R AGE 2

PS4’s perfect developer pairing? We’ll be angry if it’s not

TFormat PS4 ETA May Pub Bethesda Dev Id Software, Avalanche Studios

his is a marriage made in hell, or at least in Stockholm: the joining together of Id Software’s love of first-person grotesque mutant shooting with Avalanche’s broad-stroke open world fun promises to be one of 2019’s most joyous events.

It’s a partnership that has led both teams to re-evaluate how they make games. For Id Software it’s been a learning curve. With its trademark solid shooting set free from steel corridors, the dev has had to learn how to anticipate everything we will do. The game is better for it.

The original Rage on PS3 had fantastic set-pieces and some perfectly enjoyable vehicle combat, but for the sequel Id Software needed Avalanche to join the dots and bring the elements together.

In-game this translates to fluid and chaotic battles where pretty much anything goes. While shooting feels robust and sharp, just as you’d expect from Id Software, the Nanotrite abilities have given Avalanche room to indulge its love of chaos in the combat. Tapping into these ‘super’ powers you can send bandits screaming through the air using Shatter, or you can leap above the throng, hover, then crash down onto groups of enemies with Slam.

Throw in offbeat weapons and gadgets – your Wingstick can be thrown to curve around corners and over obstacles – and Rage 2’s fighting has the kind of playfulness that Avalanche is known for. You can experiment with mixing gear and Nanotrite powers to create inventive ways to take on the bandits standing between you and a mission’s goal. And it all feels good – physical, perky, and powerful.

PORANGI PANTONES

It helps that Rage 2 looks the part. Every speck of dust in this post-apocalyptic world is caked in colour. The world is a raw mix of jungle, desert, and crumbling old-world structures. The grey and brown tones of the original game have been replaced by a vibrant, exciting colour palette. It’s a world that tempts you to explore it, to see what’s over the horizon… which in all likelihood will be something nasty.

Neon pinks and greens are spewn across the buggies and war wagons of the various bandit clans. We love the fabulously furious punks of the Goon Squad, but that’s not to say the game doesn’t deliver on the Id Software mutant count too. The Authority, the Big Bad of the wasteland, are your typical Doom-like monstrosities – all angry pumped-up muscle and weapon implants.

Every moment in Rage 2 is a reminder of that partnership between Id Software and Avalanche, of robust combat and a lively open-world chaos. It’s a perfect marriage, but the honeymoon is going to be wild.

“FLUID AND CHAOTIC BATTLES WHERE PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING GOES.”