Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Kojima Productions delivered one of the best stealth experiences of recent memory with Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. The game meshes together a great story filled with underlying themes along with an open world that’s quite literally a playground of possibilities. It’s one of the best games that use the concept of systemic world design to the fullest extent, and it’s really fun to bend these systems to your will and come up with interesting solutions to a variety of problems.

The game starts out really strong, and Kojima ensures gradual progression as new tools start to open up and missions get more complex with new enemy types and labyrinthian designs – forcing you to use everything in your arsenal to get through it all. But once you get past Mission 31, you notice that the “new missions” are actually just rehashed older missions with new mission clear constraints tacked on top for good measure. It’s still fun to clear out these missions, but stripping away the freedom to cause chaos can also turn some people off – and that coupled with the fact that it’s all essentially rehashed content built to pad out the game can tamper with the enjoyment.

Max Payne

Max Payne raised the bar for cinematic action in video games, appropriating the style of John Woo’s gun fu movies. Of course, we can’t talk about Max Payne’s innovativeness without referencing its bullet time mechanic – an ability to transform shootouts into slomo bloodshed. Max Payne’s bullet time was clearly indebted to The Matrix, and whilst it wasn’t the first video game to feature bullet time it was the first to do it with such effortless swagger.

System Shock

The ways in which System Shock was ahead of the curve are numerous: it’s exploration of prescient themes centring on artificial intelligence, transhumanism, ascension, and the human soul is still grimly thought-provoking; its physics engine revolutionised how objects act in 3D spaces; its morally grey antagonist grounded its fantastical setting; it’s emphasis on player choice and options to avoid combat via ground-breaking hacking abilities. System Shock is an all-time classic, inspiring Prey, Dishonored, Portal, to name a few.

Outcast

A fully explorable open world appearing two years before Grand Theft Auto III isn’t why Outcast is ahead of its time. No, this 1999 sci-fi cult classic delivered immersion by the bucketload, far above anything that had come before. NPC conversation was integral to the narrative, but each had daily routines to follow, opinions on each other, and opinions on you the player. An early example of a reputation system, NPCs will help or hinder you based on how well you’ve treated them. Enemy soldiers are progressively weakened by lack of food or resources too, the result of activities you complete for the leaders of each region.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Much like Outcast some two decades prior, Red Dead Redemption 2 set new precedents for immersive open world story telling. It’s gorgeous grassland plains, swamps, and misty mountaintops encouraged horseback exploration; fast travel was not the optimal way to get around. Rockstar deliberately culled the pace of Red Dead’s sequel, stuffing the open world with a smorgasbord of side activities and random encounters. Open world games released today are struggling to reach the levels of freedom Red Dead Redemption 2 presented.

Mirror’s Edge

Flowstate is a remarkable thing when it happens in games. The sense of body and mind working in tandem, fluidly, uninterrupted. Games had toyed with parkour before Mirror’s Edge but none elicited the serene flowstate Mirror’s Edge did. This is in large part to its first-person perspective, it’s almost texture-less clean lines and minimal, distraction free colour palette switching between bright white and bold primary colours. Dying Light comes close, but the innovativeness of Mirror’s Edge is tough to beat.

Metal Gear Solid

An absolute genre-defining masterpiece, Metal Gear Solid changed perceptions of what video games could be via its unashamedly cinematic approach to storytelling, it’s ground-breaking stealth gameplay, and ingenious fourth wall breaking shenanigans. Never had a video game toyed with the player as much as Metal Gear Solid; etching Meryl’s codec frequency into the game’s physical CD case, or – most famously – the Psycho Mantis battle requiring players’ switch controller ports to evade his mind-reading ability.

Shadow of the Colossus

Originally released in 2005 at a time when video game contingent was still debating if the medium could be considered art. Contemplative, bleak, beautiful, befuddling Shadow of the Colossus put that contest to rest via minimal storytelling told ostensibly through environmental puzzles masquerading as boss battles. There really was nothing like it at the time. A wholly unique experience with an ending, like some of the world’s greatest art, wide open to interpretation.

