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Rage demo available now on Xbox Live, coming to PSN December 6
Just in case you didn't get a chance to wander around the Earth, post asteroid-smash, in id's Rage earlier this year, you can give the game a taster without investing any of your hard-earned cash (well, beyond an XBL Gold membership). The game's demo is now available on Xbox Live, and is expected out on PSN on December 6. If you like what you see, don't forget that the title can be found in most Black Friday sales this weekend -- most retailers have it offered up for about $30 or so. And if you agree a little more with our review (that there are probably better games of this ilk out there right now), well hey, at least there are better games of this ilk out there right now, right?
Is it time to kill mana?
In your heart, you always knew we were coming here. Mana is one of WoW's biggest sacred cows. Paladins, shaman, druids, mages, warlocks, priests all make use of it, and hunters were once also on the mana teat, as it were. Every healer uses it, and when the monk class is introduced, they'll heal with mana as well. Every ranged caster uses it. It's the resource system the majority of WoW players are most familiar with, a pool that starts at full and empties as you use it. Over the course of its existence, stats like spirit and MP5 have filled it back up during combat, keeping those classes that rely on it supplied. Since it's the lifeblood for all healers, it effectively is the same for all tanks, even though only one tanking class actually tanks with it. Two classes use it to melee DPS, both hybrids, and these two classes effectively ignore the regeneration of the mana pool via talents and class abilities that make mana regeneration a non-issue. Mana is fairly easy to understand. You have it, you use it. There are various systems built in to make regenerating it easier. With the addition of runes and runic power for death knights and holy power for paladins, secondary resource systems (similar to the combo point system of rogues) have also been introduced to the game. Holy p-ower in particular is interesting to this discussion because it is a secondary resource added to a mana class and one that works for healing, tanking and melee DPS. (Everyone has their own opinion of how well it does so.) This leads us to the subject of this post. Do we need mana at all? As my intrepid coworker Michael Gray pointed out to me when discussing this article, mana serves many uses. It's not just that it's a resource for healing and DPSing, but the finite nature of the mana system serves to limit encounters in both PvP and PvE. Doing away with mana could have as many negative effects as positive ones.
Bethesda shoots down Doom 4 postponement rumors
In a refreshing act of commenting on rumors and speculation, Bethesda has shot down the assertion that id Software's work on Doom 4 had been "indefinitely postponed." Kotaku relayed the story from a source "claiming" to be close to the publisher, and suggesting that Doom 4 development had been jettisoned in response to Rage's rough landing. Pete Hines, VP of PR and Marketing at Bethesda Softworks, tweeted: "Re: DOOM 4 rumor, games are done when they are done and no title under development at id has been postponed --indefinitely or otherwise." In response to another journalist, Hines described the rumor as "complete bollocks." Hey, PR folks? More of this, please. Though it may not be officially postponed -- strangled in its bed because a sibling brought home a mixed report card -- Doom 4 (working title) isn't likely to arrive any time soon. This is id Software, and the game was only announced in 2008, roughly a year after we first heard about Rage.
Forza 4 finishes first on UK charts, Just Dance 3 takes third
It'sa Forza, woo-hoo! Yes, the land of Top Gear saw Forza Motorsport 4 race to the top of the charts in its debut week. According to Chart-Track, the racing game claimed the "biggest launch week ever" for an "Xbox 360 racing game" ... considering most high-profile racers are multi-platform (with the exception of Gran Turismo) we take this to mean the latest sequel maneuvered past Forza 3's premiere. With seven new entries in the UK Top 20 this week, there are plenty of places to look, but let's start with Just Dance 3 premiering in third. Ubisoft's dance series has consistently entered the top 10 and hung out there for months while others come and go. With Dance Central 2 ready to step it up this year, it'll be interesting to see if Just Dance 3 has the staying power of its predecessors. The other two newbies in the top ten are sports titles Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 and Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge at fifth and tenth place, respectively. Rush past the break for the full UK top ten.
Rage patched on PC, Carmack comments on botched launch
Plagued by serious technical problems, the PC version angered customers with driver issues, texture pop-in and a surprising dearth of graphical options. A patch has since addressed several of these shortcomings, and id co-founder John Carmack has commented on the graphics driver issues -- what he calls a "cluster!@#$" -- that prevented some players from making it past the intro. Speaking to Kotaku, Carmack pins some of the blame on incorrect drivers issued by graphics card vendors.
