gamers, and low sales seemed to have hammered the final nail into the coffin of Rage.

Despite a number of objective flaws, Rage is at least a good game that remains relevant even after almost 10 years. You can read more in our little Rage post.

Post-apocalypse today

Id Software before the announcement of Rage in 2007 had a reputation for being extremely conservative developers, the head of the studio, John Carmack, still recalls his dictum that "the plot in shooters should be no more complicated than in a porn film." In Rage, of course, the plot, although it did not apply for literary awards, was quite original and did not tell the most trivial story in the post-apocalyptic setting.

The entourage of America, which survived the nuclear apocalypse, was quite a success for the developers. There was no particular style of the game, but Rage talentedly copied the legacy of Fallout and Mad Max, where residents, trying to survive in a destroyed world, collected weapons and equipment from improvised means. Id Software were able to create incredibly beautiful locations in terms of design, but fill them with content, various quests and colorful characters - no.

But back to the positive news, to the aspect of Rage for which this article was started.

Reference shooter from Id Software

What you definitely can't find fault with is the shooter component of the Rage game. Id Software flunked the game on almost all fronts, but in the most important aspect - first-person shootouts, they proved to be real masters.

Opponents, as in some FEAR, act deliberately and create the impression of almost living opponents. They don't ask for trouble and don't stand like stone pillars, helplessly awaiting a headshot from the player. On the contrary, enemies in Rage are constantly moving, flanking, throwing grenades and hastily retreating, catching a batch of lead.

An extensive arsenal of weapons forced to approach the genocide of mutants and armored government troops with special sophistication. In addition to the standard pistols and assault rifles, Rage had a crossbow and a giant shuriken, both designed to effectively demolish enemy heads.

Add to this the ability to construct mobile robo-turrets and remote control vehicles filled with explosives on the battlefield, and you will have a huge scope for tactics and experiments on the battlefield.

And the last, but an important component that makes you replay over and over again firefights in Rage is the feeling of weapons and the reaction of opponents to bullets hitting their bodies. Having received a savory headshot, the mutant went into a lingering somersault or dramatically fell to the ground.

Failed launch

Unfortunately, if Rage was an ordinary shooter, then the game would only benefit from this. Races and an empty, absolutely mediocrely executed open world were absolutely out of place. The only excuse for Id Software is the lack of experience in developing video games of this kind, but couldn’t it be possible to attract venerable experts who "ate the dog" on creating games in the open world?

But much more pain for players was caused by technical problems with Rage on PC. Anything, but from a studio that has been developing games for personal computers for a quarter of a century, you expect such a setup last. Launching Rage was like a lottery: regardless of the power of your computer, you could either watch a slideshow with 2-5 frames per second, or get a bug with textures not loading.

Of course, when the developers saw what a mess their new brainchild was making, they apologized to the players and rolled out several voluminous patches for Rage. Together with new drivers specially tailored for the game, they fixed numerous technical problems of the game, but the residue still remained.

Despite its difficult fate, Rage plays well and looks decent even today. If you do not pay attention to the tinsel in the open world, and focus on only one plot, then Rage will appear before you as a great shooter and will be the perfect way to while away a couple of evenings fun.

Judging by the first gameplay trailer and participation in the development of Avalanche Studious, we can expect Rage 2 to scrupulously correct the mistakes of the original. The game is scheduled for release in 2019. In the meantime, you are waiting for the release of the new Bethesda hit, we recommend that you pay attention to our top of the best shooters of all time.

The Topic of Article: Why Rage is one of the best shooters of the decade.
Author: Jake Pinkman