Bethesda had a very impressive showcase at E3 2018 and on the first day of the show, I opened my day by playing RAGE 2 I was a fan of the first game and I am beyond thrilled that Bethesda is returning to the franchise after several years away. I was greeted by some Wasteland outcasts, a colorful van serving tasty ice cream, a carnival, game, and an introduction video played in a brightly colored Junkyard. I have been to several E3 briefings over the years but having to sit on and around junk props was a clever and unique experience, the game is set thirty years after the first game and deals with the aftermath of the events from the conclusion of the first game. While players will play as a new character one returning character from the original game was teased.
After the video played we were ready to get into the action and experience the game first-hand. Despite playing shooters on a PC, I was able to get through the demo with an Xbox One controller without dying although there were several close calls which went my way thanks to a health serum allowing me to heal during battle.
After a tutorial on how to use my powers such as Dash, Shatter, and Overdrive which can be a huge help in battle
Starting with a machine gun and my Nanotrite Powers, I emptied clip after clip into the bad guys and was amazed at how much damage they could take, I often had to unload a full clip into an enemy to take them down my Wing Stick did well taking down enemies at range but the real joy was firing up my powers and taking names. The shotgun was a great weapon up close and once again, it took multiple shots to get the bad guys down, even at close range but thankfully a few smacks with the rifle put things in my favor very quickly.
The game had some great graphics and the action was very intense and satisfying. The vehicle portion of the game was not addressed in the demo and I could not tell if the game would have multiplayer as the focus was on the mission to clear and explore and area.
We were up against our time limit for the game and had to move on so others could take their turn but we really enjoyed what we experienced.
As such; Michael and I returned at the start of the second day of the show to play more of the game. I skipped over the tutorial as I had a better idea of what to expect and with a better understanding of weapons, tactics, and the map, I was able to get much deeper into the game than before and even ended up completing the demo level and was the only person in our group to do so. Michael was close to completing it but he was cut down as he went for a switch and I kicked in my powers and cleared out the area before opting to go for the switch that triggered the end of the level.
I asked one of the staff on hand if there would be multiplayer and was told at this time the focus was making the story mode of the game the best possible experience it could be and that there was nothing else they could comment on regarding multiplayer at this time. I do hope they opt to include it as the vehicle customization and combat was a large part of the first game and I would love to see what could be done with an even larger world and more online options.
Based on the small sample I saw, RAGE 2 looks to be a pure action fest game that should build upon the original nicely, as I cannot wait to play more.
