New Rage 2 footage teases reaching new heights and foes becoming smithereens

When Rage 2 was revealed almost a year ago, it caused a lot of head scratches: the first Rage came out to mostly mixed reviews in 2011. Why a new title and why so many years later? Its announcement was interesting and some Rage 2 footage and teases have been shown over the past year but most of it left much to be desired, until now.

Publisher Bethesda are highly pushing advertising for this game and its future, at least for now, doesn’t seem so bleak. 9 minutes of gameplay footage has been released on Bethesda’s YouTube channel this week, exploring some of its gunplay, world and some interesting mechanics.

The beginning of the video sees our hero emerging from a gritty but futuristic vehicle into an area described as an ‘ark’. Surrounding the land are enemies familiar to those seen in the first installment: an interesting blend of cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic in their design, and here you are, fighting ahead through them.

The arsenal you use to battle enemies in Rage 2 is eyebrow-raising too, with guns and abilities that launch enemies into the air (or into smithereens), homing tomahawks, as well as fluid movement to assist with this. Fighting feels explosive and weighted and when you finally mow through all the enemies you reach the entrance to the ark and enter, you learn a new ability, something that seems not only prominent and trademark of the title but exciting.

Continuing on, the footage also shows previews of what overtaking outposts will look and feel like in the game, with movement and traversal around the area key and used to your advantage. Outposts clearly aren’t a new feature, already existing in big franchises such as Far Cry, but bouncing around, launching enemies off cliffs and finding creative ways to do so appears to be a large part of the fun of Rage 2, giving the game a splice of life.

Nearing the end of the video things seems to be wrapping up: we get a bit of a deeper look into some of the vehicles and enemies in the game but not before we get more scenery. There is nothing more exciting than seeing a post apocalyptic set game with colors other than orange. It appears there is also promise of some lush greenery and creatively colored sites spread throughout the game and this is a strong suit Rage 2 will have in setting itself out apart from the crowd. Make no mistake: this isn’t the same dried out apocalypse land you’ve seen in games before.

Last but not least appears one of the mini-bosses in the game, with the protagonist dodging, dipping, ducking and sliding as they attack the mech with an array of explosives in a dangerous, close knit junkyard setting. A lot of this fight and the prior footage in the video is promised to be only a taste, with more footage to come in the lead up Rage 2’s  release.

Footage continues in coming weeks and the game, developed by both id Software and Avalanche studios, is set to release in just two months on May 14.