Rage Hands-On Preview - Diary of an Ark Survivor
By
Maxwell McGee, Editor
A fallen meteor reduces a thriving planet to dust. One bewildered survivor awakens to tell his story.
Dear Diary,
It's the little things you miss most in the postapocalypse. Government, laws, small bits of your humanity--you learn to adapt quickly without those luxuries to survive. But toilet paper…now that's a whole other story. I've done some things that I'm not too proud of to get a roll of that stuff. It's basically gold by today's standards. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Lets start with how I came to be stranded on this ruined planet--a waking nightmare from which I doubt I'll ever be free.
Here's some free advice: Never let yourself get put into suspended animation. You've all seen those movies, right? Guy goes to sleep in some pod only to wake up years later and finds that the whole world has gone crazy. Turns out that actually happens. Waking up in a sterile room surrounded by malfunctioned pods filled with corpses, I almost considered myself lucky. That is, right up until the bandits attacked. While the Ark's computer prattled on with some useless automated message, two short, gaunt figures were sizing me up in the doorway. A few bullets sent their brains spraying across the room.
My savior went by the name of Dan Hager, a burly man and no doubt a native to these parts. He started talking up a storm about how happy he was to have found me, mentioned something about a group called The Authority, and then said something about my Ark suit, but I could little more than gawk at the scenery around me. There was nothing but cliffs, rocks, and ruined city streets as far as the eye could see. What had happened here? Before I could ask, Hager motioned me to keep quiet as we passed a checkpoint manned by more of those things that had almost gutted me earlier. Sometimes, I almost wish they had.
After a short drive, we were parked in Hager's settlement. This makeshift village was built around a converted gas station and housed about a half-dozen survivors. Skipping any introductions, Hager led me into his office and got straight to business. By rescuing me, he had put the whole settlement at risk, he explained. The bandits would be coming once they discovered the bodies of their dead friends, and they would want blood. Hager didn't want that to happen. He wanted me to kill them first. This was heavy stuff. I had just been brought into this world, and now I was being asked to take others out. Did I even have the stomach for such a thing?
I opened my mouth to protest, but Hager shoved a monstrous pistol into my hands. Holding the weapon felt familiar somehow, and I shut my mouth. I figured this is how the world works now, kill or be killed, and who was I to stand against it? Plus, the old man did say there was something "special" about us Ark folks. And those bandits did try to kill me first, so this was just aggressive self-defense. To get back to the bandits' hideout, I was given a beat-up 4-wheeler to drive. Poor thing didn't look like much, but a little button labeled "boost" sent me back down that dusty road in a big hurry.
Once the bullets started flying, I got the feeling Hager oversold this whole "bandit threat" issue just a bit. They had numbers, but these pale, little freaks were armed with nothing more than knives and bats. And the way they charged straight at me suggested they'd never encountered a gun before. Two or three shots to the body, or one to head, was enough to drop one. And when I did get hit, I could either wait for my health to recover on its own (more on that later) or slap on one of the bandages Hager had included for a quick fix. The mass murder was going really well until I stepped into a noose trap that hoisted me into the air. One of the little creatures then strolled over and ordered that I be "taken to the kill room."
By
Maxwell McGee, Editor
Maxwell McGee earned a degree in Journalism from the University of Arkansas, and has contributed to The Escapist, GamePro, PC Gamer, and more. His introduction to video games was Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the Sega Genesis, and he has never looked back. He welcomes your feedback through the site, or Twitter.
62 comments
This is very creative and great. Don't listen to the jealous posters who run a spell check over everything and think that means they can write better then you. I will never understand that. Writing is about so much more then spell check.
Well, this is actually loaded with typographical errors, but it's a decent placeholder that doesn't spoil anything, really. Consider it a more in-depth look at what plot details we've already been given on this title.