Red Faction

Remarkably ground-breaking for its Geo-Mod technology was Red Faction. It’s incredible how much destruction developer Volition managed to build into its gameplay, and whilst there was a multiplayer component to the game the single player campaign was treated to this bar-raising destruction tech too. Players could reshape the world around them with unparalleled freedom. See a locked door? Blast a hole in the surrounding rock. Want to infiltrate a guarded building? Fashion underground tunnels with rocket launchers. Prior games included scripted destruction, but Red Faction was the first to grant players pure unscripted world-altering capabilities.

Shenmue

Sure, Shenmue’s stately slice of Japanese life divides fans and critics to this day, but the developer’s ambition for what they hoped would become a sprawling series was certainly ahead of its time. Introducing the concept of open world game design to mass audiences (well, Dreamcast players at least), Shenmue heightened immersion through its day and night cycles, NPCs with jobs and routines, and dynamic weather. The interactivity inherent in its detailed world cemented Shenmue as a trailblazer too, ranging from mundanely examining the objects of a kitchen drawer to hitting the arcades for some vintage game time.

Prototype

Prototype’s Alex Mercer is the perfect anti-hero. It’s as simple as that. So many powers and abilities are stuffed into his skillset that there was no more powerful a feeling possible in games than raising utter carnage in downtown Manhattan and barely feeling a scratch from an army desperate to stop you. In blending shapeshifting, superhero-esque aerial acrobatics, offensive and defensive body augmentations, thermal vision, guns, tanks, and helicopters, Radical Entertainment risked Prototype being a sludge of mechanics. Instead, Prototype is a blast; combining so many combat mechanics seamlessly truly was an achievement ahead of its time.

Battlezone

Never had a game merged first-person action, real-time strategy, base building, and tank simulation as cohesively as 1998’s Battlezone. Whilst the similar-in-scope Uprising: Join or Die released a year earlier it didn’t have the same sense of finesse that Activision’s effort exuded. Battlezone dripped in atmosphere, featured dynamic missions inside an engaging dual-perspective campaign, and – crucially given its melding of disparate genres – a sleek interface innovative for its simplicity.

RAGE

You can debate until you’re blue in the face on the memorability of RAGE. It brought legendary developer id Software back from the brink of mediocrity, but it’s shooting, premise, enemies, story – all middle-of-the-road at least. A solid 7/10. RAGE though had an ace up its sleeve: megatexturing. This tech wasn’t new at the time, but thanks to game engine id Tech 5 RAGE’s environment artists were able to build in an endless stream of unique textures. Dynamic scaling based on PC capability kept the game running at 60fps too; another feature prevalent nowadays but none-too-common back in 2011.

Syndicate

1993’s Syndicate put you in command of four trenchcoated, mirror-shaded cyborgs undertaking a corporation’s nefarious dealings via the trigger of a minigun. Gameplaywise, you’d take to the streets – early examples of living cities – to assassinate, coerce, rescue, or destroy, depending on your objective and whims. There was intelligence beneath the bloodshed too, a satirical mirror exposing the tunnel vision of rampant consumerism. Grand Theft Auto took these themes and ran with it, but Syndicate was the first to do it.

Far Cry 2

If Far Cry 2 were released today, it might be criticised for an overly minimalist approach to open world game design that’s become much more commonplace than it was back in 2008 when it originally released. Thing is, it’s Far Cry 2 that arguably started this trend. A true pinnacle of emergent gameplay, zones aren’t acquired like a shopping list and NPCs don’t tend to function as quest givers. Instead, it’s up to you to head into the bush a cause your own trouble, but beware as guns often malfunction, exploded vehicles cause rampant bushfires, healing is strictly limited. Far Cry 2 had the confidence here to blend FPS with survival mechanics, with Metal Gear Solid V, Fallout 4, and The Forest to name a few taking many leaves out of its book.

Silent Hill 2

Dealing with mature, taboo, brushed under the carpet subject matter in such visceral ways; intrinsically linking a character’s innermost desires and torment to gameplay, to monsters encountered; in crafting an atmosphere so noxious it chokes you – these are all reasons why Silent Hill 2 is an ahead of its time masterpiece, and stands the test of time some 22 years later. In a way, Silent Hill 2 is experimental; for one, its story is told extremely subtly. A very hands-off approach which many developers, plus Konami themselves, haven’t learned from.

