Rage 2: PS4 Review

Rage 2: PS4 Review

Developed by Avalanche Studios
Released by Bethesda
Platform: PS4

Imagine a first person shooter mashed up with the likes of Doom's hyperviolence, Borderlands' cartoony visuals and Mad Max's post-apocalyptic world.

That, in a nutshell, is what you can expect with the ultimately disposable Rage2, which offers fun for a time, but feels like a pick-up-put-down kind of gaming experience for those with ADHD.

In the shooter, you play a ranger, called Walker, who's the last of their kind, forced on a quest for revenge when a very bad thing happens. In a post-power vacuum, a group called the Authority has emerged to take the lead, and reigns supreme. As usual, it's up to you to take on the shackles of the Authority and smash them down.

It's not that Rage 2 is a bad game, in fact, it's kind of the opposite - simply dumb, easy to get involved with in short bursts thanks to its punkish dayglo aesthetics and its absurdities and one that's a time-suck of fun.

But it's a hollow and repetitive experience that proffers little else than standard shooter fare.

Carnage is crazy, shooting is fluid, and gunplay is deft as you weave your way through bandit houses, blowing or bashing them out of the way. The mutants in the wasteland look like they've come straight from a Keith Flint cosplay meeting via Mad Max. Their AI isn't particularly well-adjusted either making killing easy unless you're overwhelmed with numbers.

The wasteland's fairly empty as well, with a lack of much life out there; and while you do head quickly from destination to destination, its wide barren world does show (even if it's after an apocalypse).

Rage 2 doesn't induce much player Rage in many ways; it's accessible and disposable enough to get you through some gaming afternoons - just don't look to it to do anything more than that.