Das Impressions of id Software’s RAGE at E3 2010

By on June 16, 2010

Das Reviews just sat down to a screening of id Software’s upcoming Rage. We call it a screening because we sat in a small, dark theater with a giant screen and a kicking sound system. We got treated to a walkthrough of some different aspects of the game and some different levels. Bethesda also gave us some new screenshots for the game and they are freaking huge! Click on them to check the graphics in beautiful high res glory!

First off, the game is gorgeous. The draw distances are great and the level of detail in character models and levels are outstanding. The levels are very immersive in their atmosphere. Characters go about their business and everything has that “asteroid hit here and now we’re dealing with it” feel to it. The water graphics are phenomenal. Like Bioshock phenomenal.

The demo started off with you receiving a mission to head to town from Crazy Joe, a crazy dude named Joe. Immediately after, you are ambushed by a pack of mutants. We fended off the mutants with our airblade, complete with decapitations and limb removal and the standard pistol.

We headed to the nearby town but were ambushed by a couple of dudes on buggies. Luckily we had machine guns primed and ready. A couple of emergency brake skids and dropped landmines later and we were on our way. Just before, we came across a guard tower. One sniped shot and an explosion later and the tower was taken care of. Enemies rag dolling through the air never gets old.

We headed to Wellspring, an entry level neutral town where everyone was suspicious of you but used their eyes instead of their guns to show it. We saw the Auto District complete with inflatable gorilla. Yes, you can race your cars. Shortly after arriving, the well alarm sounded and we were sent down into the town’s well to stop a gang from poisoning the town’s water supply.

We wandered through a dark dank sewer and combatted a gang that used acrobatics and the environment to get the upper hand on us. Luckily, we had shotguns and crossbows on us. We approached fights offensively and defensively. We could run in guns blazing, prime ahead with grenades or drop a gun turret and protect it while it turns the gang to cheese.

One of the most intriguing parts of the demo was the amount of tools at your disposal. Weapons come with standard ammo and special ammo and you can select those on the fly. The team said their goal was to introduce new weapons and tools with easy to grasp situations and let the player decide what to use and when. You also get gadgets like RC bomb cars and defense turrets at your disposal. You can create your gadgets on the fly, no workbench or town needed. You want to send in a RC car with a bomb attached instead of throwing a grenade? Go ahead!

We then skipped ahead to another point in the game that had us storming an abandoned, run down building populated with a gang of mean guys. Fighting our way through the rubble, we reached a car garage where we were attacked by a muscle car wielding a chain gun turret. A mob of guys attacked and the chain gun held us under cover. After taking care of the gang, we got what we came there for: car parts.

To round off the demo, we jumped ahead to a main city, the aftermath of skyscraper destruction. A gang of mutants attacked us. While fending them off, a giant mutant packing a grenade launcher jumped into the mix. We took care of him with our shotgun. Gotta love the shotty. The demo ended with a building size mutant crawling over some rubble and screaming at us. Guess he didn’t like us capping his kids.

Note to developers and publishers: when you show off a game and someone from the team is demoing it, try and pretend like you don’t know where the enemies are coming from. That pack of enemies that is supposed to surprise you while you are fighting the giant grenade launcher packing mutant? Make believe that you are surprised. It make the experience more immersive for the crowd.

We are really excited to see the final product. The game looks very good for still being in development and it’s obvious that its coming from the mind of John Carmack. It’s possible that one could take this as a Borderlands knock-off and they would be justified. The world has the same feel as Pandora but the graphics are very different.

Superlative Adjectives used in this article: gorgeous, outstanding, phenomenal, crazy

About David Scarpitta

I am a critical guy, and love to review and give my professional opinion on just about anything. Though have a love for tech/gaming and music alongside the cinema. You can catch me consulting and developing the net any day of the week.
  • maikel19

    sweet!!!!!!
    cant wait