Does this racer crash and burn?
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery is a common saying among those games that borrow gameplay elements from other games or even those who attempt to create a spiritual successor to a loved franchise. Can the same be said of this “tribute” to Genesis/Mega Drive game Road Rash named Road Rage?
Sadly, no. Road Rage has to be hands-down the most disappointing game I’ve played in 2017. The original was a game where you went around knocking over bikers with weapons and while that’s true of this game, it’s nowhere near as fun. For starters, there’s a terrible story that doesn’t entice you whatsoever, followed by racing events that are incredibly glitchy, I drove through lamp posts and fences as if they were invisible. The list goes on.
The game tries to show off a free-roaming world in between races, but the engine clearly can’t cope with the open world aspect. Races themselves aren’t terrible, but like I said hit detection of objects is more or less absent, while actually attacking or being attacked while riding seems to be entirely random whether you make a successful hit or not.
Visually, the game is incredibly dated as well, the world textures are average, while the racers have some strange animations. The framerate also seems to struggle a lot. Long-drawn out conversations between the missions don’t help either, especially since the voice-acting is as bad as it is. The only positive is the soundtrack, but that’s only if it’s your cup of tea.
The Verdict
Road Rage had the potential to be a nice tribute to Road Rash, but it’s a low-budget, buggy mess that is painful to watch, and even more so to play. It’s a shame as I was really looking forward to this, but alas it’s a mess.