From the inventors of the first person shooters, id software, comes RAGE. Set for release on October 4, 2011, RAGE will be available on PC, Xbox 360, Mac and Playstation 3. From what we saw at the E3 demo, RAGE will not disappoint.

RAGE is set in the year 2039. You will play as a survivor of the Apophis meteorite impact. You are a part of a world wide movement, known as the Eden Project, that took significant individuals and froze them underground in ‘cryo-pods’ known as Ark’s so they could rebuild Earth.

What happened to our dear Earth? In 2004, Scientists detect an asteroid the size of Manhattan floating around space. The excitement of the scientists is soon cut short after they discover it may impact earth. In 2024, the meteor is given a danger level of 7, the highest possible danger level of a meteor impact on Earth. In 2025, the project to save earth begins. Capsules are buried under the ground to be revived at a later date after the disaster. All the participants are injected with Nanotrites, a new untested material, allowing them to survive cold sleep. 2025–2027, the government piles up an arsenal of weapons, held in fortified locations deep inside earth. August 2029, the general population is informed about the meteor strike. December 2029, the meteor hits the moon then strikes Earth. It wipes out towns, cities and entire countries. 80% of life disappears from Earth. The sun is blocked by dust. 2035: The dust begins to clear and survivors start to emerge. Small amounts of hope remain. People are grouped up in small shelters and camps as many try to find shelter from the unknown dangers lurking in the wasteland that has become Earth.

The player enters the scene with no memory of the events that have taken place or his identity and mission.

Although the game is a FPS, a few parts of the game consist of racing around the Motorstorm looking deserts. Players will be able to upgrade and modify their cars with new items being unlocked as you finish races.

RAGE also has a role-playing game (RPG) style to it. Players will have access to an inventory system and weapon customization features. More on the RPG elements of the game is yet to be released.

Multiplayer will consist of two modes: ‘Combat Rally’ and ‘Legends of the Wasteland’

Combat Rally will be set in a free-for-all arena which is suited to the use of vehicles. The objective: Collect rally points that appear around the arena and defeat your opponents to steal their points.

Legends of the Wasteland: You will get access a series of bonus co-op missions in which you will play the stories you hear during the normal, singleplayer, campaign mode.

RAGE, using the id Tech 5 engine, looks and feels amazing. Every aspect of the game world has been developed to perfectionism. The visuals provide a truely brilliant and eye-opening experience.

E3 2011 DEMO:

The demo presented by id at E3 2011 showed off the true capabilities of RAGE. The demo was one of the longest at E3 this year. It gave fans the opportunity to explore 6 missions of extensive gameplay.

The missions available are played by first talking to NPC’s within the game. The first mission in the demo starts off in Derelict Town. Here, you get the choice of two different missions. Talk to one NPC and you will receive the Dunebuggy quest, talk to another and you will receive a tutorial on using Wingsticks, the Boomerang styled weapon which is a part of your deadly arsenal.

The ATV is introduced in this part of the game. The ATV is the most basic vehicle in the game, it has no weapons and no upgrades available. Just a simple racing beast. Once we drive through the bumpy bouncy roads, we finally get to the shooting. The FPS shooting that id is famous for is represented will during this part of the demo. We get given a small arsenal of weapons including a pistol with scope, an assault shotgun, a basic combat rifle, and your fists! Each gun has the ability to be loaded up with different types of bullets, each with their own devastating effects to whatever is one the other side of the scope. During this mission, we get to use the ‘Fatboys’ (yes, that’s actually what it’s called).  Fatboys are more powerful versions of normal bullets and their effects are visible when a shot is fired. Enemies fall to the ground pretty quick.

The overall shooting experience of RAGE is quite astonishing. The FPS action is fast paced and has a cool flow to it. The game has a tactical aspect to it as well which is brought in by the well produced AI in the game. The enemies you face in RAGE will not stand out of cover and just watch as you pull off a swift headshot. They will run, jump, hide and communicate with their group in order to terminate you! This always significantly improves the quality of a FPS game.

As we move further into the demo, another nice feature from the masterminds at id is revealed. The Engineering ability. This allows players to collect scrap pieces of material from all around the game world and then construct a weapon that assists you during battle. You will discover weapon schematics along with the items required as you progress through the game. We get given a small taste of the wacky weapons that are available for build, including turrets that will fire at your enemy, assisting your as you go for the famous headshot. Spiders that will hunt down your enemy, providing a great distraction. Also, a controllable RC car that will detonate on your signal. The RC car is also used to reach places that your character can not. Other neat weapons include the grindlock, able to cut through door locks, the EMP Blast and a health boosting adrenaline overdrive.

Next, to the driving aspect. The driving aspect of the game is important in RAGE. You will be driving to your missions that you receive with battles along the way. All vehicles in the game will receive permanent damage. If you do not repair the damage received, your vehicle will break down causing you to call in the help of a tow truck. All vehicles are heavily upgradeable with armor and weapons that give you a better chance of winning races. Weapons such as homing rockets will be available. The race track is full of pickup weapons and items that you will obtain as your drive over them. You will be able to choose a custom loadout of weapons before participating in the race. Three items were available for the purpose of the demo. This included land mines which you could deploy to blow up other racers, a temporary shield that blocks incoming hits on your vehicle and one that restores your vehicle damage by a limited amount. 25 challenging races are planned for the full retail version.

RAGE will be hitting stores on October 4, 2011. The demo only showed us the tip of the iceberg of whats set to go down in the history of videogames as another hit tittle by id Software.

Look out for EMGN’s extensive review of RAGE on release day.

GAMEPLAY TRAILER: