Post by Tig on Feb 6, 2016 19:31:57 GMT -5
At its base value, Mad Max should be another move spin off video game failure. It was cranked out in time for the movie so I knew there was no way a quality game was going to be produced. Wrong. Dead wrong. Mad Max is fun, addictive, gorgeous, and, best of all, incredibly stable. Mad Max captures the look, feel, sound, and essence of George Millers revitalized character and setting and puts it in a fitting and intuitive setting for game play. Think Grand Theft Auto stuck in the Fallout world, then slap on some chrome bumpers and pipes, shove a V8 on it with some nitrous oxide and drive it off a cliff. That's what Avalanche Studios created.
I finished Mad Max a couple of weeks ago and kept playing win races, achievements, and to generally just drive around and beat the snot out of people. I love this game because it lets you do exactly that: whatever the heck you want. For a game based in desolate Australia after a nuclear holocaust, there is so much to see and do. One end of the desert shows evidence of a vanished ocean with coral monuments, chalky caverns and shipwrecks in the sand. The other end is a massive junk yard with actual pieces of junk in it instead of the standard flat junk textures slapped on a landscape. Dotted all along the way are small forts and towering fortresses built out of old boats, airplanes, junked cars, everything you can imagine, and packed with some of the most insane assailants you'll ever meet. Mad Max makes you WANT to keep going over the next dune to see what's out there. Chrome glistens, rust has an almost bloody hue against white sands, storms are epic and sublime to behold, and the desert herself is very much alive and deadly. Whether or not you follow the main story, you are propelled through the game fueled on curiosity, adventure, and a few drops of nitrous.
There is a story in the game but, to be honest, the story is the biggest negative issue. You're on a quest to build up a car to cross the desert and disappear. No really... that's it. In a world where there are cars everywhere, you need YOUR car built and that's what's going to drag you from one end of the wasteland to the next. The main story is very short with an end battle that couldn't be more disappointing, but the surrounding shenanigans are so much fun I hardly noticed. There are side-quests upon side-quests and I think the only real issue is that they're not requisite of the main story. The game is much more difficult without all the upgrades the side-quests offer but they're not mandatory, and while the main story pulls you into a new part of the map, you end up going back to the previous section for those upgrades. It's true "open world" but it feels a little silly, almost like Max is wandering about aimlessly, just to make sure he's well equipped for what's ahead. This could have been remedied by tying the side missions in with the main story a little better but it hardly damages the overall game play.
I do want to add one more gripe in the vein of the storytelling. The Mad Max: Fury Road movie was so highly praised for putting a lead female character along side of Max, taking charge, taking care of herself, and for being more than a stereotype in an action movie. The Mad Max game comes along and completely destroys it. There is a hot damsel in distress, in a cage, or collard and pulled around by a leash, and you have to save her. It just resonated with me that such a poignant theme George Miller worked to plant into his movie without making any overt political statements was so quickly lost in the game. It didn't ruin anything, I wasn't "triggered" by "microaggressions" or whatever bull, but it does further illustrate the complete lack of creativity in the main story.
The game itself isn't very difficult, if you stay on top of the upgrades, but the action is so good I hardly got bored. Max truly only has two functions, driving and fighting. He's the Tony Stewart of the desert. Punches and kicks have a palpable impact and combo attacks are more than satisfying. I rarely used the shotgun or other devices and savored every chance to pummel an enemy. The driving is by far some of the most stable and fluid in any game I've played. Different cars of different sizes all handle in their own way. Change the engine in Max's car to bigger or smaller, swap wheels for traction, add shields which puts more weight on the chassis, and the the car handles with an entirely plausible difference.
This game was produced in September of 2015. I ran for 69 hours of game play with the graphics cranked and it ran at 60fps without a blink. Watchdogs was made over a year earlier and I had to run at medium graphics to keep it around 40fps. Are you paying attention, Ubisoft? Particle effects, debris, shiny objects, fire, explosions, and insane Warboys that jump from moving vehicles onto your car, all at 60fps. There was one persistent sound bug that would pop up, causing the world to go silent, and every now and then the physics would take a loop and someone would launch into space for no reason, but those moments had no impact on the sheer joy of existing in the world of Mad Max.
