Perceptions are difficult things to shake off. For software developers especially the chances of being pigeonholed into a particular genre occur as soon as their first game is published, leading to continuous speculation and expectation of a specific type of title to be released. iD software have suffered from this more than most, the history of the studio being so heavily steeped in shooters that any deviation from this creates suspicion instead of curiosity. For the studio RAGE was going to be a toe dip into the waters of experimentation, an attempt to fuse what they knew best with open world exploration and crafting mechanics in order to broaden the template of pointing and trigger pulling.

The premise takes place in a version of the future where, not for the first time, a huge apocalyptic event has wiped out whole chunks of humanity. Those that remain fight against mutants and the elements to survive, all the while being watched over by a force simply known as the authority of which little is known and even less is explained. The dialect of violence and currency of favours pushes the narrative forward, taking it ever closer to a resolution that is both brief and ultimately underwhelming. It is the journey to that however that provides the most interesting, and conflicted, responses about RAGE.

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