Xbox One Review: Rage 2

Have you got the Rage?

Dive head-first into a dystopian world devoid of society, law, and order. RAGE 2 brings together two studio powerhouses Avalanche Studios, masters of open world insanity, and id Software, the gods of the first-person shooter to deliver a carnival of carnage where you can go anywhere, shoot anything, and explode everything.

Rage 2 is an open-world FPS where it’s all about just shooting everything in sight, something that I have no problem with. It’s dumb, but fun and although the open world itself feels a bit empty when it comes to exploring, it’s still a blast from start to finish.

The story is basic but does enough to motivate you to go on a killing spree, something that I don’t need much inspiration to do anyway. The gameplay itself is over-the-top madness that is a nice welcome change of pace next to today’s shooters, it’s also nice to see a FPS that is single-player only and doesn’t lose focus by adding in multiplayer. Some would say it would have been nice to have some competitive modes, but I personally prefer a single-player experience anyway and it’s good to see them not conforming.

There’s a decent variety of weapons and driving is good fun too, while you will get fun perks and upgrades to use that will ultimately make you an unstoppable killing machine. Like I said, the open world aspect itself is perhaps the game’s biggest flaw, but when you go all out on a group of enemies, you won’t even care.

Visually, Rage 2 looks pretty good. It runs smoothly and is vibrant, while having a nice degree of detail. The voice-acting is cheesy, but works with the feel of the game and the soundtrack isn’t too bad either.

The Verdict

Rage 2 may not win any awards for originality or for innovating the open world genre, but it doesn’t matter. It’s mindless fun as you mow down dozens of enemies with kick-ass weapons and abilities, and really…isn’t that what shooters are best at?

Score: 8.0