RAGE 2 Deluxe Edition - PlayStation 4

I'm not a super huge fan of "open world" games where there's like a lot to do, but it's too easy to get lost or get distracted and then you end up in the middle of nowhere and blow-up your car and now you gotta like literally walk alllllll the way back to somewhere to get a car... it's like ... it's not fun. We're in a post-"Breath of the Wild" and post-"Metal Gear Solid V" world, and it's sometimes unfair to have those metrics, but if you really compare, then this can't compare. But, ignoring all that, and not being a jerk: The style is really colorful and interesting. It's very flashy. The monsters / mutants / whatevers are ok. The sound is weird, like I might be missing some speakers / bass, but like the gravel sound is insanely squishy and squidgy. There's lots of skill upgrades for you and your cars and your guns and everything, it's pretty neat. But of course I immediately just drove around and did random stuff and then got lost. I drove back to the main starting point, but that was empty. There's a bunch of places to go and stuff to do, but they're all spread-out and it's like really really really vastly different to run around vs. driving around. Driving around seems to be the only actual way to get anywhere or do anything, and it's way too easy to try and "Breath of the Wild" climb over every mountain in your way, but it really really really does NOT work. Gotta go around. There's just so much "empty space", which means annoyances. However, when you're not in the empty spaces, it gets wacky. Explosions and colours and static and noises and lights and all kinds of wackiness. It's a lot. And there's all kinds of addictive things to collect and all that twitchy itchy goodness that a modern videogame is to facilitate as a life distraction. For what it is, it's good. Tons of upgrades, controls are great, action is great, responsiveness is good, and the UI and style are both pretty amazing. I'm just really losin' patience for the trope-y things like random garbage everywhere that you can't interact with, empty pointless rooms, vast distances between stuff, and dead-end cliffs. It's like ... somebody designed literally every pixel of this ... just put up walls and don't let me climb behind them ... done. Make it what it is and only what it is and don't show me stuff I can't get to or interact with. It would feel so much more polished and complete.

The game is not a masterpiece and in a lot of ways, I get why people had such a luke warm reception to it. However, give it time and the gameplay just clicks and it is kind of a blast. I still prefer the first game to this one, however, those lucky enough to buy it for under $40 are possibly in for a great treat. Story is meh, Missions are meh, powers are fun, guns are fun. Just nothing is truly amazing. However, I don't need every game to be the best ever, so there you go. 7.5/10

The game is first and foremost an id soft shooter, so if you like doom and quake you’ll be right at home here. The weapons are exactly what one would expect, responsive and effective. The combat is fast and furious, with some cool abilities thrown in and gadgets that can be crafted from the tons of resources found everywhere in the game. The driving, at least on console, is merely ok and searching completed areas for the goodies can become tedious as there is no in game indicator to help find them. Probably intentional as to prolong game play. But, as stated, the main attraction here is the gunfights and they do not disappoint. Good, mindless shooting at its best.

This game has amazing Doom/ id software level shooting mechanics with additional powers akin to Dishonored or Mass Effect's biotic powers. The open world is very repetitive and separates fun combat areas with boring drive sequences to new locations. The story is remarkably short and can be finished in a few hours. Overall, I would wait for a price drop to $30 or less to make it worth the purchase.

I've only played a few hours but from what I've played I really enjoy. There are a lot of abilities and guns to keep the combat from getting old and side missions to break up the campaign. Races, destroying giant turrets and clearing out enemy camps are a few of the side objectives I've come across so far. DOOM meets Borderlands meets Mad Max if that sounds like something you'd like than this is the game for you.