Are you curious about Rage 2? Heres a review

TL/DR… It starts slow, but ramps up, outstanding production values, graphics are great. Take the time to test and tweak the settings before you really dive in, its made a huge difference. Lighting, gameplay, audio, all great. Couple of Ui elements take a little time to learn. Story is so so, but when you go to an amusement park, its not about the story, its about the ride. Plenty of WOW moments so far.

Just about 4 hours in and I LOVE IT. It had kind of a slow start and I was a little worried about that. Let me tell you, Its a hell of a lot of fun. Optimization, do it. Get your settings dialed in, this has made a huuuuuge difference. I have a fairly strong rig, Right off the get go, I was disappointed with the graphics, I couldnt figure out why, I had everything maxed and it didnt look as sharp as it should. Next stop was Nvidia Control panel. I threw all the bells and whistles at it that i could, one setting that made a HUUUUUGE DIFFERENCE is MFAA in the Nvidia Control Panel, it sharpened everything up to where it should be. I had a go at 4k resolution, just to see, we aren’t there yet. Took a look at 2k, then back to 1080p.

1080p looks OUSTANDING. With everything enabled, Nv Control panel tweaked. It is quite something to behold. It maxes out my GPU at 98%, that is without OverClocking. I’m running a 2080TI Duke with an 8700k OC’d to 5.0. Animations are fluid, frame rates are great, I also enabled VSYNC and it works great. I’ve had no problems with tearing. I’m a little bit older, my eyes can get tired easily, so i’m quite thrilled with the fluidity of the graphics. Not a frame drop in site. I have been exploring a bit and there is plenty to see.

Let me say, the first big mission, Flushing the muties for the grizzly adams lookin fellow, thats when I knew, this game kicks​:heart::heart::heart::heart::heart: I’ve noticed a lot of people mention the pink, the pink is not overwhelming in game, however, when you hit the overdrive, its a tad more pink than I would like. Colors are very vibrant. They ease you into it. During the Flushing mission, the lighting was something else, best I have seen to date. Very very bright, so bright in parts that i had to look away for a minute, the lighting alone should have its own review. The fog effects are outstanding, I’ve noticed others say no HDR was disappointing. Honestly, I dont think you need it, as when the colors show, they really pop. You would likely have to wear sunglasses and sunblock if this was pumping HDR at you.

The story is nothing special, so far, I will update more as i progress through the game. As of now its your standard fair for post apocalyptic carnage. Not a whole lot of variety in enemy types as of yet, you have your mutants, and punks that really like hair dye, then there is the strogg like authority. Bosses so far have been fun, I’m still in the first 3rd of the game though.

The sound is good, and the movement is really a lot of fun when you get he hang of it. Lots of upgrades to keep you busy and lots of vehicles, a surprising amount of different vehicles really. Lots of upgrades for your weapons and vehicles. I mean A LOT. All of the different upgrades really spread it around, so many different techniques to build up. There is also a bit of a learning curve for the mission ui, navigating the map and such took a little getting use to.

Gameplay? Has it in spades. If you are looking for fast and furious combat, its there. Again, I was somewhat worried at the beginning of the game, that I had expected too much, the graphics were underwhelming and the gameplay was slow. After a little time spent in game wading into the good stuff. There is a constant stream of HOLY S@#T moments. The first vehicle I stole I didnt notice any guns on it or anything, so i pushed the fire button to see if anything happened. Yup, it sure did, several times i have been genuinely surprised and quite giddy with what has been unfolding before me. The production value is top notch, I have zero complaints with the price of admission. Not to mention the plan is for this game to receive a lot of TLC after launch. Which I’m already excited for. Cant wait to see what is next, will update review as game progresses. I would highly recommend this game to everyone. Take the time to dial in your settings and you wont be disappointed. I mean, thats what having a pc is for right?

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I didn’t really enjoy the first game and have little interest in the second. The change to an open world got my attention but it quickly dissipated.

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