Damn it's good to be back! I haven't finished a game in months and I then, I shirk all responsibilities for a two week period and finish it. Feels good.
I love Post-Apocalypse, the failure of society and the last strings of civilization in an uncivilized world. Mad Max, Fallout, Water World, Book of Eli, The Road, and the shows that are, and something else; Revolution, Walking Dead and Falling Skies. I was excited to learn they were making a Mad Max game and guess what? It's not bad.
Mad Max is looking to escape, to travel the Plains of Silence. First Max must overcome an attack by Scrabrous Scrotus's (third son of Immortan Joe; Fury Road) hordes of War Boys, their convoys, that have taken out his car and being left for dead. Max is taken in by an outcast and black finger mechanic, the hunchback, Chumbucket. Chum believes that Max is the chosen saint to drive his vehicle, the Magnum Opus. Max has other ideas, use Chum and any other means to get what he needs for his journey to the Plains Of Silence.
Build a car, fix the car, beat the shit out of some various factions, maybe some races, some new parts, help some people by furthering Max's own interests by beating the shit out of more factions, get a V8, and then you are really close to the end. Pretty much the story. You could really breeze through this game and finish it with enough skill. The end game does make that really hard as the upgrades you earn over the course of side missions, actually makes the game more enjoyable as you don't feel like a punching bag. Quite the opposite actually.
The Magnum Opus, the vision that visited Chum bucket in is dreams; the customization death machine and your life preserver in the wastes. The car can be fitted to your personal tastes; car bodies, tires, engine, spikes, side burners and many other fun things. Venturing out into the wastes you gather scrap and complete missions to unlock items of attack and defense for your car. The car combat is dangerous business early as you are less equipped and protected than Max's enemies. The good stuff comes later with Thunderpoons. (Seen Mad Max Fury Road? Those spears the War Boys from vehicles toss, those.) Max can apprehend and find cars to collect that can be driven, with some including their own special attributes. Seriously the car(s) is a wonky donkey and takes a while to really grasp the sloppy handling of the car.
The ground combat is rough. The shotgun does not have much in the way of ammo. Max meets his spiritual guide and can earn personal upgrades from him; health, fighting prowess, wellness. On one hand the combat is a very free flowing; switch enemies quickly with timed blocks. Enemies gather quickly, overwhelming you with only that trusty dodge roll to make an escape. Most battles in enemy forts drop you into a hole with little choice but button smash your way out. On the other hand, the combat is a feast for the sadistic, brutal, and malicious. Arms breaking, smashing faces on walls, shivs to the rear knee and off balanced suplex to recipient's neck. Crack, snapple, pop. If you find your groove and timing you can go straight beast mode or fury mode. In Fury mode the wrestling moves come out of Max; flying drop kicks and hay makers, you also get a damage boost.
The story ain't much, fetch missions and go kill that, I found it enjoyable, as it was within the world of Mad Max. Exploration is fun with nods to past Mad Max movies and directly relates to Fury Road. The area Max explores is around Gas Town, not far removed from the Bullet Farm and Citadel from the movie Fury Road. War Boys, white boys, Road kill, those guys on the bikes in the pass, the Buzzards, the spike cars and red eyed masks, all make there appearance.
You must venture out. Collecting scrap is the only way to upgrade you cars and so you visit every little hole, rusted carcass and tin forts for the stuff. Take out the forts, the boss complexes and get a bonus or part from a friendly faction, then on to the next.
If you like the grind and immersion in the post apocalypse world of Mad Max you will enjoy this game. Story is light, grind is heavy, exploration is repetitive with sprinkles of "that's neat," but, GOOD GAME. I liked it and I am bias; it was a drag of repetition although the immersion with challenges kept the game from going stale.
From what I gather from the internet, is that this Mad Max game is considered somewhat canon. It fits beautifully right around the time Max gets snatched by the Citadel's War Boys. Mad Max the game had me geeked on watching the all the movies again, and I did, much to my enjoyment. Can I tell you that Fury Road is a thing of genius in film making. Watched that one twice.
SWS out.
No comments:
Post a Comment