Reviews Rage 2 Reviews

[lashman]

Game Information

Game Title: Rage 2

Platforms:

• PlayStation 4 (May 14, 2019)
• Xbox One (May 14, 2019)
• PC (May 14, 2019)

Trailer:

• RAGE 2 – Official Launch Trailer
• What is RAGE 2? Official Trailer
• RAGE 2: Everything vs. Me Official Trailer
• RAGE 2 – He's On Fire Official Trailer
• RAGE 2 – Wasteland Superhero Trailer
• RAGE 2: 9 Minutes of New Pre-Beta Gameplay (2019)
• RAGE 2 - Open World Trailer
• RAGE 2: Eden Assault – Extended Gameplay
• RAGE 2 – Official E3 Gameplay Feature
• RAGE 2 – Official Gameplay Trailer
• RAGE 2 – Announce Trailer

Developer: id Software

Publishers: Bethesda Softworks, Avalanche Studios

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 72 average - 48% recommended

Critic Reviews


MMoinGame - Spanish - 9.4 / 10

If Doom and Mad Max had been lying in the same bed, the result would have been called RAGE 2.

Spaziogames - Italian - 8.2 / 10

RAGE 2 is a frantic, mad and satisfying fps, with tons of possibilities to play and kill enemies and a very rich endgame.

USgamer - Mike Williams - 4 / 5 stars

In Rage 2, you move fast and kill faster. It's the synthesis between id Software's 2016 reboot of Doom and Avalanche Studios' Mad Max, bringing together some of the best ideas from both. Moment-to-moment play on foot is fantastic with each weapon and ability just opening up your options for destruction. Driving could be improved and it's a little on the shorter side, but Rage 2 is a damned good time.

Destructoid - Chris Carter - 8 / 10

I was pleasantly surprised with the shooter chimera that is Rage 2, which ended up being open world mini-Doom 2016. It's not going to make anyone a believer in shooters or the free roam format, but folks already predisposed to those vices will find plenty to sink their teeth into.

The Games Machine - Simone Rampazzi - Italian - 8 / 10

The collaboration between id Software and Avalanche Studios brought us a nice open-world first person shooter, despite a bunch of issues with the world building and a shallow plot.

IGN - Dan Stapleton - 8 / 10

Rage 2's moment-to-moment combat is outstanding, making it shine among open-world first-person shooters.

IGN Spain - David Soriano - Spanish - 8 / 10

Rage 2 excels as FPS for its agile gunplay mixed with killer skills. It is a pity that the open world, despite the effort to present different biomes, has so little to offer.

Hobby Consolas - Álvaro Alonso - Spanish - 77 / 100

If you're looking for something to blow things up, using super powers and crazy weapons, then you're going to love Rage 2. Just don't look any further, because there's nothing more to see.

IGN Italy - Francesco Destri - Italian - 7.7 / 10

Rage 2 is a pleasure to play if you like to shoot and destroy things, but don't ask for much more in terms of gameplay ... you would be disappointed

Everyeye.it - Francesco Fossetti - Italian - 7.7 / 10

Perhaps the most painful aspect concerns the structure of the campaign. The main missions are interspersed with phases of pure "grinding" in which it is necessary to increase the level of the three allied "factions". If the number of hours needed to complete the story had already seemed low, you should know that the main quest is actually composed of a really unjustifiable number of missions (you don't get to a dozen).

Worth Playing - Cody Medellin - 7.5 / 10

Rage 2 is an engaging game that's hindered by a number of annoyances.

GameSpace - 7.5 / 10

Rage 2 is a great game for the right reasons. If you're looking for a game with a phenomenal story, you're in the wrong place. The story is boring to me, and rather short at 13 hours of leisurely gameplay. At the very least it doesn't drop off the planet like Rage did. Gameplay is fun, and vehicle combat works well, giving you an open world Mad Max-esque experience that is simply enjoyable and hard to put down.

Game Informer - Daniel Tack - 7 / 10

Rage 2 fails to deliver any interesting characters, environments, or activities. Solid shooting and cool weapons lift up the other elements of this title

PCGamesN - Harry Shepherd - 7 / 10

The pace of id and Avalanche's FPS is neutered by a dull open world and thin story but, in an unbridled whirlwind of gruesome gibs, you probably won't care.

Attack of the Fanboy - William Schwartz - 3.5 / 5 stars

As a shooter Rage 2 is incredible. It's everything around that core competency that brings the game down. A lack of narrative, world building, and questionable design decisions in terms of progression leave the experience feeling flat.

SECTOR.sk - Peter Dragula - Slovak - 7 / 10

New Rage from Avalanche Studios is good explosive shooter, but with bounded movement and bald quests.

