Contains spoilers, pictures, insight, and a cool bolded tidbit.
Launching a new IP is a nerve-wracking experience for any developer. If you are legendary game maker id Software showing off your first new IP since the mid-1990s, the level of pressure must be excruciating. After two years, two trailers, and even some confusion about the game's genre, id finally pulls back the curtain on its multi-platform post-apocalyptic shooter, Rage, and shows a live demo to both press and the public at QuakeCon 2009.
With Rage, id is trying to reshape what people think about when they hear the name "id." As the creators of the first person shooter genre, that's not an easy task. Despite Rage's early genre confusion (is it a shooter or a vehicular combat racer?), it's clear from this demo that Rage is definitely a first person shooter first -- but with added layers (like the aforementioned vehicular combat, and even character interaction) to enhance the experience.
Our demo begins with a little backstory that sets the stage for the new world we are about to see in-motion for the first time. Rage takes place on a future Earth -- about 80-to-100 years after an asteroid was supposed to destroy the world. In preparation for the impending disaster, the governments of the world banded together for a last ditch effort to save humanity: the Eden project. For Eden, special arks were then buried underground -- arks where approximately a dozen specially chosen people (military personnel, scientists, government officials) would lie in cryogenic sleep until a future date to then wake up to a new and better world.
The game begins with your character waking up from his cryogenic sleep, but there's a problem: Everyone else in his ark is dead.
The ark is apparently damaged, and surfaces early. Soon afterwards, you discover that you are not alone, and this future world is far different than expected. Segments of society have survived the disaster, but have instead devolved from the early pre-asteroid Earth, and have no memory of the Eden project.
Id's demo starts about an hour or two into the game. Your character has been sent on a mission to the regional hub city of Wellspring to find the mayor and gather supplies to resupply a local settlement that he's been helping. As you leave this starting area, the game world opens up for the first time.
This is the first time we see the desert buggy that you'll be driving on your journey. Shortly into the trip, mercenaries attack you with their own vehicles -- of course, our vehicle brandishes two roof-mounted machine guns that pack a mean punch. These guns auto-aim onto any vehicle that crosses our frontal cone of fire. We also notice that instead of a traditional radar box, the interface utilizes a circular HUD wrapping around your car, with arrows pointing toward threats. Matt Hooper, Rage's lead designer, mentions several times that the car combat is an, "extension of the FPS experience," and that he wants players to grow attached to their vehicles much like how Link felt for his horse Epona in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Within moments the enemies are dispatched, and we arrive at Wellspring. After loading into town, a quick musical flourish plays which sounds partially Old West -- but with an Asian sound that stylistically communicates the city's societal makeup. While walking around the town, you're met with equal parts disdain and apathy. Most citizens ignore you, while others comment on how goofy you look in your ark outfit.
Link to Video: 1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3175573
The city's architectural design combines rusted shantytown with steam punk. Its citizens wear odd clothing combinations -- like pauper pants alongside a waist jacket and monocle. This whole aesthetic is a bit strange, but it adds to the world's bizarre beauty. The developers at id clearly spent their time planning the look of this world. Parts of the environment feel familiar, yet at the same time completely alien. It's hard not to just sit and stare at the beautiful lighting and particle effects in town -- especially indoors, where the game does a great job of recreating the effect of sunlight reflecting off of dust floating in the air near windows.
At this point in the demo, we jump forward in the story a little bit to a sun-soaked dusty office where we discover, through a conversation, that you've been working for the local sheriff. Although there were several conversations with NPC's during our demo, it's clear that id isn't trying to copy the conversations systems of Fallout 3 or Mass Effect. "We're trying to implement an action storytelling experience, rather than a five-page text conversation," says creative director Tim Willits.
Most of these conversations appear one-sided, and include either exposition about the world, or merely an explanation of a new mission. The sheriff explains that he needs you to explore a Shrouded clan base in the north, because they've been using remote controlled cars packed with C4 (called RC-Bombs) to destroy vehicles. Once inside the base, you have to find their bomb cache and -- guess what -- blow it up.
Before leaving Wellspring, you have to visit Mick's garage to your vehicle of choice and take off. The choices for this part of the demo include the Monarch (a larger, more heavily armored vehicle) and your trusty Dune Buster buggy. You can upgrade each component of your vehicle at this garage as well. One nice visual touch is that while selecting upgrades, you view the car as a wire frame model that disassembles and reassembles each part as you change the options.
