QuakeCon 2018 keeps on giving with an indepth look at Rage 2 gameplay with an extended trailer showcasing many of the features making up id Software and Avalanche’s collaborative Mad Max-esque shooter.
As you’d expect, the trailer heavily emphasizes the post-apocalyptic punk aesthetic through grisly violence and a kind of dumb downed tone that should suit everyone from the serious Rage fan to the lowest common denominator. We aren’t dealing with lofty philosophical questions nor are we here to question the morality of grim savagery, but rather to revel in explosive destruction in a lawless world beset by rival factions eager to establish their dominance.
In terms of story, the trailer explains Rage 2 takes place 30-years after the events of the original. The planet has had time to recover from a cataclysmic catastrophe, abundantly portrayed in the variety of biomes ranging from expansive rocky deserts to foggy wetlands. This is a departure from the original, where worlds felt oppressively samey to the point of being drab. Players must seek out Dr. Kvasir, a returning character from the original, who tasks you with infiltrating the Goon Squad-infested Eden Project to down a satellite-come-super-weapon orbiting the earth.
Talking of factions, Rage 2 features several groups who boast unique abilities. For example the Immortal Shrouded have cloaking abilities and advanced tech, while the Goon Squad are a ragtag rampaging force of obnoxious bandits.
Rage 2 is infused with a Just Cause veneer and indelible traces of Avalanche’s unmatched open-world crafting prowess, but with a healthy dose of gut splattering gore that rings of previous offerings from the id Software stable. Even the voice spitting out from the radio comms has the same timbre of a character straight out of a fictional Just Cause South American-inspired islands.
This is no bad thing and the vehicular mayhem looks to pack in a whole lot of satisfying fun, as does the destructive options in terms of overpowered abilities and versatile weaponry, including the incredible ‘slam’ ability which sends enemies flying in a perimeter around the player. The promise of no load screens is also welcome news.
Among the most interesting features is the convoy concept. Players can gain a lot from attacking these heavily defended groups of marauding vehicles, but do so at a cost given the arsenal of weapons at the convoy’s disposal. In the trailer, said convoy is equipped with electrically powered traps, energy shields, high velocity machine gun turrets, as well as two-wheeled, tank-like, and larger 18-wheeler vehicles, each as deadly as the next.
Still flogging a spring 2019 release date, the developers still haven’t communicated an exact date for release though we know Rage 2 will land on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
