Rage (video game)

''Rage'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks, released in November 2010 for iOS, in October 2011 for Microsoft Windows, the PlayStation 3, and the Xbox 360, and in February 2012 for OS X. It was first shown as a tech demo at the 2007 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference and was announced at the QuakeCon. ''Rage'' uses id Software's id Tech 5 game engine and is the final game released by the company under the supervision of founder John Carmack.

''Rage'' is set in a post-apocalyptic near future, following the impact of the asteroid 99942 Apophis on Earth. Players take control of Nicholas Raine, a soldier put into hibernation in an underground shelter who emerges into the wasteland a century later, and finds himself a wanted man by an oppressive organization known as The Authority. The game has been described as similar to the movie ''Mad Max 2'', and video games such as ''Duke Nukem'', ''Fallout'' and '' Borderlands''.

''Rage'' received mainly positive reviews, with reviewers praising the game's combat mechanics, gameplay and graphics while criticizing the lack of story, characters, and direction. The iOS version, titled ''Rage: Mutant Bash TV'', was released in 2010. A sequel, ''Rage 2'', was released on May 14, 2019.

Gameplay

The game primarily consists of first-person shooter and driving segments, with the player using their vehicle to explore the world and travel between missions.

Combat is undertaken from a first-person perspective; the player is armed with a variety of upgradeable firearms, as well as a crossbow, and boomerang-like weapons called "wingsticks" which can be used for stealthy attacks. There are several types of ammunition available for each weapon, to allow the player to further customize their play style. As an example, the crossbow's primary ammunition is metal bolts, but it also can shoot electrified bolts, explosive bolts, and more. There are two standard varieties of enemies: enemies with firearms which will take cover and exchange fire with the player, and melee enemies that will charge the player and attack with melee weapons.

There are a variety of vehicular events for the player to take part in, including races and checkpoint rallies. Racing events may or may not have opponents, and some of them are armed races while others are not. Players can augment their cars with various items and upgrades they can gain by completing events. ''Rage'' features some role-playing elements, including an inventory system, looting system, and different types of ammo. Players have the option to customize their weapons and vehicles, as well as build a wide assortment of items using collected recipes. Vehicles be used for racing and for traveling from one location to the other with occasional attacks from enemy vehicles. There are side missions and several other minor exploratory elements.

Multiplayer

''Rage'' has two multiplayer modes: Road Rage and Wasteland Legends. In Road Rage, up to four players compete in a free-for-all match that takes place in an arena designed to make use of the vehicles. The goal is to collect rally points that appear around the arena while killing one's opponents and stealing their points. Legends of the Wasteland is a series of two-player co-op missions based on stories that are heard throughout the single-player campaign. A total of nine objectives are in this game type.

Plot

On August 23, 2029, asteroid 99942 Apophis collides with Earth, destroying human civilization and turning the world into a wasteland. Survivors come together to form settlements around oases clans, and mutants, who attack all normal humans in a voracious horde.

In 2135, former U.S. Marine Lieutenant Nicholas Raine emerges from an underground shelter called an Ark, 106 years after being put into stasis. These underground shelters are the direct result of the Eden Project, a massive international undertaking in which hundreds of Arks, containing cryogenic pods, were sealed under the surface of the Earth to preserve enough of the human population to rebuild civilization after the asteroid collision. The Eden Project was far less successful than hoped, as Raine's Ark, in particular, was heavily damaged, with all of its other residents dead and equipment destroyed, and he wakes up alone with no specific goal in mind.

Raine enters the surface, where he is immediately attacked by bandits but is saved by Dan Hagar (voiced by John Goodman), a local wasteland settler who brings Raine to his settlement. Hagar informs him that a powerful technologically advanced organization known as the Authority, which considers itself the one true government of the wasteland, is hunting for Ark survivors for an unknown purpose. Raine briefly aids Hagar's settlement and others in the local area by completing a few small jobs, and during this time it is revealed that the nanotrites injected into Raine's blood before he was sent into hibernation have granted him