Gamers Heroes - Blaine Smith - 7 / 10

Rage 2 is a chaotic, fun, and rewarding adventure that combines a light but interesting narrative with explosive combat and a well-structured open world. It won't blow you off your feet, but you'll have plenty of fun blowing everyone else off theirs.

CGMagazine - 6.5 / 10

Rage 2 takes Doom-like gunplay and puts in just another dull open world game that doesn't do anything particularly memorable.

GameSpot - Michael Higham - 6 / 10

The wild, exceptional combat of Rage 2 contends with some of the genre's greats, but it's disappointing that the game's world squanders its potential.

GamesRadar+ - Ford James - 3 / 5 stars

Rage 2 has a fun core gameplay loop, but everything around it falls flat on its face

Shacknews - Josh Hawkins - 5 / 10

For now, Rage 2 feels like the final shrill beep on the ECG before the flatline hits. The last flutter of life the series had to offer, squandered away.

VG247 - Kirk McKeand - Unscored

If you sleep on it, you’re sleeping on one of the best – if not the best – single-player FPS games of this generation.

GamesBeat - Mike Minotti - Unscored

I’m not digging Rage 2’s story or setting. But I still have a ways to go before completing it. Maybe the plot will win me over. Maybe the world will do something surprising and evoke something besides Mad Max.

But even if it doesn’t, I still like Rage 2. Artistically, it’s uninspired. But mechanically, it’s one of the best shooters I’ve played in years. Fun wins out.

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy

Video Review - Quote not available

PowerUp! - Leo Stevenson - Unscored

So far, I am really enjoying Rage 2 yet something just doesn't sit right

GameByte - Ollie Green - Unscored

A fun, engaging world

 

[Ryne]

Some of these reviews make me wish I actually was good at shooters.

 

[lashman]

Some of these reviews make me wish I actually was good at shooters.

same

 

[xinek]

I was worried the reviews would be pretty mediocre, but they don't seem too bad. Seems like a great purchase when it goes on sale. I thought this was only going to be on the Bethesda launcher, but I see there's a Steam page for it. PC gaming is starting to feel exhausting with all the thinking about how/where to buy stuff.

 

[lashman]

PC gaming is starting to feel exhausting with all the thinking about how/where to buy stuff.

yeah, no kidding :/ it really is

 

[derExperte]

I expected a little more but RAGE's reception wasn't great and I loved it (mostly, except towards the end), same for Mad Max so I'm still in.

75 from German GameStar

Some of these reviews make me wish I actually was good at shooters.

Why? Because of the difficulty? Shooters these days are usually very forgiving and slow compared to the old days, they have to, mostly to accomodate gamepad players. Also difficulty settings, play on easy, no shame. Aaaalsooo you'll only git gud by playing something you aren't good at.

 

[lashman]

I expected a little more but RAGE's reception wasn't great and I loved it (mostly, except towards the end), same for Mad Max so I'm still in.

oh, same ... i'm DEFINITELY still in

 

[TheLetdown]

oh, same ... i'm DEFINITELY still in

Add me to this list.

Loved Rage 1 (which I just played.) loved Mad Max for a little while. And completely loved new Doom.

There’s no way this isn’t my shit.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Yeah, i'm in too. I really enjoyed Rage and these reviews are a little better than i feared. Neat.

 

[arts&crafts]

I have it installed and vpn ready waiting until i get home! I would normally wait a bit as it will be really cheap soon as normal for bethesda games (for a bethesda launcher key), but as I bought on Steam I doubt it will be that much cheaper on Steam for a long time so I am okay with the day 1 purchase.

 

[low-G]

The degree to which the review texts don’t fit the scores makes me think there is actually more serious problems with the game that reviewers cannot properly recognize nor articulate.

And 7/10 IS an average / median score. Half of games are reviewed better, half worse.

Almost considering cancelling my Steam preorder...

 

[Derrick01]

I had been following impressions of people who had it early so these scores weren't surprising. Gamespot saying the main missions end early and ignore huge swaths of the world is really disappointing though, especially since the game's side content is full of so much standard open world junk. In these types of games main missions are where the game is deepest and allow for things in the environment to change (if that happens at all). So this tells me the world is empty and mostly a waste.

 

[arts&crafts]

Crackdown 3 is my favorite game so far this year so I cant trust reviews too much personally. For these arcadey games I value fun gameplay over all else and this sounds like it will fit my needs quite well.

