Beyond the guns, beyond the explosions, beyond the dystopian street racing, lies the vast world of RAGE. id Software’s latest vignette explores the burned-out realm.
Through all the media we’ve seen from RAGE over the last few months, one of the quirks that few people ever mention is how large the world seems. That’s no surprise given the game’s focus on immediate, bombastic action and brutal violence, or id’s history as the industry’s best “corridor shooter” developer, but RAGE is more than just point-blank shotgun decapitations.
Yesterday RAGE publisher Bethesda Softworks issued the above clip; four-and-a-half minutes of gameplay footage and conversation with the game’s creative team on what went into the construction of the game’s vast world.
“The wasteland in RAGE is kinda like a plate that the rest of the game sits on,” says creative director Tim Willis. He then goes on to explain a system of exploration that seems almost roleplaying game-esque in its scope.
“In RAGE we try to make the game open, but directed. Player choice is very important in RAGE,” Willis adds.
It interesting that id would seemingly put such focus on offering players a large realm to explore as they see fit. This is a firm with a very distinguished history in the gaming business that hinges almost entirely on games wherein the player has a very static, pre-defined path to walk.
Generally that path is littered with all manner of demonic and cybernetic foes trying to end the player’s metaphorical stroll via rocket launcher or color-coded railgun, but the general specifics of id titles have rarely been in question.
Is RAGE an attempt to branch out into more open-world-style gameplay? If so, will id’s die-hard fans accept that from the people best known for DOOM and Quake?
Or is everything copacetic as long as the headshots are visceral and the ‘splosions are satisfying?
