

So we've established that the shooting is exceptional, but what about the rest of the game? Well, unfortunately, nothing else here quite manages to reach the high watermark set by the combat. It's clear Rage 2's UI has been optimised for a gamepad, because even menu navigation feels a little awkward with the mouse. Luckily you can rebind your powers, and I found assigning them to the number keys felt much more intuitive. That might not sound too complicated, but in the thick of a frenetic, fast-paced firefight, when you're also trying to run and jump and shoot, it feels like you're wrestling with your own fingers.

You have to hold down the control key, then press another key to activate them.
RAGE 2 MULTIPLAYER SOFTWARE
If you loved the precision, brutality, and fluidity of the Doom reboot id Software released in 2016, but wished it had more variety, Rage 2 is the answer to your dark prayers.Ĭuriously, however, the default key bindings for your powers are incredibly clumsy.

Over the course of the game your powers, weapons, and upgrades stack up, and the combat becomes exponentially more fun in the process. Other powers include Shatter, which lets you charge rapidly towards an enemy with a surge of power, smashing their armour to pieces or, if they're close enough, exploding them in a mist of claret. There's a huge amount of customisation in Rage 2, offering countless ways to deal with any given combat situation.
RAGE 2 MULTIPLAYER UPGRADE
And all of these abilities-and pretty much everything in the game, including weapons and vehicles-have their own upgrade trees.

You can also conjure up protective energy shields and drag groups of enemies together by tossing a swirling vortex into the battlefield. Rage 2 is a game where you frequently find yourself swarmed and overwhelmed by fast-moving enemiesĬause enough mayhem and you can hit the V key to activate Overdrive mode, which makes your weapons more powerful, regenerates health, and reduces the cooldown time of your powers. The combat is the black, beating heart of the game, and the reason you'll keep playing long after you've stopped caring about the plot. But honestly, the story is entirely forgettable. Defeating these guys and their leader, General Cross, is your primary motivation in Rage 2-not to mention fighting off gangs of raiders, bandits, and other goons. Enemies are thrown savagely backwards by the blast, into walls, over railings, and off the side of cliffs.Īnd you're going to need firepower like this to stop The Authority, an army of mechanical mutants marauding across the sun-scorched wastelands of this bleak, asteroid-battered Earth. The spread tightens and the force of the impact increases massively. But it's the alternate fire mode, activated by holding the right mouse button, that really makes it special. When you unload a round of buckshot into a hapless enemy you can almost feel the shockwave rippling through your shoulder. This semi-automatic weapon of mass destruction is loud, violent, and obnoxious: a bit like Rage 2 itself, in fact.