I am Alive

Released in 2012, this game sees players assuming the role of a lone survivor in a post-apocalyptic world as he embarks on a quest to find his daughter and wife. I Am Alive starts off strong with its gloomy and dark atmosphere, and the gameplay is also brutal with an ever-depleting stamina bar and violent executions. However, the game starts to feel repetitive as you keep executing the same tried-and-tested tactics over and over again to get out of nasty situations alive. It’s not a bad game by any stretch, but it does fall short of exploring the full depth of these promising mechanics.

15. RAGE (2011)

At the time, RAGE served as an excellent showcase for id Tech 5. The open world shooter featured Virtual Texturing, which could stream extremely high resolution textures seamlessly, and shadow maps for more realistic environments. Though the overall world design and story left much to be desired, RAGE still impressed with its post processing effects, screen space reflections and animation quality.

The original RAGE came out all the way back in 2011. While the game sold reasonably well, it released to mixed reviews, largely aimed at the fact that it ended up having a rather lifeless world and style, despite solid shooting mechanics, coupled with a lot of technical issues- which is partly why the announcement of the sequel was so surprising. Partially for its existence (barely a peep about RAGE had been spoken over the last few years), and partially because its style, look, and humor look very different from the original, feeling almost like a new IP than a sequel to RAGE. As a new interview with id SoftWare’s studio director Tim Willits revealed, that was largely by design.

Sitting down with DualShockers, Willits detailed some of what they wanted to accomplish with RAGE 2, and the lessons they learned from the original. One big lesson id learned was to not tackle an open world game without tech designed for open world titles- which is why they relied on Avalanche Studios and their open world-specific tech (such as the Apex Engine) for the game’s development.

Most interestingly, though, Willits also discussed how you won’t need to play the original to jump right into the madness of RAGE 2, even if there will be obvious connections to those who have played it (there’s even a pre-order bonus mission directly linked to the first game’s story).

“RAGE 2 takes place 30 years after the events of RAGE,” he said. “Now, if you had not played the original RAGE, don’t worry about it. We got you covered with the story. We actually really wanted to separate RAGE 2 from RAGE, both in the gameplay style and in the story.

“You play as someone completely different. You play as Walker. We actually gave you a real name and you talk. You can play as male Walker or female Walker. You live in this settlement called Vineland. Vineland is attacked by the Authority — most people thought the Authority was gone because of what happened after Rage and the Authority wars — and your home is attacked. That’s kind of the start of the game.

“Then, once you move past this intro area where we teach you the mechanics of playing the game, you go into the wasteland and that’s where and when the game really starts. You meet up with some characters and y’all work together to eventually take down the Authority.”

In the same interview, Willits also spoke about the size of the game’s world, and how it compared to Avalanche Studios’ own Just Cause 4. Read more on that through here.

RAGE 2 will release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on May 14^th. We know, too, that the game has gone gold. If you’re curious about the PC version’s requirements, you can check them out here.

id Software kicked off QuakeCon 2018 with quite the bang, unveiling new footage for RAGE 2 and debuting gameplay for DOOM: Eternal. The latter has received new screenshots, new details, and much more. There’s tons of buzz surrounding both the games, and what better way to carry that even further than to keep the ball rolling with even more buzz? As such, DOOM and RAGE  are now both available on Xbox Game Pass.

Announced on Xbox Wire, both first-person shooters are now available for Game Pass subscribers. For $9.99 per month, you can enjoy these games (and a bunch of others) for as long as you’re subscribed. Though RAGE had a mixed reception at launch, DOOM is absolutely worth playing, especially since it provides some background on what’s happening in the sequel.

Xbox Game Pass has even more to offer for those who mostly play on Xbox One. Over 180 games are included in the service and new exclusives will launch on release for the service as well. Whether it’s Forza Horizon 4, Gears 5, or Halo Infinite, it’ll be possible to experience all of these on Game Pass. If you’re not subscribed, then head here for a free trial.

