In terms of RAGEs story, there is a lot of wasted potential in this otherwise brilliant shooter. The same could be said for the technical side of things, as RAGE undoubtedly looks good, but far from brilliant, "thanks" to its multiplatform-roots. Nevertheless: id's newest IP offers great atmosphere, spot-on gunplay, cool weapons, funny vehicle-combat and solid graphics; that leaves us hoping for Carmack's promised texture-patch.

Despite some shortcomings on a content and story level, RAGE still is one of the top shooter releases of 2011. id Software presents an unmatched graphics experience with wonderful handmade settings.

RAGE is no doubt a great game. It's exciting, keeps you enthralled for hours, has an excellent combat system and some very good AI. The boundary elements such as the races are more entertaining than what you'd expect, and the single player campaign lasts at least 15 hours. However, from a technical standpoint id's last effort could really disappoint the ones who were expecting something more.

True to the company's core gameplay concepts, id's new work is funny and playable, yet not a masterpiece due to some lack of polish and courage in design choices.

A must have for both fans of FPS and sandbox games because it succeeds in both genres. An addictive and furiously violent videogame that will be breathtaking for every action fan.

Rage is quite possibly the best looking first person shooter to date. Excellent graphics and top-notch action aside, Rage feels nothing like id Software titles of the past. One could argue that it's their first truly new title since Doom. While Rage has many endearing qualities, the side quests are a major let down. Playing same levels backwards with "new" enemies is just stupid. [Oct 2011]

It may lack the open-world versatility of S.T.A.L.K.E.R and Fallout 3, the weapon diversity and sheer madness of Borderlands, yet it manages to provide thrilling corridor action and surprisingly well crafted racing that reasserts id's lofty position in the studio charts.

A good game and certainly worth experiencing, but not as cohesive or as impactful as what we were expecting the masters at id to deliver.

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. Rage isn't revolutionary, but is an expertly crafted, beautiful shooter.

Despite its nods to other genres, Rage is a solid FPS. It might not quite hearken back to the oldest days of id, but it points towards something even better. I just hope that it won't take them eight more years to make their next game.

Rage isn't a complicated game. Despite what the developers might have suggested and we might have assumed, it's still set in a corridor. Fortunately, id still make some of the finest corridors in the world. [Holiday 2011, p.72]

Running around, shooting, the car races and graphics are all ok, partially great. But the story is thin, some design decisions are weird (weapons that can't be picked up) and it's all pretty much the same all the time.

While not quite a must-play title or game of the year contender, Rage hearkens back to the glory days of 3D shooters.

In the end, Rage reminds me a lot of Borderlands, another game that, while uniquely awesome in its own way, ultimately left me disappointed: same basic locale, same silent protagonist, same pseudo-open world, same focus on driving to missions, same side quest driven, bare-bones story. To be honest, the fact that Rage is a better shooter with much better vehicle controls is tempered by the lack of RPG elements that would allow you to invest in, or "own," your character. Instead, you're just sort of... there.

Rage won't change the FPS landscape, but it's beautiful to see in motion and a bombastic delight to play. [Dec 2011, p.52]

This is meat-and-potatoes action game design with a few antiquated quirks, but it does what it does well enough--and looks legitimately stunning while doing it--to deliver a satisfying experience, all told.

A pretty, fast and aggressive shooter, striving in vain to be something more. [December 2011, p.62]

What good is a convincing atmosphere without a narrative to match? Despite this, the game is refreshing. It's something that deserves to be experienced. It manages to create a credible post-apocalyptic atmosphere, largely due to its fabulous graphics.

id Software maybe wished to create their own chef d'œuvre, but they missed it. However, apart from the wasted potential, they created a game they don't need to be ashamed of; nor do the gamers that are willing to play it.

It's almost impossible to die in Rage - and once you realise that it becomes hard to shake the blasé approach that the lack of fear generates. Rage's impressive variety and commitment to casual and hardcore alike is its greatest strength, but also its biggest weakness.

Technically, Rage excels. The shooter mechanics are fantastic and the enemies vary in their tactics. However, the game starts to drag towards the (sudden) end, and the save system irritates.

Rage is a bold new direction for id software with incredible art direction, old-school gunplay and a terrible story.

Far from perfect Rage somehow is has fun post-apocalyptic action where the principles are set –fortunately – bit different than in other games of FPS genre. [Nov 2011]

It seems id Software is still living in its golden days and failed to notice that times have changed since Doom and Quake. Rage is just a decent, linear, old school shooter combined awkwardly with an arcade racing game. The world is only 'kinda openish' and the story must have been written by the coders while they were compiling the alpha version. The game looks great though – if you're lucky enough to have the it run smoothly and without technical issues that haunt the PC version. [November 2011, p.46]

In order for a game to be considered something worth your time and money when you finish it, you should be left with either the desire to jump back in and have another go at it or fond memories of the experiences and challenges you played through. Rage falls short on both those points.

Though plagued by technical issues, Rage creates an engrossing world full of thoughtful detail and solid shooter action.

There's a lot to like about Rage, but for every good thing it does there's something equally annoying or dated, leading to a very uneven experience. Adroit fans of the first person shooter will still enjoy themselves, especially after the first couple of yawn-inducing hours pass and things really start hotting up, but it's not quite the masterpiece we know id were once capable of.

Even factoring in the (token) multiplayer, Rage is a brief game in a small world, with two small towns and not much else. Despite my criticisms, the fact that I really want more says that ultimately this is a pretty good game, just with much unrealized potential.

Ultimately, the issue with Rage is that while it is not a bad game, it just doesn't live up to the hype.

I wasn't expecting miracles - the word "revolution" hasn't been associated with id Software for a long time. But still I was expecting an 8/10 game and even during E3 it seemed Rage would be just that. Unfortunatelly sometimes things simply don't work that way. Various flaws of the game - beginning with a fairly short single player, ending with technical issues - don't allow me to call it a well made product. I had fun, but that's not enough to praise a game that doesn't belong on a shelf labeled "hit".

If Rage were a human being, it would be a jack of all trades, but a master of none. Level design, racing sequences, "open" world, story, quests, characters, dialogue, visuals… id wanted to take a bite from each of these pies, but spread itself too thin, turning everything into mediocrity.

The threadbare story is filled with pointless motivations, poorly realised characters and bad dialogue - so cross out 'wanting to know what happens at the end'. The way the game challenges you is by simply sending more of the same at you and hoping you run out of ammo. It doesn't have story, it doesn't have gameplay - so why would you keep playing?