 

[lashman]

I have it installed and vpn ready waiting until i get home! I would normally wait a bit as it will be really cheap soon as normal for bethesda games (for a bethesda launcher key), but as I bought on Steam I doubt it will be that much cheaper on Steam for a long time so I am okay with the day 1 purchase.

yeah ... definitely not for a few months at the very least

 

[NarohDethan]

I like it more when a game is kinda polarizing than when it gets unanimous praise.

 

[lashman]

I like it more when a game is kinda polarizing than when it gets unanimous praise.

same

 

[NarohDethan]

same

I'm still torn between this or MK11. I'm skewing towards this one since it is quite clear Netherrealm doesnt give a shit about the PC version of MK lol

 

[lashman]

I'm still torn between this or MK11. I'm skewing towards this one since it is quite clear Netherrealm doesnt give a shit about the PC version of MK lol

QLOC do ... but they have to have the data from NRS ... which don't

 

[Eferis]

I scrolled through some reviews and it looks like it's indeed a game by id Software AND Avalanche Studios, for better or worse. If you enjoyed previous titles from both studios it seems like a pretty safe buy and a lot of fun, regardless of what those reviews say.

Personally, while I enjoyed every recent game made by id, I've always found Avalanche open world formula, in which you go around blowing shit up for the sole reason of blowing shit up and then go and do the exact same thing somewhere else on the map, to be extremely tedious so I'm not particularly excited. I'll probably wait for a sale and pick it up then for the id part of the game.

 

[lashman]

If you enjoyed previous titles from both studios it seems like a pretty safe buy and a lot of fun, regardless of what those reviews say.

i definitely have ... so that's fine with me

 

[Spamlynguist]

Yeah that's about what I expected, might pick this up sometime later this year.

 

[Line]

Oddly enough, it seems way more faithful to Rage 1 than expected.
A game with pretty good gunplay, but an open world of little worth, and an underwhelming and undercooked story.

I guess I prefer that to another bloated game that never ends with 36 chapters to finish, but level design and narrative are such an issue in AAA games nowadays... at least it has better progression than the usual level scaled meaningless numbers...

 

[Phoenix RISING]

First Rage was okay for me. I played it on PS3 though. Never went back.

After playing FC: New Dawn, I'm not that in a hurry to play another "open world" shooter. I love DOOM but find Mad Max (the movie) overrated.

So I'll wait and see.

 

[Nabs]

Seems like a good 30-45$ pickup down the line. I'd probably be tempted to pick it up now at a discounted price, but I'm not messing with Bethnet.

 

[xinek]

Ugh, I was going to wait until this was on sale on Steam, but then I watched some gameplay and got the discounted Bethesda launcher version. Refer to the FOMO thread, I guess...

 

[lashman]

got the discounted Bethesda launcher version

my condolences

 

[PossiblyPudding]

After skimming some of the reviews this seems to be about what I was expecting. A solid shooter with a mediocre at best story and characters.

Which is perfect for me at this point in time. Between personal stuff and finally getting into Pillars of Eternity 2 having a fun, mostly mindless shooter is great.

 

[lashman]

After skimming some of the reviews this seems to be about what I was expecting. A solid shooter with a mediocre at best story and characters.

Which is perfect for me at this point in time. Between personal stuff and finally getting into Pillars of Eternity 2 having a fun, mostly mindless shooter is great.

... and it's only 11h long ... so that's a huge plus as well

 

[NarohDethan]

So, apparently a lot of people on the Steam reviews say that it isnt worth its price tag, what do you think?

 

[Ibuki]

So, apparently a lot of people on the Steam reviews say that it isnt worth its price tag, what do you think?

I ended up refunding the game before hitting the 2 hour mark. My impression was that the gunplay was fantastic, but everything else was already starting to fall flat for me. It has a very strong Far Cry (or any other modern open world game really) effect of just throwing tedium at you on your way to the next main story mission. I personally haven't played Mad Max, but a lot of people are saying this is exactly like the open world setup of that game. Another problem I had was the graphics, even on high settings at 1440p the IQ was not very appealing. Lots of textures were loading in and just didn't look great. The character models are another visual complaint, the animations were stiff and the models themselves looked like something out of a last gen game. The enemy AI didn't seem like anything special in my limited time with the game either, which is an important factor for me in an FPS. Overall I was disappointed with my first impression of this game, and I will be waiting for a steep sale if I end up revisiting this in the future.