Bethesda has been teasing Rage 2 time and time again. However, when some rumors were leaked about the possible release of the game, the company wasn’t too happy. However, that hasn’t stopped the announcement trailer for Rage 2 from being leaked anyway.

Bethesda has been teasing images on their Twitter handle right now, and many have guessed that it’s about the upcoming sequel to Rage. This is just a cinematic trailer, so it doesn’t reveal too much. Not much information about the game is revealed, so we don’t know yet when the game is expected to release and on what platforms. Hopefully, we’ll get to know more about it at E3. It’s likely that the official trailer will be released soon enough, so keep an eye out for it.

You can check out the leaked trailer below. Are you excited for the release of Rage 2? Let us know in the comments.

Among the many, many games leaked in the build up to E3 a few days back was Bethesda’s Rage 2, and while most other developers and publishers would have tried to sheepishly deny the rumours or outright refuse to comment on them, Bethesda have jumped in with both feet. They have constantly been teasing a Rage-related announcement for the past few days, and surprise, that’s just what they’ve done yet again.

Bethesda have uploaded an image on their official Twitter account of someone that looks a whole lot like a character from Rage, with the number 5 etched in pink colour on one of his teeth, and the number 14 etched on another. 514, by the way, is a number they’ve been teasing for some days now, so a proper Rage 2 announcement is probably coming in on May 14th- which is tomorrow.

The question, of course, is will Bethesda announce Rage 2 for the Nintendo Switch as well? Their support for the system so far has been pretty good, but they haven’t really announced any simultaneous releases for it so far. Stay tuned to Gamingbolt and we’ll keep you informed.

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— Bethesda (@bethesda) May 12, 2018

When Walmart Canada leaked a number of listings for supposed upcoming games (which it later confirmed was only its own estimations), Bethesda Softworks was quite miffed to see RAGE 2. Not only did the official Twitter account respond but Bethesda VP Pete Hines also voiced his displeasure.

However, it could be that a RAGE 2 announcement was on the cards all along. Bethesda has been tweeting out a number of different images, including the Big Ben painted pink and pointing at 5:14 PM. Naturally, many have already begun to assume that a reveal is coming on May 14th.

So why could it be RAGE 2? Well, among other images tweeted, one showcases a cosplayer dressed as a character from RAGE. These are small hints, we know, but unless Bethesda is trying its hardest to divert our attention from something else, they’re the best leads we have.

Bethesda’s E3 2018 conference will take place on June 10th at 6:30 PM PT/ 2:30 AM BST and will be the company’s longest till date. Who knows what else we could see? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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— Bethesda (@bethesda) May 10, 2018

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— Bethesda (@bethesda) May 10, 2018

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— Bethesda (@bethesda) May 11, 2018

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— Bethesda (@bethesda) May 11, 2018

It was recently revealed on Walmart Canada’s “New releases” page that several hereto unannounced games could be preordered. While titles like Borderlands 3 and Assassin’s Creed Origins: Ace-Helix weren’t all that surprising, Gears of War 5, Just Cause 4 and RAGE 2 turned a couple of heads. The listings have since been removed but were screencapped for posterity.

While there’s been no official comment on whether a new Gears or Just Cause title will be revealed any time soon (say, at E3 2018), one developer has responded to the retailer listing leak. It comes from the official Twitter for RAGE, of all places, which criticized the listing for using the wrong keyart, the wrong font and a missing age rating. Notice the lack of any actual denial.

To further add to this, Bethesda VP of marketing Pete Hines further added that “This is why we can’t have nice things.” When asked about where the next Doom was, Hines replied, “Go buy a Magic 8-ball at WalMart and ask it.”

He doesn’t sound like a happy camper but we can’t really blame him. Bethesda’s E3 2018 presser takes place on June 10 at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET so it won’t be long before we find out the truth.

Hey @WalmartCanada here are a few notes. pic.twitter.com/R1od2aTEMC

— RAGE 2 (@rage) May 9, 2018

This is why we can't have nice things. https://t.co/ZhOHGsITfp

— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) May 9, 2018

Go buy a Magic 8-ball at WalMart and ask it.

— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) May 9, 2018