FIFA 12 kicks it atop UK charts for second week
FIFA 12, despite a 68 percent drop in sales, remained the forward on the UK charts for a second week. EA announced last week that it estimates the title sold over 3.2 million units globally during its launch week. Debuting in second was the high-profile Rage from id Software, but the real surprise this week is Dark Souls premiering in third, with masochists rejoicing everywhere in their pool of tears and bruised egos. Last week also saw 2K Sports' NBA 2K12 debut strongly at number 12, seven seats higher than last year. This will be EA Sports' second year letting 2K Sports gorge itself on NBA cake without competition. Check out the UK top ten after the break.
The Anvil of Crom: AA resets, tradeskills, and hardcore PvP stagnation
Welcome back to the Anvil of Crom, dear readers. After the content explosion of the past couple of months, it seems almost strange to be relatively relaxed when it comes to Age of Conan. I'd gotten so used to scrambling around re-writing columns at the last minute -- and polishing up interviews and impression pieces -- that I had almost forgotten what it feels like to settle into a comfortable gameplay groove. In looking around for interesting topics this week, I realized that it's been quite some time since I turned the column over to the community. So without further ado, join me after the cut to see what's on the minds of Hyborians at home and abroad as we power through the week's hot topics.
Breaking Bad Easter Egg discovered in Rage
Fans of Rage probably already caught the game's appearance in an episode of Breaking Bad from earlier this season. Now, fans of Breaking Bad can catch a neat reference to the show in Rage. Check out the video above to see the toothy Easter Egg in question.
Liked Rage's Wolfenstein room? How about Doom and Quake?
Yesterday, Rage's secret Wolfenstein room made its way around the internets, an easter egg homage to id Software's golden years. Everyone asked, "Where's the DOOM and Quake rooms?" Well, here you go ...
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%
PSA: Rage is having issues on PC, fixes incoming
Those of you who play vidya games primarily on consoles may have insulated yourself from an increasingly common scourge facing your PC gaming brethren: problematic PC ports. While we're sorry to say that Rage is suffering from some launch-day issues, the PC gaming godfathers at id Software aren't abandoning the platform. So put down those pitchforks. And torches. The above video is a good example of the issue: textures pop-in every time the camera moves. It would appear the high-res MegaTextures that id's John Carmack has been talking about for years are being dropped from memory immediately and not streaming in quickly enough. The Xbox 360 release, underpowered relative to the gaming PC in this video, exhibits very little if any texture pop-in which sort of puts the blame purely on your friend and ours: graphics card drivers! Bethesda Blog says that, in addition to the texture issues, there are also screen tearing problems but insists that both problems "can be attributed to driver issues" which id Software is "currently working with Nvidia and AMD to resolve [...] as quickly as possible." For AMD graphics card users, "you should not use" the beta driver that Bethesda shared yesterday. The Battlefield 3 beta drivers will crash to desktop "100% with those drivers," and Beth Blog recommends updating "to the most recent driver when AMD updates, which we're told will be in a few hours." Nvidia users "should try updating Rage to the current beta driver" and Beth Blog will let everyone know when that's available. Be patient, PC gamer. It's been seven years since the last internally developed id Software game; another day or so isn't going to kill you.
Rage's Wolfenstein room is filled with pixelated treasure
Frankly, we're not sure what's better, the fact that there's a Wolfenstein 3D room in Rage, or imagining the reactions from gamers too young to know what Wolfenstein 3D is.
RAGE review: Anger management
RAGE isn't what you think it is. In fact, it's easiest to tell you what RAGE isn't right away. It's nothing like Fallout 3. It's nothing like Borderlands. It's not an RPG, though Id and Bethesda have used RPG terminology in describing it. It's not much of an open world. It's not very big. It's not very long. And unfortunately, it's not the return to prominence that Id fans have been hoping for.%Gallery-129768%
PSA: Rage is ready for pre-load on Steam right now
Have you been feeling acutely cheery recently? Is your constantly joyful attitude destroying your daily life? Do people on the streets gasp in disgust and pull their children away from your positively delighted strut? Then it's about time you got your Rage on -- beginning today, people who pre-ordered Rage on Steam can begin pre-loading it in preparation for its Tuesday launch. Or you could save it all for Tuesday and really feel the hatred as you wait for the 25GB load.
