Rage HD (iPhone) Review

Written by Troy Benedict Monday, 22 November 2010 11:55

The phrase “on-rails shooter” has sort of carried a negative connotation when it comes to the description of a video game’s gameplay style.  Essentially, a rail shooter, is a control-assisted game.  Think of yourself as a passenger on a train - you control your personal view, but you do not control the movement and destination, at least not directly.

Many light-gun style games implement this style of gameplay, primarily because the player is using a firearm-like controller and not a traditional controller or joystick to play the game.  For non-light-gun games, this style of gaming is usually frowned upon by hardcore gamers and gaming enthusiasts, as it gives the game a more casual approach and could possibly make the game less challenging.  

id Software has been working on a new First-Person Shooter for a long time, an original title called Rage for PC and, to borrow yesteryear’s phrase, “next-gen consoles” (see also: “not Wii”).  Lead programmer John Carmack showed off an iPhone version of Rage to a captive audience at this year’s QuakeCon, and there was much excitement!  The level of detail was amazing, but the skeptic in all of us couldn’t help but think: “How does it actually play?”

I’m here to tell you, that with the proper hardware (definition: an iPhone 4, a 4th-Generation iPod Touch, or an iPad), Rage HD is a very well-done piece of gaming technology.  Not only that, but it’s fun to play, as well.  

The game is an on-rails shooter that uses the tilt-sensitive gyroscope to allow the player to aim, and virtual buttons to shoot, reload, switch weapons, dash and dodge attacks.  The button placement is phenomenal, and not once did my thumbs get in the way of the action.  Don't let the on-rails shooter descriptor tarnish your thoughts of this game, as the control scheme works really well, but it makes a lot of sense, too!

Rage HD is a good example of what id Software does well: impressive technology that allows us to shoot bad guys!    

Rage HD features three levels to play through, each of which take approximately 10 minutes to complete.  Along the way, the player collects money (the game’s point system) by collecting money bags, shooting bullseyes, and killing enemies.  Like many id Software games, Rage HD gets straight to the point: shoot enemies, don't sweat the small stuff like plot -- haha!  

An options menu allows you to customize your experience, to select between tilt and touchpad controls for aiming (I felt the touchpad was more cumbersome than the tilt controls), as well as adjusting the sensitivity, a left-handed mode, and options to invert the horizontal and/or vertical view.    

The game has scored very high with users on the game’s product page of the Apple App Store, and has sold exceedingly well, nearly topping Angry Birds in terms of sales in a couple of days!  The biggest complaint so far seems to be about the game’s length: that it is “too short” and needs more levels.  Considering that Rage HD is available for the mere cost of $2 this complaint, to me, is rather baseless.  Rage HD is certainly not a tech-demo by any means, but it IS an impressive demonstration of the capabilities of the new-generation iDevices.  If the game had been priced a few dollars higher at $5 or even $10, I think the game’s length could then be questioned.

Rage HD is the largest app I’ve downloaded on the Apple App Store.  The download clocks in at well over 700 MB and once installed seems to take a little more than 1 GB of space.  This was not an issue on my 4th-Generation 32GB iPod Touch, but for those wishing to play this on the 8GB model, you may be required to do quite a bit of content management to get this game to fit on your system.

Because it played well on my iPod Touch, I can only assume that it looks and plays just as great on the iPhone 4 and the iPad.  The App Store product page states that Rage is compatible with iPhone 3GS and 3rd Generation iPod touchs, and requires a minimum of iOS 3.2 to run. A non-HD version of the game, simply titled “Rage” is also available to purchase for $0.99, and seems to be more compatible with earlier model iPhones and iPod Touches.  It also features significantly less-detailed graphics, and has, appropriately, recieved lower user review scores than the HD version.

I highly recommend picking up Rage HD for $2, especially if you have the latest and greatest generation of an Apple iDevice.  Much like Epic Games’ visually impressive Epic Citadel app, if this is any indication of the amazing graphic fidelity that can be produced on an Apple devices, this could be a serious threat to the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP in the next couple of years.