Despite a weak storyline and bad cut-scenes, Rage 2 is an unputdownable combat game that can get tough on you
Rage 2 continues the story 30 years after the events of the first one. If you haven't played it before, don't worry, as this one takes you through the most important points of the first game. However, if you need a primer, there are a few videos on YouTube with a compressed version of the events of the first one.
Since the world had 30 years to change, you will see a more advanced civilisation, but one that is still fighting amongst itself. You play Walker, the last ranger, tasked with taking out the Authority, a villainous group of half-man half-machines. In the initial part of the game, the authority wipes a whole lot of people in a huge attack. You somehow find a ranger's suit and take on the enemy single-handedly. It shares its story DNA with the original, where one person has to take on an entire coordinated army. At your disposal are a variety of weapons and some superhuman abilities.
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The whole game has a Mad Max feel to it and the colours and vast desert landscape lend heavily to this feel. Like the first, Rage 2 shows mastery of combat. The gunplay is simply satisfying and the weapon selection is great. You can see ID's combat experience come alive in this game. Even Avalanche's open world experience results in some massive and beautiful environments in Rage 2.
It is, however, sad that there isn't much to do or any story to tie it all in a more satisfying way. This is not the only problem with Rage 2 - the graphics especially during cut-scenes have glitches. For us the first cut-scene where you acquire your armour was just a random grenade flying in the air and a bike sliding across the floor. No monster, no environment and no rangers left us very confused early on. This was seen a few more times through the game while we played it on the PS4 Pro.
The game also shines with its audio, but only the FX; we thought the dialogue delivery and even the voice acting wasn't great. The sound for the guns, the environmental sounds and even the music were well executed. This is part of the reason why the gameplay and the world feels so satisfying. The Nanotrite abilities that you gain from the Arks are also a lot of fun; we liked the pushing ability, which basically tossed annoying opponents far away, preferably down a cliff. You may also want to search for the Firestorm Revolver, which shoots out an explosive bullet that then explodes on command and sends out shrapnel to surrounding enemies and covers the main victim in flames. It is a treat to watch.
Driving around and upgrading your vehicle is fun, but a little tedious. There are no loot boxes or pay-to-win transactions in the game, but you can buy Rage coins to unlock special skins for weapons.
The entire main story is roughly 13 hours long. Depending on how many side quests and explorations you take on, the gameplay time could easily jump higher. Rage 2 also starts out easy, but gets harder, so we recommend playing initially on the easy mode, before graduating to the harder modes.
Despite its glitches, bad cut scenes and empty feel, it's not easy to put this game down. The combat is some of the best, especially if you enjoyed Doom and Quake in the past. That alone makes this game a lot of fun.
Rage 2
Rating: 
Developer: ID & Avalanche Studios
Publisher: Bethesda
Platform: PC, PS4, XBOX
Price: PC: Rs 3,999; PS4/XBOx: Rs 4,299
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