Rage walkthrough explores the murderous mysteries of Jackal Canyon
You didn't think Rage was only about the relationship between a fallen-to-Earth Ark dweller and wasteland superhero John Goodman, did you? As this latest walkthrough can attest, it's also about carefully angling rockets to murder faraway goons. Oh, and wearing totally sweet deer antlers as a warrior helmet, naturally.
Rage requires 3 discs on Xbox 360, 8GB install on PS3, tolerance from fans
Rage will span three discs on Xbox 360 and require an 8GB install on PS3, id Software creative director Tim Willits has confirmed. It was rumored that Rage would have a large install and multiple discs on 360, but it seemed as if id was leaning toward a slim-and-trim two-disc set, stating that a separate multiplayer disc-swap would be "fail." id didn't have to pick a disc number for the PS3 version of Rage, effectively utilizing the Blu-ray drive to hold all of the game's gigs, something that Willits seemed very pleased about: "Sony was great," Willits said. "Kudos to Sony for letting us do that. They don't allow every game to do that. So definitely, hats off. What we were able to do is install all the textures to the highest level. What is nice about the PS3 platform is that it's just one platform. Everyone has one Blu-ray drive, one hard drive, it's all the same. Some of the other systems you have... should I install it on my 360? Should I not install it? So yes, it's very nice." For 360 versions, Willits said id recommends installing the game to the hard drive, or if you don't have the space for all 22GB, after installing and finishing the first half of the game from disc one, uninstall it, and then install disc two. There isn't a reason to disc-swap after completing the first half, and "you don't really need to install the multiplayer disc if you're really tight on hard disk space," Willits said.
Make some room for the Rage PC specs
After peeping the minimum PC specs required for id Software's mutant shoot-a-thon, Rage, we realize that our plan to duct-tape six Eee PCs together might not work out. Head past the break and see for yourself.
Rage has a cameo in Breaking Bad, because nothing sells games better than meth
AMC's Breaking Bad featured a bizarrely long, obvious advertising plug for Rage on this week's episode, as seen above, and included a light-gun motion-controller that Bethesda assures us is entirely fictional. We knew using crystal meth could lead to extreme, sudden bursts of rage -- we just didn't think it would ever be so literal. The clip shows Jesse Pinkman, drug-peddler extraordinaire, playing a level of Rage while hallucinating about shooting chemist Gale Boetticher point-blank in the face. While we don't know what Bethesda's strategy is with this plug, we're pretty sure it's not a great argument against the (bogus) theory that video games promote violence. Maybe it marks the beginning of Rage's new reverse-psychology tagline: Rage -- Not Even Once.
The plight of the flamethrower man, care of Rage
Will the man with the flamethrower ever learn? As seen in the latest trailer for id Software's upcoming shooter, Rage, he clearly still hasn't. What's that, flamethrower man? You didn't realize your gas tank was explosive? Incorrigible, we say!
Trucks and Skulls Nitro free, other iOS price drops this weekend
id's Rage app went free earlier on this week, and that seems to have inspired a little avalanche of free and discounted apps on the App Store. Good news for us, of course: There are quite a few solid apps to pick up if you haven't yet. Trucks and Skulls Nitro is now free and so is the HD version for a limited time. Retro platformer Pix 'n' Love Rush is down to just 99 cents. Firemint's Real Racing is down to just cents as well, and the sequel, usually $6.99, is down to $2.99. The HD version is $4.99, a couple bucks less than usual. Halfbrick's great dualstick shooter Age of Zombies is 99 cents right now. Capcom's Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting just got a big update, and to celebrate, the price has dropped to $1.99. And Namco released a game called Rally-x Rumble that I haven't yet played, but it is on sale for 99 cents. Looks like a solid title! Gameloft's Spider-man: Total Mayhem is 99 cents. Recent Daily App spotlight Siege Hero is free for a limited time. EA's Scrabble is $1.99. Shift 2 Unleashed for iPhone is $1.99, and the HD version for iPad is discounted as well. Apple Design Award winner Star Walk is only 99 cents on the iPhone. As is Articles, also an ADA winner. So there's a few to pick up. Have fun this weekend!