Rather than driving to the location, we once again skip forward to the facility where we not only get our first extensive look at combat, but also get a chance use the Shrouded's own RC-bombs to blow up their explosive caches. According to Hooper, players can visit any location in the game at any time. "The player is allowed to come here [the Shrouded clan base] before he actually has the mission [to destroy the cache]. Perhaps the bandits will be too tough, but we allow [players] the freedom to explore the world in an open, but directed, experience."
Once inside, we quickly encounter enemies. The gunplay looks similar to many previous id titles. Besides your somewhat standard pistol, machine gun, and shotgun, we also notice the crossbow weapon. The designers intend to offer a "streamlined" list of ammo types. "We don't want to add ammo types just to say we have ammo types," Hooper adds, "we always want a short list of meaningful items that provide the player choices." As an example, we see the crossbow with an electrical bolt take out the front entry without alerting enemies further down the tunnel. Another stealth-oriented weapon is a three-sided boomerang called a wingstick that you can throw from great distances. If stealth isn't your thing, the last ammo type id shows off is the "fat boy" -- a type of bullet for the pistol that increases stopping power for close quarters combat.
In addition to standard weapons you also have access to a variety of engineering gizmos that enhance the base combat. In one encounter the player gets the attention of a group of enemies with a poorly aimed crossbow shot -- but instead of attacking the attacking bandits head on, he then places an automatic guard turret at the only entrance to the balcony, and it mows the enemies down. After dispatching all the enemies, the player can actually use one of the enemy's RC-Bombs as a reusable engineering item to enter the explosive cache from a tunnel entrance and then detonate to finish off the cache (and the mission).
Once back in town, we pay a visit to the vehicle upgrade vendor, Rusty. After a short conversation we discover that he gets paid in racing certificates -- ones that you can only win by competing at the Wellspring speedway. Once you accept this racing assignment, you can then choose between several events: Time Trial, Combat Speed, Dusty 8 Open, and Southern Highway. We opt for Combat Speed: a three-lap race where the fastest time wins. As the name suggests, you also have access to your vehicular weaponry during the race; this ends up playing out like a mix between Motorstorm and Full Auto. You can destroy your opponents during the race, but they will respawn and continue racing. The benefit for doling out damage is an extra racing certificate for each vehicle you destroy. Also, littered throughout the track are both ammunition and nitrous oxides power-ups. It's actually surprising how complete the transition from FPS to racer is in these events.
After winning the race we see another aspect of the racing scene: sponsorships. In order to gain access to more powerful vehicles, you have to be part of a sponsor class race. So while talking to Slim (the race scheduler), you might learn that Mutant Bash TV is looking to sponsor a racer -- so you might want to visit their studios. Once there, you meet J.K. Stiles, the corpulent neckerchief-wearing producer of MB TV -- a show that is a mixture of gladiatorial games and a funhouse carnival gone mad. One interesting thing we notice during our demo is a disfigurement to J.K. Stiles' feet. After asking the developers about this, we find out that he's part mutant -- adding a self-loathing psychological element to his desire for mutant destruction.
If the title of the show isn't a clue the premise is simple: complete each challenge room by killing all the mutants while surviving their attacks and any environmental hazards along the way. One room requires constant movement as you race around the area, shooting mutants while avoiding spikes that randomly shoot up through the ground. After making your way through several crazy rooms, you then unlock a bonus round for an opportunity to gain powerups -- but there's a risk. The bonus round features a gigantic slot machine that works by shooting a target in front of each spinning wheel to make it stop. Land on three combinations of dollar signs, and you gain rewards. But hit a spinning skull, and a swarm of mutants bursts out of the machine to attack you. Id concludes the demo after finishing the bonus round.
For a first look at a game, id showed off surprising amount of content, and the id folks assure that this is only a taste of what Rage has to offer. The developers confirmed that Rage's campaign is split in two parts -- each with a very distinct look and feel. At the moment the singleplayer campaign is scheduled to ship on two DVDs for the Xbox 360 and PC, with a third disc featuring some type of multiplayer component isn't up for discussion yet. The PlayStation 3 version will fill up a dual-layer Blu-Ray, and feature less compression to the game's megatextures. We're still not quite sure what to make of Rage's unique mix of game elements, but the even just the technical achievements associated with producing a game that looks and runs this well make this a game worth keeping an eye on.