 

[NarohDethan]

I ended up refunding the game before hitting the 2 hour mark. My impression was that the gunplay was fantastic, but everything else was already starting to fall flat for me. It has a very strong Far Cry (or any other modern open world game really) effect of just throwing tedium at you on your way to the next main story mission. I personally haven't played Mad Max, but a lot of people are saying this is exactly like the open world setup of that game. Another problem I had was the graphics, even on high settings at 1440p the IQ was not very appealing. Lots of textures were loading in and just didn't look great. The character models are another visual complaint, the animations were stiff and the models themselves looked like something out of a last gen game. The enemy AI didn't seem like anything special in my limited time with the game either, which is an important factor for me in an FPS. Overall I was disappointed with my first impression of this game, and I will be waiting for a steep sale if I end up revisiting this in the future.

I see, I guess I'll wait for a sale too.

 

[PossiblyPudding]

Yeah I can't disagree with Ibuki's impressions. I plan to play through it since as I said earlier it's kind of the perfect game for me at this time but by no means am I saying it's a good game.

It's not bad either. It just boils down to how much is a mindless shooter with good gunplay and decent car combat worth to you personally? And for most people I'd suggest probably waiting for a sale.

I've also been kind of taken aback at how poor some of the texture quality is. I mentioned in the screenshot thread that it's flat and washed out at times too but that seems to mostly be a daytime issue so far.

 

[Ibuki]

Yeah I can't disagree with Ibuki's impressions. I plan to play through it since as I said earlier it's kind of the perfect game for me at this time but by no means am I saying it's a good game.

It's not bad either. It just boils down to how much is a mindless shooter with good gunplay and decent car combat worth to you personally? And for most people I'd suggest probably waiting for a sale.

I've also been kind of taken aback at how poor some of the texture quality is. I mentioned in the screenshot thread that it's flat and washed out at times too but that seems to mostly be a daytime issue so far.

Just to follow up on my impressions, I don't think it's a bad game either. I just don't think the value is there for me at $60. I personally bounced off of Mad Max so simply adding good FPS gameplay to that same formula just isn't enough for me.

 

[ISee]

Not sure about this. I'm kind of interested but would like to see benchmarks first. I might buy it if it (like doom) is able to reach insane fps on my machine.
This isn't, by chance, a vulkan title?

 

[PossiblyPudding]

This isn't, by chance, a vulkan title?

Seems to be. Reshade doesn't work and some folks on the Steam forums are pretty sure it's due to Vulkan.

 

[Ibuki]

Seems to be. Reshade doesn't work and some folks on the Steam forums are pretty sure it's due to Vulkan.

I wasn't able to get the Afterburner overlay to work either, I'm wondering if this was the reason.

 

[PossiblyPudding]

I wasn't able to get the Afterburner overlay to work either, I'm wondering if this was the reason.

I saw mentions of that on the forums too. One person claimed to get it working but I was only skimming the thread for reshade info so I don't know if they posted their solution or if it was bogus.

 

[ISee]

Yeah it is vulkan indeed, according to pcgameshardware.de
Rage 2: Der rabiate Endzeit-Shooter mit Vulkan-Renderer im Technik-Test

To Quote them:

"In fact, CPU performance is absolutely remarkable, even in 720p and with an RTX 2080 Ti we are still limited by the GPU. At this low resolutions our test system - now equipped with a i9-9900K @ 5.0 GHz - reaches 400 fps!
It was a worthwhile decision to use the vulkan API for Rage 2. We haven't seen such high frame rates so far in a technically complex game, the exceptions are Doom and Wolfenstein 2, which also use the Vulkan API."


My 2700x is thrilled.

 

[Transdude1996]

Just to follow up on my impressions, I don't think it's a bad game either. I just don't think the value is there for me at $60. I personally bounced off of Mad Max so simply adding good FPS gameplay to that same formula just isn't enough for me.

So, boiling it down, Rage 2 is literally just 2015's Mad Max, except with the Batman gameplay replaced with nuDoom's?

I've also been kind of taken aback at how poor some of the texture quality is. I mentioned in the screenshot thread that it's flat and washed out at times too but that seems to mostly be a daytime issue so far.

Shame to hear that they really flunked on that part. The biggest selling point of the original Rage was Carmack showing off his new engine.

 

[Maxi]

Finally got my key! Looking forward to checking this out after work.

Does certainly sounds like Mad Max with Doom's shooting especially on PC. Just the combat encounters are a little more lacking in an open world environment and the main story is short/not worth paying much attention to.

I'm looking forward to digging in and it looks way better than what I was expecting from its first announcement and Punk style unveiling.

 

[jim2point0]

I'm honestly not surprised the story\narrative is terrible. It seems like they were in the middle of making Mad Max 2... but transitioned into Rage 2 mid-stream. And their shooting was shit so they teamed up with ID.

So it's a very disjointed experience, but I'm having fun so far. Will need to play more to flesh out my impressions.

