If I was a developer looking for an engine to power my upcoming game, I'd be more than a little interested in id Tech 5 after seeing the Rage demo at QuakeCon. While still far from release, Rage proved within moments of booting that id can do more than just airlocks and space corridors. Beautiful, open environments are a huge part of Rage, and even the more traditional indoor areas that we're all used to seeing in id games look vivid and fresh compared to the drab confines of space ships and outposts that we've all seen before. But Rage is more than just a pretty face, as the striking, outdoor world is just one of the new ideas id's putting forward; a new focus on characters, story, and cars makes it the company's most ambitious title yet.
Brave New World
The story is typical post-apoc stuff. Years after a meteor has hit Earth and supposedly destroyed all life, something happens to your Ark (basically a really special fallout shelter) that coaxes you outside and back to the surface of the ravaged land. The demo I saw placed the hero in a canyon area like you might see driving between Nevada and Utah, with shades of red and orange blending into dusty browns and bits of shrubbery, contrasting sharply against the blue sky above.
The environments I saw, from the abandoned wasteland canyons to the town of Wellspring (a shanty town made up of what looks like salvaged pieces of a trailer park), drew upon aesthetics from 19th century American Western culture and blended it with tech from the 20th century to create a society that feels gritty and ramshackle -- perfect for the post-apocalypse the game's trying to convey. The environments are still close enough to the world of today that they're believable, and the outdoor areas look organic, far from a series of poorly disguised rock corridors.
Driving is Freedom
Public transportation went bye-bye along with most of the population, so a rebuilt car is your best friend in the tattered remnants of the world. Besides serving as a mode of transit to help you get along with the many quests you'll do -- there is no fast travel, as the team feels that a large part of the experience is getting from place to place -- your car is also your battle chariot in this dangerous world. Mutants litter the landscape, but the main thing you seem to have to worry about while driving are other drivers. Kind of like real life, only these drivers have guns on their cars.
Car combat and racing are a major focus for Rage, and the team has put a lot of time into making the driving as fun as possible. Players can purchase and equip weapons for their ride, customizing it into a battle machine that suits their purposes. And, since you can't buy car parts with cash, you gotta race to get tickets you can use as part currency. Racing can, and often will, involve weaponry, with players taking each other out in an effort to see who can make it to the end. And yes, you will die in races, but the team currently allows the player to respawn similarly to how you might in any traditional racing game.