Launching a new IP is a nerve-wracking experience for any developer. If you are legendary game maker id Software showing off your first new IP since the mid-1990s, the level of pressure must be excruciating. After two years, two trailers, and even some confusion about the game's genre, id finally pulls back the curtain on its multi-platform post-apocalyptic shooter, Rage, and shows a live demo to both press and the public at QuakeCon 2009.
With Rage, id is trying to reshape what people think about when they hear the name "id." As the creators of the first person shooter genre, that's not an easy task. Despite Rage's early genre confusion (is it a shooter or a vehicular combat racer?), it's clear from this demo that Rage is definitely a first person shooter first -- but with added layers (like the aforementioned vehicular combat, and even character interaction) to enhance the experience.
Our demo begins with a little backstory that sets the stage for the new world we are about to see in-motion for the first time. Rage takes place on a future Earth -- about 80-to-100 years after an asteroid was supposed to destroy the world. In preparation for the impending disaster, the governments of the world banded together for a last ditch effort to save humanity: the Eden project. For Eden, special arks were then buried underground -- arks where approximately a dozen specially chosen people (military personnel, scientists, government officials) would lie in cryogenic sleep until a future date to then wake up to a new and better world.
The game begins with your character waking up from his cryogenic sleep, but there's a problem: Everyone else in his ark is dead.
The ark is apparently damaged, and surfaces early. Soon afterwards, you discover that you are not alone, and this future world is far different than expected. Segments of society have survived the disaster, but have instead devolved from the early pre-asteroid Earth, and have no memory of the Eden project.
Id's demo starts about an hour or two into the game. Your character has been sent on a mission to the regional hub city of Wellspring to find the mayor and gather supplies to resupply a local settlement that he's been helping. As you leave this starting area, the game world opens up for the first time.
This is the first time we see the desert buggy that you'll be driving on your journey. Shortly into the trip, mercenaries attack you with their own vehicles -- of course, our vehicle brandishes two roof-mounted machine guns that pack a mean punch. These guns auto-aim onto any vehicle that crosses our frontal cone of fire. We also notice that instead of a traditional radar box, the interface utilizes a circular HUD wrapping around your car, with arrows pointing toward threats. Matt Hooper, Rage's lead designer, mentions several times that the car combat is an, "extension of the FPS experience," and that he wants players to grow attached to their vehicles much like how Link felt for his horse Epona in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Within moments the enemies are dispatched, and we arrive at Wellspring. After loading into town, a quick musical flourish plays which sounds partially Old West -- but with an Asian sound that stylistically communicates the city's societal makeup. While walking around the town, you're met with equal parts disdain and apathy. Most citizens ignore you, while others comment on how goofy you look in your ark outfit.
Link to Video: 1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3175573
The city's architectural design combines rusted shantytown with steam punk. Its citizens wear odd clothing combinations -- like pauper pants alongside a waist jacket and monocle. This whole aesthetic is a bit strange, but it adds to the world's bizarre beauty. The developers at id clearly spent their time planning the look of this world. Parts of the environment feel familiar, yet at the same time completely alien. It's hard not to just sit and stare at the beautiful lighting and particle effects in town -- especially indoors, where the game does a great job of recreating the effect of sunlight reflecting off of dust floating in the air near windows.
At this point in the demo, we jump forward in the story a little bit to a sun-soaked dusty office where we discover, through a conversation, that you've been working for the local sheriff. Although there were several conversations with NPC's during our demo, it's clear that id isn't trying to copy the conversations systems of Fallout 3 or Mass Effect. "We're trying to implement an action storytelling experience, rather than a five-page text conversation," says creative director Tim Willits.
Most of these conversations appear one-sided, and include either exposition about the world, or merely an explanation of a new mission. The sheriff explains that he needs you to explore a Shrouded clan base in the north, because they've been using remote controlled cars packed with C4 (called RC-Bombs) to destroy vehicles. Once inside the base, you have to find their bomb cache and -- guess what -- blow it up.
Before leaving Wellspring, you have to visit Mick's garage to your vehicle of choice and take off. The choices for this part of the demo include the Monarch (a larger, more heavily armored vehicle) and your trusty Dune Buster buggy. You can upgrade each component of your vehicle at this garage as well. One nice visual touch is that while selecting upgrades, you view the car as a wire frame model that disassembles and reassembles each part as you change the options.