This is a beautiful game. The scripted action moments could have been a bit bigger but the rest of the game makes up for it. After finishing the story I could return to finish the races and explore further (which made no sense to the story itself but oh well) and to be honest I had trouble stopping. Mad Max is one of the rare games you simply can't get enough of and I hope there is a proper sequel in the works. What a game. What a lovely game.
I finished Mad Max a couple of weeks ago and kept playing win races, achievements, and to generally just drive around and beat the snot out of people. I love this game because it lets you do exactly that: whatever the heck you want. For a game based in desolate Australia after a nuclear holocaust, there is so much to see and do. One end of the desert shows evidence of a vanished ocean with coral monuments, chalky caverns and shipwrecks in the sand. The other end is a massive junk yard with actual pieces of junk in it instead of the standard flat junk textures slapped on a landscape. Dotted all along the way are small forts and towering fortresses built out of old boats, airplanes, junked cars, everything you can imagine, and packed with some of the most insane assailants you'll ever meet. Mad Max makes you WANT to keep going over the next dune to see what's out there. Chrome glistens, rust has an almost bloody hue against white sands, storms are epic and sublime to behold, and the desert herself is very much alive and deadly. Whether or not you follow the main story, you are propelled through the game fueled on curiosity, adventure, and a few drops of nitrous.
There is a story in the game but, to be honest, the story is the biggest negative issue. You're on a quest to build up a car to cross the desert and disappear. No really... that's it. In a world where there are cars everywhere, you need YOUR car built and that's what's going to drag you from one end of the wasteland to the next. The main story is very short with an end battle that couldn't be more disappointing, but the surrounding shenanigans are so much fun I hardly noticed. There are side-quests upon side-quests and I think the only real issue is that they're not requisite of the main story. The game is much more difficult without all the upgrades the side-quests offer but they're not mandatory, and while the main story pulls you into a new part of the map, you end up going back to the previous section for those upgrades. It's true "open world" but it feels a little silly, almost like Max is wandering about aimlessly, just to make sure he's well equipped for what's ahead. This could have been remedied by tying the side missions in with the main story a little better but it hardly damages the overall game play.
I do want to add one more gripe in the vein of the storytelling. The Mad Max: Fury Road movie was so highly praised for putting a lead female character along side of Max, taking charge, taking care of herself, and for being more than a stereotype in an action movie. The Mad Max game comes along and completely destroys it. There is a hot damsel in distress, in a cage, or collard and pulled around by a leash, and you have to save her. It just resonated with me that such a poignant theme George Miller worked to plant into his movie without making any overt political statements was so quickly lost in the game. It didn't ruin anything, I wasn't "triggered" by "microaggressions" or whatever bull, but it does further illustrate the complete lack of creativity in the main story.
The game itself isn't very difficult, if you stay on top of the upgrades, but the action is so good I hardly got bored. Max truly only has two functions, driving and fighting. He's the Tony Stewart of the desert. Punches and kicks have a palpable impact and combo attacks are more than satisfying. I rarely used the shotgun or other devices and savored every chance to pummel an enemy. The driving is by far some of the most stable and fluid in any game I've played. Different cars of different sizes all handle in their own way. Change the engine in Max's car to bigger or smaller, swap wheels for traction, add shields which puts more weight on the chassis, and the the car handles with an entirely plausible difference.
This game was produced in September of 2015. I ran for 69 hours of game play with the graphics cranked and it ran at 60fps without a blink. Watchdogs was made over a year earlier and I had to run at medium graphics to keep it around 40fps. Are you paying attention, Ubisoft? Particle effects, debris, shiny objects, fire, explosions, and insane Warboys that jump from moving vehicles onto your car, all at 60fps. There was one persistent sound bug that would pop up, causing the world to go silent, and every now and then the physics would take a loop and someone would launch into space for no reason, but those moments had no impact on the sheer joy of existing in the world of Mad Max.
This is a beautiful game. The scripted action moments could have been a bit bigger but the rest of the game makes up for it. After finishing the story I could return to finish the races and explore further (which made no sense to the story itself but oh well) and to be honest I had trouble stopping. Mad Max is one of the rare games you simply can't get enough of and I hope there is a proper sequel in the works. What a game. What a lovely game.