A hell of a lot of hype surrounded this game when it was first announced and as the release date loomed, tonnes of media went up on the internet selling the virtues of id’s latest and greatest. For a split second I almost passed up the purchase due to the sheer saturation of spoiler filled content.

It seems all too obvious these days to make a barren post-apocalyptic wasteland inhabited by aliens/mutants/bandits (delete as appropriate); Fallout being the most obvious example for comparison. Headed into this game with that mindset left me a little sceptical despite the fact that id Software is the grandfather of the FPS genre. With the legendary John Carmack at the helm, and powered by the next generation id Tech 5, Rage stepped up to set the bar for video game technology once again.

Without installing on the Xbox 360 hard drive it takes a monumental time to load, spread across 3 disks (two for single player and the third entirely devoted to the multiplayer) load times of up to 90 seconds for a simple area transition harkens back to the old Playstation days. After Seeing a huge asteroid slam into Planet Earth and our unnamed generic hero being frozen underground, I found myself simply raising an eyebrow and giving a slow shrug. The world has ended again and one man from the past is going to change it all. Cookie cutter plot aside, I just wanted to get my centuries old sleeping backside out of containment and explore.

As the “Ark” opened its doors and spat me out into the world I found myself in awe. id Tech 5’s use of Virtual Texturing (id’s brainchild that allows them to paint expansive landscapes without taking up as many resources; think paint brush vs roller) delivered a crisp expansive view of the world from where my character stood.

Wandering down a narrow path, I had my first encounter but the on-rails nature of the moment immediately pulled me from my awestruck composure. Following a lengthy buggy ride, I found myself abruptly being asked to go out and start killing people. As time went on and the rather cardboard characters fed me a spool of lines about their woes and demanded my help, the disjointedness and brash nature of the narrative really hurt my experience.

Further down the line the story switches from survival and carving out your identity to a power struggle between the Resistance and the self proclaimed Authority (think Brotherhood of Steel vs The Enclave from Fallout 3). Again, this transition happens abruptly and brings about Rage’s final conflict with no real precursor or warning, not to mention story.

The gunplay is superb. Every weapon has its own unique quirks and perks and up to four ammunition types designed for a range of enemies from armoured hulking beasts to the downright weird. In classic id style, you carry a massive arsenal including rocket launchers, crossbows and sniper rifles. You have a gun for every situation although only four can be configured for “Quick Select”.

Enemies are highly adaptive. They take cover, duck, dodge and roll believably keeping aiming difficult but kills more satisfying — especially on the higher difficulty when you are mobbed by several enemies  at once with a variation of close and ranged attacks. 

Vehicles are a staple feature, not to mention easy to control, and unless you pack more rockets than an F-35 fighter, you better find your lead foot because walking in the wastes is not something you want to do. You gain an ATV almost immediately and your first 4-wheeled killing machine comes in due course, as you progress further in you are stonewalled until you win some races to strap some good old fashioned death onto the roof. With two ATV's and three 'Cars' to choose from (four if you pre-ordered) there isn’t much variety. 

Racing is a notable (albeit fun) distraction featuring flat out speed races along with Twisted Metal style combat racing and can net you certificates used in purchasing upgrades which in turn makes your time out in the wasteland a little more enjoyable as you engage Bandits in some vehicular paint swapping.

Multiplayer deserves a small mention. While not ground breaking in any way it was a ballsy choice by id to solely rely on the vehicular portion of gameplay to get you online and in some ways it works. Rage also features a co-op scenario mode dubbed “Legends of the Wasteland” and pits you and a buddy against hordes of enemies in a pretty lacklustre attempt to slap on a few extra hours of gameplay.

Overall Rage is an intuitive but flat experience and the story well established but disjointed in its delivery. Enemies are interesting and challenging but NPC's seemed almost cardboard. A competent shooter with some great tech delivered in a sloppy manner and over all too fast without a satisfying finale. Very much a hit and miss adventure with little new to excite.