When Rage 2 was announced everyone was surprised. True, the game had been leaked and it was obvious what the leak was about, but the fact that Rage was getting a sequel seemed to surprise many give how average the original one seemed. Plus, it came out many years ago. Still, Bethesda brought the series back, and they’re looking to make improvements with it alongside Avalanche Studios and ID Software. But they are doing some things differently, mainly, no multiplayer.
This may seem very odd, as almost all shooters nowadays have multiplayer, it’s almost a requirement. But one of ID’s heads notes that though there won’t be a “typical” multiplayer mode, you will be able to socialize with others.
“We will have a social component but it’s not your typical multiplayer,” said Tim Willits while speaking to Eurogamer. “We’re not quite ready to talk about it but we understand community is important, and we understand connecting with other gamers is important. But there’s not a true what I call ‘classic’ multiplayer, so you’re not running around together with your friends, because we feel we have enough hours of entertainment for your money. We feel like we have a good offering.”
An interesting statement given how many feel about multiplayer games and their future in the industry. Speaking of which, there will be DLC in Rage 2, and it will apparently be around for quite some time.
“Our way of thinking is making the tail of the game longer,” Willits said. “Our fans put hundreds of hours of their lives into the game and we want to give them an experience worth their time. We have plans to do all sorts of things: free plus paid updates and obviously some dynamic elements.”
So clearly the game is trying to be unique, but will it work? We’ll find out in 2019.
