Classification was a toss up between 'disappointing' and 'bargain bin'- I'll explain why.
I pre-loaded this game off of Steam, played it day one with absolutely no problems. Zero. My basic specs are as follows (i7-930, 2xGTX460's, Win7- 64bit, 1TB Hard Drive, 6GB RAM, BluRay optical drive). I caution all users, whether your specs are on par with mine or even better, that alone won't spare you from problems, as some with identical rigs and greater have had quite a hard time running it, but then there are people like me who don't. Very weird. Overall in forums, at last check ATI users were having the most/worst problems of the users having problems.
Let's get down to gameplay/story. IF you don't like racing, you'll probably want to avoid this game. You can't avoid it, not completely- I'll get into those details shortly. If you are 'nit-picky' on graphics- don't even bother here. There's also not much of a story here, it's not open-world, and other than moments of danger on the road being pursued by enemy vehicles or the occassional radio playing hick harmonica music, there's no in game music- in the background. Take Fallout3 for example, even if you disabled all the radio stations on your pipboy while exploring in the middle of nowhere, there was still background instrumental music- not in Rage. If you are driving around and no vehicles are pursuing you- you'll just hear the sound of your engine, really lacks immersion. Another biggie that bothers a lot of people are 'invisible walls' Rage is loaded with them. There are a few hidden secrets in the game but in most cases, if you don't grab them when you're in that location you can't go back for them, like the 1st one in the Ghost Territory. You can travel back to the outter location, and walk in a short ways, but the hidden area/item are a ways in and it will be blocked off if you don't get it the first time you're there. Speaking of locations, they 'recycle' locations, meaning they keep sending you to places you've been instead of making more locations. The graphical quality of Rage is pretty sad considering all the hype out there. I can max it out but even the best PC can only help this game out so much. There are moments, but overall, the graphics are disappointing- glued textures, most of the environment isn't interactable (this isn't BFBC2!), the enemies dissolve quickly after you kill them, their weapons disappear also and you can't pick up a fallen enemies weapons. There are 4 quick use slots (most PC gamers wonder why only 4 when we're using a keyboard/mouse with lots of keys/buttons, but it's clear consoles/gamepads are why and they clearly weren't going through the trouble of programming for both PC(m/kb) and console/gamepad uses. You can press the number keys or scroll your mouse wheel to cycle through your weapons and there's no limit to how many you can carry, though only 4 can be ready for quick use. This game uses regenerating health and it's very easy to avoid dying in this game. When you do happen to die, you have to use these shock paddles that are so annoying to hit dead center that I'd rather just die and get it over with. The only + to the shock is it will shock nearby enemies as well, usually killing them. Not all dead shots are 1-shot kills (annoying when you like to snipe like I do. You can do some sniping in this game, but it's not very impressive or rewarding. The AI moves differently -almost monkey-like at times, but after a while, you can predict it and it's not as challenging as it was when you first saw it. You get a very claustrophobic feel in game, in buildings, it's clear you're meant to only go a certain way. When you talk to npc's they often don't look you in the eyes if you're not directly in front of them. In a PC article off another site J.Carmack (id top dog) said PC's are 10x more powerful than consoles so they only have to use 1/10th of their resources, -I couldn't believe it (coming from him/id), but it definately explains a lot on the PC side of things- though I've read that consoles are also having graphical problems with Rage. When in Dead City (either time- boring keep going to places you've already been), I was in a stairwell, and I looked out at the rest of the buildings and I'm totally serious that I've seen better cartoons than the look of those buildings. I have screenshots. There is also no day/night schedule in the game, it's always the same, no matter what time it is. The game feels like one big fetch quest. You don't feel like it's a story you're playing through, it feels like a bunch of fetch quests. You can't interact with most people in towns unless they're supposed to tell you something, outside of a few people that complain once in a blue moon but most times they just blankly stare at you. A lot of people were defending id for 'fixing' problems with the game- but after reading a description of the patch- it's clear they didn't fix things, I didn't read it all -but a lot, and patch notes kept saying "disabled" this feature for this reason, "disabled" that feature for remedy of that problem- well, I guess they can't be bothered to actually FIX THE PROBLEMS ON PC, instead, they just disable the features causing them. So sad id. They (id) made a name off the PC gamers/community and had our loyalty, and in return, this is what we get, so disappointing. Most of us wouldn't be as surprised probably from another dev but id- no one saw that coming.
