Metareview: Rage

For us, Rage was "a scaffolding for a game of bolder ideas, ideas which, for whatever reason, aren't realized." The general feeling from other reviews is that it's a well-made effort from veteran studio id Software, though gameplay isn't anything better than what's out there now. The game is floating a metacritic score in the low 80s, with review scores scattered like buckshot.

• IGN (85/100): "Rage starts to drag toward the second half after most of the mechanics and upgrades are introduced because the fictional world isn't very interesting. Despite the lack of genuinely exciting context, all the content packed into Rage is still a blast to play, including the surprisingly entertaining car combat mode and co-operative challenges. "

• Giant Bomb (80/100): "Even if Rage were the worst game to come out in a long while, it would still arguably be the best-looking one. The sheer complexity of texture and detail packed into every one of the game's environments is nothing short of staggering, especially in the two town hubs that you'll return to again and again between missions."

• 1UP (B): "Rage fits that mold snugly, but it's nothing revolutionary. It comes from a different kind of Id, one that would rather play with existing conventions than reinvent them. Conversely, it's the same Id that puts look and feel on the same high pillar, and it's impossible to call Rage badly-composed. I just don't think it's going to be remembered as anything but a sleeper hit of the fall of 2011. "

• Edge (70/100): "In its later stages, Rage becomes a slog. Enemies get tougher, and the repeated pattern of rooms filling with monsters – which must be killed before, say, a door falls off its hinges – begins to drag. Objectives, meanwhile, rarely move beyond simple fetch quests. There's a fine line between sticking to what you're best at and being stuck in your ways, and id occasionally crosses it."%Gallery-130186%