RealNC wrote:From the gameplay videos I saw of this, it looks like a generic open world action game with no character of its own (no "soul".) Is that right?
Well, there's a certain kind of game that spends the first, god, five hours or so introducing you to the concepts needed to play it.
Prototype was one, one of the Batman Arkham games is another.
Mad Max definitely does that. There's a ton of stuff to level up. There is a ton of stuff to "unlock." I mean, I gotta give the developers credit: they wanted $60 US American for this game and if some kid out there scrapped and saved for it, well, they got their money's worth.
I don't agree that it lacks a soul, though. Not that I can define soul! But that ain't gonna stop me.
I read a lot about how Mad Max: Fury Road is the greatest feminist film in human history because of who knows why. I don't agree and found the arguments desperate. But I get one aspect of it - Charlize Theron's character was the main character and did a lot of great things. For the many faults of Fury Road, it shows two people of opposite genders working together in a goal with no sexual tension. That's rare for movies.
Well, let me say this about the Mad Max game: there's a character called Chumbucket that you meet early on. It's easy to say that he "helps Max in a number of ways." Like fixing the car during gameplay, sure, but he also acts as someone who is the brains of the operation. Chumbucket knows how to create cars, not just fix them. He knows a lot about the environment the player is in. He's the most intelligent guy I've met in the game after 4 hours.
He would also get curb stomped by anyone in the wastes if he were on his own.
So what we have is an interesting relationship: Max is the titular character, but Max would be reduced to eating dog food out of his bare hands driving a golf cart if not for Chum. Max has a lot of contempt for Chumbucket early on, but you can slooooooowly see him gain a bit of respect. Maybe the designer throws that away at hour 5, but I can't recall seeing a game with two strangers thrown together like this and forced to survive together, with one guy the obvious action hero and the other a creepy-looking dude.
(I am going to be very sad if, at the game's end, Chumbucket betrays Max.)
What the character of Chumbucket says isn't going to win any awards, but the voice acting is amazing. He does a terrific job.
Ahhhh, this post is first draft stuff about how I feel about the game. Pardon the rough edges. :)
OH. So, right, with the character of Chumbucket there's a lot going on that jaded game reviewers are glossing over. I get that they have all played these action RPGs to death, but I haven't, so a lot of it is new to me. I also hated Prototype and couldn't get into the Arkham games. I think this is better than those two franchises.