Gs has a video out showing some secrets in Rage, what they haven't told you is for the Quake secret, you can't find that one if you're there on a mission- you have to go to that location on your own or certain 'things' won't be available to trigger you having access to other 'things' (being vague to avoid spoilers :) ). They left out mentioning the "Quayola Quayons" also ;) they yeild you $50, they're of no use but to sell them. Other special collectibles/bobbleheads are $150- again, no use to you but to sell for cash. Guides (physical books or eguides in game on Steam), if you're interested in the secrets, are the way to go when you buy the game, because these videos are useless if you've already started or finished the game since you can't revisit the majority of locations and the videos weren't released by the site near the game's release.
I know it's probably confusing, I tell you they 'recycle' locations, but you can't go back- well, I'll explain- you can drive to that place, and if you're on a mission there again, they'll lead you through by the nose in corridor fashion -perhaps only on the other side of a blocked hallway, you still know/feel you've been there and I felt disappointed- same boring halls, same rooms but just a hallway over-doesn't feel new/different. Their attempts at gore- are just pathetic. There's a hospital you'll be sent to to fetch something, and the 'gore' there was such a sad attempt, looked more messy than anything. I just shook my head, took a screenshot and left. You also don't have access to the entire game map either at the start, you only go to places if you're meant to, and early on, that's not much- so no, that's not open world. You have to do over half the game before you get out of the boring sunny area you see in 98% of videos (really makes me wonder if reviewers/sites finish these games at the time of their reviews- it's not until later you see later in game video footage). Think about it ;)
O.K. the racing- for me, that was the fun part, as I love racing games :) It's more than track racing and really the driving around/racing is what saves the game for me and how I put in the hours I did for it (plus hunting down secrets before my review padded my hours). You do have to track race, and there's one (maybe 2 depending on how you play/win- I won't spoil that for those who haven't played, if you want details, PM me about and I'll be glad to provide :) ) before you can 'Progress the game'. That's right, if you can't win a certain race or 2 -that's it, game's over for you, until you win it or you get someone to play for you to win your race. A game shouldn't kill all progress like that. One race they choose the vehicle for you, even with it's weapon, I personally wouldn't have chosen it. The game does overall control vehicles well with the use of m/kb- moreso outside of towns when you're in open areas, but on some of the race tracks (you can't avoid them all remember) the sharp, frequent turns can make it harder. (Racing/driving always easier with a good PC wheel- I didn't hook one up for the game, so I don't know if it will work). The racing can be done with controllers and the rest of the game with m/kb and both enabled. I won my races with m/kb. The problem with vehicles in game are the views- in a vehicle, you have to press the middle mouse button (MMB) to see to the side, but you still can't move to look upwards, but people using controllers can. That race you have to win, you have to be 1st, you earn racing certificates being 2nd or 3rd, but you have to be first to progress in the game. The RatRod vehicle with m/kb feels over-responsive on tracks with a lot of curves. Outside of towns, there are jumps where you drive and fly through the air off of rock or highway 'ramps' and try to hit floating drones. There are 18 in the game, and it's actually fun trying to get them all. There are 3 field goals in game - you have to be in your atv for this one, because the goal is to launch yourself through 3 scattered goal posts for success- like a football field goal but you're in place of the ball! If you miss, your impact won't kill you. There are mini jobs, they have the nerve to call it 'extended play' -gamers consider these side quests as part of a normal game, but there are only a few (I did them all) and they're minor and unimpressive. There are A LOT of locked doors, for show apparently, because most you'll never go through. After I was done doing quest(s) for a sheriff, his door became inaccessible. There's not much of a game area, but much of what you do have isn't even usable or workable.
The finale (spoiler Free)- it's short and also unimpressive. You end up with a big weapon that kicks butt etc. but you really don't 'need' it to survive the end. The end is pathetic and extremely anti-climatic, especially coming from id. I used other weapons and realized that 'big' weapon will kill quicker, but the end enemies aren't so bad that a shotgun with 'special' ammo wouldn't do the trick -just take a little longer/effort. I don't want it easy so I didn't use it beyond satisfying my curiosity initially. That combat shotgun with 'special' ammo- if you shoot the enemy a direct hit- 1 is all it would take- if it's directly shot. Sad for end game.
Well, that's about it- highlights at least. I have to say, this game can be fun, -it can, at times in a b-movie kind of way. You can tell as you play that with some attention to details here and there, and Not just the graphics, that this game could've been awesome. There is no way this game is worth $60- not even close. It is however 'worth' a playthrough but 'only' when the price is $20 or less.