![]() Dynamic objects are placed around every scene and many of these explode during combat, lending extra heft to the combat - something that was completely missing in the original game. Of course, for the heathens that prefer running without it, the developers were kind enough to include an option to disable it entirely.Īll of this works together with the impressive physics and destruction system on display. It uses a high sample count and a perfect shutter speed, greatly enhancing the fluidity of the experience. Then there's the beautiful post-process pipeline with very high-quality per-object and camera motion blur. ![]() Screen-space reflections also make a frequent appearance with glossy materials and wet surfaces taking full advantage. Lighting and materials are enhanced by secondary light bounce - the Apex engine can back project the colour of the ground to surrounding objects, so sunlight bouncing off the red orange desert terrain impacts surrounding objects in a realistic fashion. The core artwork itself is often of rather low-resolution when viewed up close, but it still works well overall. Materials are physically-based and react beautifully to light, lending the game a realistic feel. Spotlights, sunlight and more all penetrate the thick dusty environment in a very convincing manner and it looks impressive across all platforms. Rage 2 also features a full volumetric lighting system with beams of light slicing across the world, resulting in a thick atmosphere. Leaving behind the earthy tones of the first game, the world of Rage 2 is painted with a beautiful palette - the pink hue of the sun as it appears just at the edge of the horizon is a sight to behold as are missions at night with colourful particles filling the screen. The Apex engine utilises a clustered forward approach to rendering, which enables many dynamic lights without some of the drawbacks associated with deferred rendering. We'll be looking at PC separately in an upcoming piece.įor me, the key element is lighting. Rage hard: a detailed look at every console version of the game. Ambient occlusion is often spotty, but the effect is still convincing. There are limitations, of course - pop-in is often visible while the more distant shadow cascades lack detail. It's all seamless now and it feels great. You'll move from the wastelands to a mission area and back again with zero interruption. The engine draws large environments without any loading times between areas. In stark contrast to the static 'baked' sandbox of the original on last-gen systems, Rage 2 delivers a beautiful world with dramatic sunsets, dynamic shadows and a huge sense of scale. It supports a fully real-time time of day system with variable cloud cover plus real shadows and lighting. The Apex engine, however, has already delivered a decent Mad Max game and it allows Avalanche to deliver on the original vision with a massive open world to explore, filled with towns, settlements and gorgeous vistas. ![]() After all, the original Rage was designed to offer a Mad Max-like experience with a wide-open wasteland to explore but id Tech 5 wasn't well suited to a large-scale project, so the environments were constrained, and every mission was divided by loading screens killing the pace. The engine supports large scale open worlds with complex physics simulation and dynamic lights - perfect for Rage. The studio was selected a development partner based on the strength of its technology. The move to a new developer represents a major shift for the franchise, with Rage 2 leaving id Tech behind in favour of Avalanche's own Apex engine. The vanilla machines run the game at 30 frames per second, but the choices made for the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X versions have split user opinion, and it all comes down to this: what's best - a nigh-on flawless 60 frames per second, or higher resolution imagery at half that frame-rate? There's no escaping it: the difference in the gameplay experience between base and enhanced consoles is vast. From my perspective, it's a special experience and the dual-studio collaboration pays off handsomely - but the technical decisions behind the game are intriguing, not to mention controversial. Avalanche Studios picks up the series' reigns, joining id Software to create something rather unique - a fast-paced first-person shooter combined with a large open world. Rage 2 arrives on consoles slathered in hot pink highlights, mutant entrails and the fingerprints of a new development team.
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