Chronicle of Rage 2: "A fluid fight but the open world is not worth investing its time"

In the preparatory phase of Rage 2, Bethesda portrayed the game in such a way that you thought it was a totally chaotic, anarchistic and chaotic experience, where every fight will require you to use a wide range of powers to wipe out your enemies as a kind of demi-god. . Although this is quite possible, and throwing enemies into the air with the Grav-Dart launcher or the Vortex technique looks really serious, you'll quickly find yourself using the assault rifle. Ranger standard because of a few quick hits to the head with this fully automatic recoilless weapon is simply more efficient.

Seeking revenge

Recall slightly. In Rage 2, you play as a character called Walker – man or woman, depending on your preferences – and you find yourself quickly immersed in the costume of a fallen ranger while your home base, Vineland, undergoes serious attacks. Enter General Cross, the human head antagonist / robot body responsible for the Authority; an army of mutants equipped with jetpacks and automatic weapons. He is doing something really unforgivable and you are one of the few survivors of Vineland and, as expected in such a scenario, one of the few saviors of Wasteland. You are responsible for venturing and avenging yourself, the concept is not entirely new.

In fact, it is a phenomenon that we have seen many times in the past, but at least it is imbued with a whole panoply of ridiculous and exaggerated capabilities. How fast does Rage 2 put these powers at your disposal? The short answer is … this is not the case. Not before having traveled almost every corner of the map, at least. In the opening tutorial, the game introduces you to your first arch, which will allow you to discover new weapons and abilities. The arches are scattered throughout the world and, although you can get a brief description of the location of the arch for a specific ability or weapon in the menus, the Rush ability is' located in the area Slot tubes, "for example, the game gives no idea where Dealypipe is actually.

This means that if you play Rage 2 and you're waiting for a long, captivating story that will show you all the wacky and wonderful tools you'll have as you progress, you will not find it here. By the time you met your three allies in "Project Dagger" – forming the plan to stop General Cross and the Authority as you do – you are about to finish the story of Rage 2 because all that remains after this Here are some strange works to help your new friends, followed by the final mission of the game.

A short and unexpected story

Having a story so short, with no other secondary or objective mission than to explore and clean bandit lairs and Sentinels of the Authority (large stationary defense turrets), means your time with Rage 2's Will finish before even starting. There is a lot to discover in the world, but when the most effective way to beat the game is to simply press the basic assault rifle and then switch to the shotgun when you are run out of ammo – these two tools are offered to you in the beginning. the beginning of the game – this leaves little motivation to venture and conquer the vast wasteland.

Most sites to discover are largely the same. Bandit dens are the most common type, which are exactly as you wish. small camps full of enemies. Then there are mutant nests which, again, are just hiding places of a different kind of enemy. Sentinels of the authorities may prove to be a challenge at first, but when you learn to dodge in the shelter, these immovable metal dudes fall just as easily as all the rest. In the Dunes Sea area, you'll also find some charging stations and electro forges, but these are just bandit lairs with something to defend or destroy. Oh, and I can not forget the couriers of the road; bandit lairs that also act as a roadblock, so you have no choice but to get out of your land vehicle and lift the gate to move forward.

I specify land vehicle because very early, you are rewarded by the gyrocopter Icarus. With this you can fly almost anywhere on the map. Only explored as far north as Gunbarrel? Do not worry, because with Icarus you can fly all the way north of Dreadwood and completely ignore an entire region of the map. Icarus thinks that this should be a reward for finishing the story. You can easily come back to areas that you may have missed, but are rather free to literally ignore all the places of interest and focus directly on the few main goals of the mission. it's too much.

A forced open world

Since the game does not guide you through much of the map during the main missions, it becomes obvious that Rage 2 is a linear game forced into an open world. At least it's like that. The arbitrary leveling system assigned to your three allies is a clear example. you feel uncomfortable in a game that should instead focus on significant secondary missions and a semblance of power growing as you progress, but you too often feel like you're in the middle of the game. be encouraged to simply equip the rifle and treat Rage 2 as any other first – person shooter.

In any other FPS, the combat mechanisms found here would be welcome because the action is fast, fluid and the cannons are very powerful. There is rarely a reason to take shelter and you can embark on battles with the Dash ability as there is no tomorrow. From time to time, you will see the need to use abilities such as Shatter and Slam – if you venture to get them before continuing the story – it's simply, but they compliment your power of militarist massacre at to improve it significantly.

Throughout the game, you will reap many Ark chests that will grant you upgrade components such as Nanotrite boosters, basic weapon mods and neuron interfaces, essential for improving everything, upgrades from weapon to aptitudes, and even your main stats via the Cyber ​​Doc to Wellspring. However, none of this really matters; upgrades are negligible, for example by reducing the damage caused by bullets by 10%. Useful? Of course, but you do not notice that you become more powerful from one fight to another. You are supposed to be a new Ranger, a character without experience in the role, but you acclimated to it instantly and can decimate your enemies from the beginning.

Where are the secondary missions?

Much of Rage 2 is simply unexplained and does not fit in its place. There are five shopping towns to visit, but in the main game you will only go to three of them. The other two are here to be discovered, but once you've reached them, you'll find that there's nothing to do there. In Oasis, for example, the entire place is under the control of Shrouded (another type of enemy similar to normal bandits), who are enemies who will shoot at sight if you venture near them in the open world. At Oasis, however, they have room under lock, keeping vendors, but the reason has not been fully explained. There is no quest giver to find and almost no one to talk to, which is a common theme around the world. Everything suffers from a lack of meaning.

My biggest complaint with Rage 2 is perhaps the way he cries about anarchy – this idea has been heavily influenced in marketing, influencing everything from trailers to the logo of the game itself. even – but you actually assume the role of one of the last military personalities. in the world. You're a forest ranger, and in your move to stop General Cross, you kill hundreds, if not thousands, of bandits, who are the only anarchist characters in the game. Of course, you can cause a lot of explosions and chaos, but it's just a way to achieve your goals. As a Ranger, your goal is to help restore civility and help the few remaining Vineland people.

A credit that deserves a credit: the main game loop is satisfactory and there are many tools to play. You can combine all your abilities and throw bandits like rag dolls, and you'll be hard pressed to find a game with more explosions than that. That's what any marketer would describe as "high octane" and the first game has definitely learned it, because the world is much more alive and colorful than in the original game of 2011. However, it is not enough to get Rage 2 out of the crowd, because the open world of Rage 2 is not worth your time. If the six to eight o'clock story had unfolded in a more linear and structured campaign, with all the weapons and abilities that make the concept of the game quite unique, Rage 2 could have been the only one. one of the best games of 2019. Instead, the wasteland and sparse, almost lifeless structure ensures that Rage 2 will never reach the momentum you expect (or want).

The fighting heart of Rage 2 looks so much like Doom in an open world, and it would not surprise me if that was exactly what it was: the identity of the developer, Software testing the waters of such a concept. But for this concept to become reality, it will have to be executed much better than that. The "Roadmap Rage 2"Has already been revealed, showcasing world events and the" desert challenges "in order to follow the footsteps of hit games like Destiny 2 and The Division 2, but the difference is that it's only true. is a single player game. Anyone who buys this game at launch undoubtedly expects a complete release rather than a relatively empty world that will later be populated with content in the guise of the "games as services" industry trend. . There is no reason for so much content to get stuck in time. If all was planned in the coming months, Rage 2 could have felt like a more complete package at launch – a game that has content to complement its excellent weapons and main action. Unfortunately, this is not the case and the result is that a sequel did not really impress me, but it will not be stopped before the end of the roadmap for a match that will annoy many people. of.