[360 Review] Rage

[Knightshade Dragon]

http://gamingtrend.com/game_reviews/rage-review/

We've got our review for Rage all set and ready to go!  It's pretty spoiler free (stuff you'll see in the first 30 minutes are talked about), so enjoy the review.  Questions if you've got em...

[Roman]

great review Ron. You touched on all the points that I as a gamer want to know about. Great last paragraph!

[Gratch]

I didn't have much interest in this until that review.  Thanks for costing me $60...jerk. 

[PeteRock]

With the inclusion of vehicles, the need to travel from place to place, and the vault-like beginning, this sounds a lot like a combination of FarCry 2, Fallout 3, and a bit of Red Faction, all rolled into one.  While most might view that as a bonus, I see it more as a curse since I grew bored rather quickly with all three.  Is there something that sets Rage apart from these other titles or that immerses players without boring them with mandatory long drives through barren wasteland?  Even beautiful graphics and scenery can't outweigh long drives if action takes a while to find.  

I'm hoping for Rage to be an FPS with action to spare.  I don't mind talking to NPCs and learning more about the world, but I'd rather not have to drive or wander an hour to find something interesting.  

I did enjoy the review, though.  Well done and obviously responsible for peaking my interest like Gratch as up to this point I had little interest in the game.  Now I'm contemplating a purchase and want to make sure it is worth the entry fee as new games have become a rare luxury.  I want to make sure if I am sacrificing all other potential purchases that this is worth it, especially since it might come down to this OR Arkham City, but not both (unless one winds up on the Christmas list).

[Roman]

The only thing that prevents me at this point would be what I read here: http://www.ripten.com/2011/10/03/ripten-review-rage-xbox-360/

While all of this sounds amazing, and believe me, it is – RAGE suffers from one major problem that specifically applies to the Xbox 360 crowd.  You will need to install the game if you want to enjoy the same beautiful, seamless experience I did. Without installation, the game suffers tremendously from an immense amount of pop-ins, sound delays, and frame rate issues.  However, once installed, these issues disappear 100% and not once will you have to deal with anything but a few unnoticeable pop-ins.  So, plan on clearing a ton of room on your HDD if you want the best possible experience.  But I digress

As stated before - I am still on the old 20gb HDD.   Paying for this game AND a new HDD is not possible at this point.

[PeteRock]

The only thing that prevents me at this point would be what I read here: http://www.ripten.com/2011/10/03/ripten-review-rage-xbox-360/

While all of this sounds amazing, and believe me, it is – RAGE suffers from one major problem that specifically applies to the Xbox 360 crowd.  You will need to install the game if you want to enjoy the same beautiful, seamless experience I did. Without installation, the game suffers tremendously from an immense amount of pop-ins, sound delays, and frame rate issues.  However, once installed, these issues disappear 100% and not once will you have to deal with anything but a few unnoticeable pop-ins.  So, plan on clearing a ton of room on your HDD if you want the best possible experience.  But I digress

As stated before - I am still on the old 20gb HDD.   Paying for this game AND a new HDD is not possible at this point.

Yeah, that's probably a deal-breaker for me.  I too am still on the 20gb HDD and won't be replacing it anytime soon.  Looks like Batman in a few weeks instead for me.

But damn if that Krull weapon doesn't sound like enough fun to justify the full cost of admission.   

[wonderpug]

Great review, Ron.  I haven't been following this game at all, and the review got me up to speed without feeling like a cookie cutter Graphics: A; Sound: B; etc. type review.

One constructive criticism:

Obviously id pioneered the first person shooter genre, but there have been a lot of companies like Bungie, Gearbox, Bethesda, Raven, Epic, and others that have perfected it.

Language like 'obviously' makes a lot of assumptions about the reader, and is sort of self-defeating.  If it's obvious to the reader, then why are you stating it?  If you have a reader to which it's not obvious, you've come across as condescending.  The word doesn't add anything, either.  If you say "Id may have pioneered the first person shooter genre, but there have been a lot of companies like Bungie, Gearbox, Bethesda, Raven, Epic, and others that have perfected it" then nothing is lost.

[wonderpug]

Questions if you've got em...

How long to beat the single player campaign?

[PeteRock]

Questions if you've got em...

How long to beat the single player campaign?

I think the review mentioned 15 hours.

[Roman]

Questions if you've got em...

How long to beat the single player campaign?

I think the review mentioned 15 hours.

thought that point was 'obvious' 

[USMC Kato]

Picked this up, going through the massive 3 disk install.....