 

[lashman]

I'm honestly not surprised the story\narrative is terrible. It seems like they were in the middle of making Mad Max 2... but transitioned into Rage 2 mid-stream. And their shooting was shit so they teamed up with ID.

So it's a very disjointed experience, but I'm having fun so far. Will need to play more to flesh out my impressions.

dunno about that ... but it DEFINITELY looks like they were preparing to make Mad Max 2 (maybe even started prototyping it) ... and WB said "no, thanks"

so they went "publisher hunting" and Bethesda took their offer and slapped the Rage IP on top of it (because wasteland and stuff)

 

[ISee]

The gunplay and combat feels good though. The ID Software DNA in this is unmistakable. Performance is also great, at least on my system. Fast, precise and fluid experience, with lots of feedback. That's how shooting is supposed to be.
Car combat is worse though. Driving altogether is a bit too slow imo, it does not feel right (so far)
Every location also has hidden creates that you want to find for upgrade materials. They are sometimes very well hidden and it takes serious time and running around, looking behind every corner, searching for ladders or other hidden entrances. This destroys the flow and momentum.
The TAA and FXAA combination produces a rather blurry image that still manages to have shimmering and other instabilities. It's strange. Textures are also rather unimpressive.
jim2point0 is absolutely right. It is a disjointed experience. But it is fun, you just wish the open world parts were smaller and less boring.

 

[Sir Guts]

Yes the game isn’t something special but I’m actually having a blast!

 

[xinek]

I'm having a blast a couple hours in -- it's exactly what I expected. The shooty parts make up for any mediocre stuff so far. But this game makes my 1080ti fans run at almost max in order to keep it below 70 degrees, and I have no idea why. I turned anti aliasing way down and it didn't help much. Mostly low 60s framerates at ultra settings with at 3440x1440, but the game just doesn't seem well optimized? I'm still crap at figuring out how to adjust settings for performance, though.

 

[jim2point0]

After night 2 of playing it... yeah I'm hooked. I still think the story is kinda pointless. I wish they spent more time on world building and creating smaller, more interesting stories to get wrapped up in rather than focusing on an overarching narrative that's pretty bland. But... I guess we have actual RPGs for that.

This game does have more progression than I initially thought. So I don't mind driving around and collecting materials and whatnot in order to upgrade my skills, perks, weapons, and vehicles. So far it's a lot of fun. This is like Doom but your character can do magic and drive cars.

Driving is a bit slow and turning feels sluggish. But overall I enjoy the experience of trekking across the wasteland. And it's pretty! Have some thumbnails.

But this game makes my 1080ti fans run at almost max in order to keep it below 70 degrees, and I have no idea why. I turned anti aliasing way down and it didn't help much. Mostly low 60s framerates at ultra settings with at 3440x1440, but the game just doesn't seem well optimized?

What card do you have exactly? That sounds horrendous (temps and fan speed). I have a 1080TI as well and the Asus Strix cooler is keeping my card at around 65 degrees at 50% fan speed (always 100% usage).

I haven't tweaked the settings much and I'm maintaining at least 60 FPS. Usually when I check, I'm at around high 60s low 70s (I have a 100hz gsync monitor). My card is slightly overclocked, running at around 2000mhz with +500mhz on the memory. I don't see a problem with aliasing at 3440x1440 + TAA.

 

[xinek]

What card do you have exactly? That sounds horrendous (temps and fan speed). I have a 1080TI as well and the Asus Strix cooler is keeping my card at around 65 degrees at 50% fan speed (always 100% usage).

I haven't tweaked the settings much and I'm maintaining at least 60 FPS. Usually when I check, I'm at around high 60s low 70s (I have a 100hz gsync monitor). My card is slightly overclocked, running at around 2000mhz with +500mhz on the memory. I don't see a problem with aliasing at 3440x1440 + TAA.

Here's my build: xinek - Saved Part Lists - PCPartPicker

I wasn't too bothered, but I guess it is pretty horrendous when you consider that this game has made my temps the highest and fans the loudest by far. The CPU is not even slightly taxed, but the GPU is like wtf.

 

[jim2point0]

Yeah the cooler on that particular EVGA model isn't great. I returned 2 EVGA 1080TIs before settling on the Asus. I'm used to pushing my GPU to 100% all the time because I'm almost never hitting 100 FPS so that's why I needed a good cooler.

Chances are in other games you have GPU room to spare, but this game is requiring all your juice. You'd have to ease up on settings probably in order to make it not run at 100% or just deal with the noise noise noise.

Dictator Rage 2 PC performance video when?

 

[prudis]

 

[prudis]