RAGE 2 Review Summary

Highly enjoyable and fun gameplay: Players overwhelmingly found the game to be fun, enjoyable, and addictive, often highlighting its core gameplay, combat, and overall entertainment value. Many also noted it as a significant improvement over its predecessor, Rage 1, and praised its unique blend of elements.

Exceptional and satisfying combat: The combat system, particularly the gunplay, received immense praise for being satisfying, fluid, dynamic, and impactful. Players frequently compared it favorably to DOOM, emphasizing the feeling of power, variety of weapons, and excellent feedback from hits and dismemberment.

Impressive graphics and visuals: The game's graphics and visuals were consistently praised for being beautiful, striking, and holding up well over time. Players highlighted the vibrant color palette, environmental detail, and overall production quality.

Diverse and powerful abilities: The variety and impact of weapons and special abilities were a major highlight. Players enjoyed unlocking and upgrading these tools, noting how they enhanced combat, provided diverse options for destruction, and made them feel powerful.

Unique and fun weapon arsenal: Specific weapons like the Grav-Dart Launcher and Wingstick were singled out for their unique mechanics and fun factor. The overall arsenal was considered useful, varied, and rewarding to use, with the shotgun being a particular favorite.

Weak and Forgettable Story: Players consistently found the game's narrative to be weak, underdeveloped, and unengaging. The story is often described as short, generic, and forgettable, with bland characters and predictable plot points. Many felt it was a significant downgrade from the first game's narrative quality.

Major Technical Issues and Crashes: A significant number of players reported severe technical issues, including frequent crashes, game-breaking bugs that prevent progress, and performance problems. These issues often render the game unplayable or severely detract from the experience, even years after release.

Repetitive and Unchallenging Gameplay: The gameplay loop, including missions and open-world activities, is widely criticized for being highly repetitive and monotonous. Players found the difficulty inconsistent and the overall experience lacking challenge, leading to boredom once core mechanics are mastered.

Empty and Generic Open World: The open world is frequently described as empty, lifeless, and generic, with little incentive for exploration beyond clearing map icons. Many players felt the open-world design was poorly implemented and added little value to the game, often feeling like filler.

Disappointing Sequel to Rage 1: Many fans of the original Rage expressed disappointment with the sequel, feeling it deviated too much from the first game's charm, tone, and core elements. They perceived it as a significant downgrade in various aspects, including story, AI, and overall soul.

Post-apocalyptic open-world shooter: The game is consistently described as a post-apocalyptic open-world first-person shooter, heavily influenced by titles like Doom (2016), Mad Max, and Borderlands. It blends fast-paced combat with vehicle exploration and outpost clearing in a dystopian setting.

Short main story campaign: A significant point of contention is the game's short main story, often cited as being completable in 5-10 hours. While side content and full completion extend playtime, the core narrative is perceived as brief, rushed, and lacking depth.

Integral vehicle combat and driving: Vehicle combat and driving are integral to the open-world experience, with players using cars for travel, ambushing convoys, and participating in races. While some find the driving stiff, the overall vehicle gameplay is considered fun and a notable aspect.

Underutilized weapon variety: Despite a variety of weapons and abilities, some players found themselves relying on a limited set of weapons, suggesting that not all arsenal options feel equally impactful or necessary. The overall weapon variety is good, but practical usage might be narrow.

Exploration and stronghold clearing: Exploration and clearing strongholds are core activities, involving eliminating enemies and collecting loot. The world offers diverse biomes and numerous locations, encouraging players to explore and become stronger through combat.

Excellent overall performance: Many players report excellent and stable performance across a wide range of hardware, including Steam Deck and older PCs. The game generally maintains high frame rates and smooth gameplay, with quick loading times.

Minor visual and animation bugs: Players occasionally encounter various visual bugs, including texture issues, general visual glitches, and minor animation problems, such as incorrect gun-holding animations.

Outdated facial animations: The quality of facial animations is noted as being subpar, appearing outdated compared to current industry standards.

Fast loading times: Loading times are consistently reported as minimal and fast, which contributes positively to the game's overall pace.

FPS cap with Nvidia settings: Blocking FPS in the Nvidia control panel can unexpectedly limit the game's frame rate to 45 FPS, which is not ideal for smooth gameplay.

Buy on deep discount: The overwhelming sentiment is that the game offers good value, but only when purchased at a significant discount. Many players feel the full price is not justified, but it becomes a worthwhile experience at a lower cost.

Great for FPS fans: The game is highly recommended for fans of fast-paced, arcade-style first-person shooters, especially those who enjoy games like Doom or Far Cry. Its core strength lies in its satisfying combat and open-world mayhem.

Compared to other games: Many players compare the game to its predecessor, Rage, and other open-world titles like Mad Max. Some prefer the original Rage, while others suggest playing Mad Max for a better experience.

DLCs are overpriced: The general consensus is that the DLCs, particularly DLC2, are overpriced for the content they offer. Players are advised to skip them unless they are completionists or find them heavily discounted.

Edition purchase advice: There's mixed advice regarding which edition to purchase. Some recommend the base game, others the deluxe for all content, and some advise against the deluxe.

Misunderstood potential and value: Many players feel the game is unfairly criticized, often due to high expectations or comparisons to other titles. Despite some initial enjoyment, the game's potential was not fully realized, leading to mixed reviews and a sense that it could have benefited from more development time. Some players found it to be a good value, especially on sale, while others regretted their purchase.

Genre blend and influences: The game is frequently described as a blend of other popular titles, primarily Mad Max and Doom, with elements of Borderlands and Far Cry. This mix creates a unique, over-the-top, and colorful post-apocalyptic experience that appeals to fans of fast-paced shooters and open-world exploration.

Development team collaboration: Avalanche Studios was the primary developer, responsible for the open-world aspects, with id Software collaborating on the game's development. This partnership aimed to combine id Software's signature gunplay with Avalanche's open-world expertise.

Sequel continuity and future hopes: The game's story continues years after the first installment, and players who enjoyed the original Rage game are likely to appreciate this sequel. There is also a desire among players for a third installment, ideally developed by both Avalanche and id Software.

Mixed value of extra content: The value of additional content, such as DLCs and Rage coins, is mixed. While some found the deluxe edition acceptable, others felt that specific DLCs offered poor value, despite some players purchasing extra content.