[PeteRock]

Picked this up, going through the massive 3 disk install.....

Good thing the driving portions are more or less optional.

\ /

[USMC Kato]

Picked this up, going through the massive 3 disk install.....

Good thing the driving portions are more or less optional.

\ /

I see what you did there.....
Go niners! 

[Vindel]

Pretty dumb question and sorry  But can you install on the old white model 360's? I still have one but I do have a 120 give hard drive instead of the 20 gig. Thanks

[Roman]

you certainly can. The model is not the issue/challenge - it is disk space vs. performance. You are more than ready!

[Vindel]

you certainly can. The model is not the issue/challenge - it is disk space vs. performance. You are more than ready!

Awesome, thank you 

[Isgrimnur]

I'm glad this one isn't looking to have the issues that the PC world is up in arms about.  Now to deal with the issue of keeping up with the Apple event, Game 4 of the ALDS, and waiting for the UPS guy to get here with my game. 

[Isgrimnur]

Oh, and KD, that sewer grate is supposed to be free if you buy the game new.  I'd love to see confirmation of that, but if it's not release day available, I can see the reason for confusion.

[Gratch]

Picked this up, going through the massive 3 disk install.....

Crap, forgot about that.  I can't do the install (still on an old 20GB HD), and have heard there are some major issues with the PC version.

Looks like I'll be waiting for a while.

[Destructor]

Picked this up, going through the massive 3 disk install.....

Crap, forgot about that.  I can't do the install (still on an old 20GB HD), and have heard there are some major issues with the PC version.

Looks like I'll be waiting for a while.

AFAIK, Rage works just like all other multi-disk 360 games (for the most part) - once you've switched discs, you have no reason to go back to the previous one. Just save, quit, and install the other disc.

And FYI - Disc 3 is only for multiplayer. The first two are for single.

[Gratch]

Picked this up, going through the massive 3 disk install.....

Crap, forgot about that.  I can't do the install (still on an old 20GB HD), and have heard there are some major issues with the PC version.

Looks like I'll be waiting for a while.

AFAIK, Rage works just like all other multi-disk 360 games (for the most part) - once you've switched discs, you have no reason to go back to the previous one. Just save, quit, and install the other disc.

And FYI - Disc 3 is only for multiplayer. The first two are for single.

True, but I've read two reviews that said the loading times are horrible on the consoles.  Besides, I'm awful at FPS on 360...better off just waiting for a PC patch.

[Isgrimnur]

I just lost all my progress through the first "dungeon" (Garage) because of my lack of recent experience actually having to save my game.  It's a PC-type save system, and there's no checkpoint before the big bad boss shows up and mows me down.  Ah, well. Gives me something to do tomorrow.

[MonkeyFinger]

Oh, and KD, that sewer grate is supposed to be free if you buy the game new.  I'd love to see confirmation of that, but if it's not release day available, I can see the reason for confusion.

There is an insert in my PC DVD case titled "Rage Wasteland Sewer Missions" with a code to download them, so I guess you can take that as a confirmation. 

[siege]

Great review. I definitely agree it's an awesome game. My son and I love the coop missions. I wish the racing wasn't limited to online only but other than that,  .

[Knightshade Dragon]

Oh, and KD, that sewer grate is supposed to be free if you buy the game new.  I'd love to see confirmation of that, but if it's not release day available, I can see the reason for confusion.

It wasn't available to me at the time of review.  I'll check and see if it works now and amend as necessary.

[Knightshade Dragon]

Great review, Ron.  I haven't been following this game at all, and the review got me up to speed without feeling like a cookie cutter Graphics: A; Sound: B; etc. type review.

One constructive criticism:

Obviously id pioneered the first person shooter genre, but there have been a lot of companies like Bungie, Gearbox, Bethesda, Raven, Epic, and others that have perfected it.

Language like 'obviously' makes a lot of assumptions about the reader, and is sort of self-defeating.  If it's obvious to the reader, then why are you stating it?  If you have a reader to which it's not obvious, you've come across as condescending.  The word doesn't add anything, either.  If you say "Id may have pioneered the first person shooter genre, but there have been a lot of companies like Bungie, Gearbox, Bethesda, Raven, Epic, and others that have perfected it" then nothing is lost.

*noted*  I see your point completely.

[Knightshade Dragon]

I just lost all my progress through the first "dungeon" (Garage) because of my lack of recent experience actually having to save my game.  It's a PC-type save system, and there's no checkpoint before the big bad boss shows up and mows me down.  Ah, well. Gives me something to do tomorrow.

I think I warned you about this in my review.     No more "Oh, it's autosaving for no reason...must be a boss fight" business here.

[CeeKay]

I just lost all my progress through the first "dungeon" (Garage) because of my lack of recent experience actually having to save my game.  It's a PC-type save system, and there's no checkpoint before the big bad boss shows up and mows me down.  Ah, well. Gives me something to do tomorrow.

I think I warned you about this in my review.     No more "Oh, it's autosaving for no reason...must be a boss fight" business here.

I think the game even reminds you at an early point, or at least the PC version does.

[Morgul]

Yea, it does give you a warning about save feature, says something like save allot, save often.

So, umm..  I played about a hour last night.

Tell me about the sewer grate thing?  There is a old man standing by one, telling me its full of mutants.  I chickened out from going in, I was in a rush...

And those mutants that jumped me on one of the first quests had me skiddish

[Vindel]

Is that sewer entrance the DLC that came with the game if you preordered?

[USMC Kato]

Is that sewer entrance the DLC that came with the game if you preordered?

The DLC mission comes with every new game, however the Anarchy weapon pack is what on not sure of

[siege]

Every first run copy of the game is the Anarchy Edition. It's not limited to pre orders.

[leo8877]

I'm playing on the PS3 and this is easily the worst case of texture pop-in I've ever seen.  Standing in a hallway, I look right and it pops in, I look left and it pops in, and I look right again and it pops in again.  Everywhere in the world, it's constant texture pop-in.  Even with the 8 GB install, the game looks terrible and jaggies all to hell.  Is it better on the 360?

Here's a video from Giant Bomb that shows some examples

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rbh7ztsQU8

[Knightshade Dragon]

I'm playing on the PS3 and this is easily the worst case of texture pop-in I've ever seen.  Standing in a hallway, I look right and it pops in, I look left and it pops in, and I look right again and it pops in again.  Everywhere in the world, it's constant texture pop-in.  Even with the 8 GB install, the game looks terrible and jaggies all to hell.  Is it better on the 360?

Here's a video from Giant Bomb that shows some examples

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rbh7ztsQU8

With a full 22GB install I didn't see any issues like this AT ALL.  I've not played it on the PS3 though...

[Isgrimnur]

When getting shipped back to the starting town's garage after the first race, the textures were blurry, then popped in at 2-3 different levels.  I've installed 2 discs on the 360.

[leo8877]

When getting shipped back to the starting town's garage after the first race, the textures were blurry, then popped in at 2-3 different levels.  I've installed 2 discs on the 360.

On the PS3 it literally pops in every time you turn your perspective.  It's constant popping.  I've never seen anything this bad.

Like the Unreal engine has a pop-in when the levels first load, then it's good from there, but this is literally happening 100% of the time.

[leo8877]

[Morgul]

When getting shipped back to the starting town's garage after the first race, the textures were blurry, then popped in at 2-3 different levels.  I've installed 2 discs on the 360.

On the PS3 it literally pops in every time you turn your perspective.  It's constant popping.  I've never seen anything this bad.

Like the Unreal engine has a pop-in when the levels first load, then it's good from there, but this is literally happening 100% of the time.

I am on a ps3, about hour and a half in.  I haven't seen anything but gorgeous..  I have not made it to a race yet though

[Sarkus]

I'm playing on the PC (yay, technical issues!) but enjoyed the review.  One quibble, though, that I'm surprised you haven't fixed.  You say that the game starts in 2035, six years after the asteroid hits.  Its actually 106 years later, as it says on your ark computer when you wake up.  I'm only a few hours into the game, but that's my understanding of the setup.

As an aside, the backstory provided in the tie-in novel (the first 50 pages are on the game's website, I didn't buy the book) is pretty interesting, if spoilerish. 

[leo8877]

When getting shipped back to the starting town's garage after the first race, the textures were blurry, then popped in at 2-3 different levels.  I've installed 2 discs on the 360.

On the PS3 it literally pops in every time you turn your perspective.  It's constant popping.  I've never seen anything this bad.

Like the Unreal engine has a pop-in when the levels first load, then it's good from there, but this is literally happening 100% of the time.

I am on a ps3, about hour and a half in.  I haven't seen anything but gorgeous..  I have not made it to a race yet though

Really?  Did you watch that Giant Bomb interview and not see the same pop-in there?  I wonder if my install went bad?  It's literally 100% pop-in.