Dystopian in a very Mad Max / Road Warrior kind of way. I like the concept; looking forward to the demo.
no spoilers here boys and girls this is all released info about the back story and beginning of the game. you can download this very story in vid from xbl or rage the game .com this game will run at 60 frames per second and every sell is hand painted no re-duexed landscapes here every stone is special. every band of bad guys fights different and this id tech engine five is the stuff dreams are made of. no joke here boys and girls this is the game to have this holiday season! lol! i should get a pay check for this lol! see you in the wasteland that was our gods green earth! grrrrr. woof! you now have space rabies!
I have to agree with MadDog on this one...very well thought out preview...with this kind of writing style a gamer can be immersed in the writers actual gameplay experience. Well done!
I like the writing style of this preview, very interesting. I don't usually read them all the way through, I skim instead. I actually read every word of this and got a lot out of it. Freaking sweet yo.
I absolutely love how this preview is written. Well done Maxwell; this preview alone has peaked my interest on this game. I'll be keeping a close eye on this indeed.
the game engine going behind this looks sweet. Looks like its going to be a great game.
It's not that the writing is original, it's about what real events are about to unfold people.
Great preview - that was a very innovative style of preview writing. Now, even I'm curious to find out more about this game !!!
Argh...everytime I see more previews of Rage, the more I want it...but my aching wallet... :(
@rigas47 - They absolutely can talk about flaws during their initial impressions. Go read gamespots latest Dead Island preview. They almost had NOTHING positive to say. That being said, it's Rage. Everything I've seen from this game makes me wanna play it even more. Just take my damn money already.
What happened to crap games..? All I see nowadays is games that I want and my wallet can't handle it :( I'd never even heard of Rage until about a month ago, and now it's in my 'want' list along with Skyrim, Uncharted, Infamous 2, DeusEx.. etc etc. Arggghhhhhhhh!!!
@Ugly_Geezer they cant tell about any flaws cause then no studio will let them make any previews or hands-on, but judgging that this is an id game you have to be insane to think this game will be below good but i say that just cause im cautios i think its going to be excelent
@MN121MN They should be about the experience with the game, this one isn't. It's a story, a fantasy, there's nothing factual in this piece. We have to agree to disagree my friend ,I would rather know some facts, rather that a (very charming and well written) story. :)
@Ugly_Geezer : Aren't most hands-on preview based of one's experience with the game? Besides, the fact about the games evolves when the demand for more sophisticated previews rise.
I'm sorry, but a horrible preview, it could have been written by the PR dept of the publisher. You have never mentioned anything factual about your experience with the game, just a narrative of your time with it. For myself, I want to know what you thought of how the game handled, what worked, what didn't and from what didn't seem to work, what can be tweaked by release. Oh well (thumbs down incoming)!
this has really crept up on us. I can't believe it's only next month that we finally get to rock the Rage. Between this and Deus Ex, I will be carried through perfectly, to INTIMIDATING month's of November and December releases. Excellent
Between the beautiful images, and McGee's narrative, which personalized the whole thing, I can't help but be interested in it. Will it be as good as were all hoping it will be? Time will tell.
Looks good, hope it has a sort of Borderlands like game play and system. FPS meets RPG elements, like selling stuff and buying things, and obviously the quest system being its Bethesda's baby. I'm a big Borderlands, Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas fan so hopefully I get my end of the world fix.
Fun article. Kudos to Mr. Mcgee for a creative and well-crafted tack on bringing us into the immersion of a game world. Would love to see more articles take this approach - provided the inspiration is there for the author, wouldn't want to see this kind of thing forced.
I think this game is going to be unbelievable! & it looks so damn good so far. October is so faaar away lol.
This game looks amazing, but I have this feeling that it is a blend between Fallout 3 and Borderlands. Not that it is bad thing, just the originality part is a bit obscure.
mine too. I guess its the bad economy but all the good games for 2011 are released in Q4 for xmas season i'm guessing. this year has been a draught for good games. but q4 has rage, sw:tor, tera, gw2, bf3, mw3, spacemarine.
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| Platform | GameSpot | Metacritic / User Score |
|---|---|---|
Game Info
- Release Date: Oct 4, 2011 (US)
- ESRB: MTitles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older.
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