Rather than driving to the location, we once again skip forward to the facility where we not only get our first extensive look at combat, but also get a chance use the Shrouded's own RC-bombs to blow up their explosive caches. According to Hooper, players can visit any location in the game at any time. "The player is allowed to come here [the Shrouded clan base] before he actually has the mission [to destroy the cache]. Perhaps the bandits will be too tough, but we allow [players] the freedom to explore the world in an open, but directed, experience."
Once inside, we quickly encounter enemies. The gunplay looks similar to many previous id titles. Besides your somewhat standard pistol, machine gun, and shotgun, we also notice the crossbow weapon. The designers intend to offer a "streamlined" list of ammo types. "We don't want to add ammo types just to say we have ammo types," Hooper adds, "we always want a short list of meaningful items that provide the player choices." As an example, we see the crossbow with an electrical bolt take out the front entry without alerting enemies further down the tunnel. Another stealth-oriented weapon is a three-sided boomerang called a wingstick that you can throw from great distances. If stealth isn't your thing, the last ammo type id shows off is the "fat boy" -- a type of bullet for the pistol that increases stopping power for close quarters combat.
In addition to standard weapons you also have access to a variety of engineering gizmos that enhance the base combat. In one encounter the player gets the attention of a group of enemies with a poorly aimed crossbow shot -- but instead of attacking the attacking bandits head on, he then places an automatic guard turret at the only entrance to the balcony, and it mows the enemies down. After dispatching all the enemies, the player can actually use one of the enemy's RC-Bombs as a reusable engineering item to enter the explosive cache from a tunnel entrance and then detonate to finish off the cache (and the mission).
Once back in town, we pay a visit to the vehicle upgrade vendor, Rusty. After a short conversation we discover that he gets paid in racing certificates -- ones that you can only win by competing at the Wellspring speedway. Once you accept this racing assignment, you can then choose between several events: Time Trial, Combat Speed, Dusty 8 Open, and Southern Highway. We opt for Combat Speed: a three-lap race where the fastest time wins. As the name suggests, you also have access to your vehicular weaponry during the race; this ends up playing out like a mix between Motorstorm and Full Auto. You can destroy your opponents during the race, but they will respawn and continue racing. The benefit for doling out damage is an extra racing certificate for each vehicle you destroy. Also, littered throughout the track are both ammunition and nitrous oxides power-ups. It's actually surprising how complete the transition from FPS to racer is in these events.
After winning the race we see another aspect of the racing scene: sponsorships. In order to gain access to more powerful vehicles, you have to be part of a sponsor class race. So while talking to Slim (the race scheduler), you might learn that Mutant Bash TV is looking to sponsor a racer -- so you might want to visit their studios. Once there, you meet J.K. Stiles, the corpulent neckerchief-wearing producer of MB TV -- a show that is a mixture of gladiatorial games and a funhouse carnival gone mad. One interesting thing we notice during our demo is a disfigurement to J.K. Stiles' feet. After asking the developers about this, we find out that he's part mutant -- adding a self-loathing psychological element to his desire for mutant destruction.
If the title of the show isn't a clue the premise is simple: complete each challenge room by killing all the mutants while surviving their attacks and any environmental hazards along the way. One room requires constant movement as you race around the area, shooting mutants while avoiding spikes that randomly shoot up through the ground. After making your way through several crazy rooms, you then unlock a bonus round for an opportunity to gain powerups -- but there's a risk. The bonus round features a gigantic slot machine that works by shooting a target in front of each spinning wheel to make it stop. Land on three combinations of dollar signs, and you gain rewards. But hit a spinning skull, and a swarm of mutants bursts out of the machine to attack you. Id concludes the demo after finishing the bonus round.
For a first look at a game, id showed off surprising amount of content, and the id folks assure that this is only a taste of what Rage has to offer. The developers confirmed that Rage's campaign is split in two parts -- each with a very distinct look and feel. At the moment the singleplayer campaign is scheduled to ship on two DVDs for the Xbox 360 and PC, with a third disc featuring some type of multiplayer component isn't up for discussion yet. The PlayStation 3 version will fill up a dual-layer Blu-Ray, and feature less compression to the game's megatextures. We're still not quite sure what to make of Rage's unique mix of game elements, but the even just the technical achievements associated with producing a game that looks and runs this well make this a game worth keeping an eye on.
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