Many people like simple stories. Those in which the main character protects the weak, helps the disadvantaged, shoots bad guys and does other good deeds. I myself love such stories, so when I had the desire to buy a “mediocre action movie in the open world” – the choice immediately fell on Mad Max. Huge location, pleasant surroundings, hundreds of “points of interest” and no crap.
Even in their advertising campaign, the developers were extremely frank with the players. Nothing extra. Only a selective routine and methodical cleaning of the entire map. There is a kind of special aesthetics in this. Overcoming boredom, each time to challenge mortal danger and go to the vast wasteland. But there is something else in this. Something that haunts me. Something that warms my tormented soul.
Who is the game recommended for and who should not be allowed near it? Is there anything fresh and original in it? And is Mad Max an exception to the “mediocre game adaptations” rule? Let’s try to understand this review.
The game begins with Mad Max, the main character, being brutally attacked by local militant residents and losing everything: armor, weapons and a car. However, he survives and is eager to take revenge on his offenders. And at the same time, having teamed up with a certain “Tinsmith”, he begins to look for parts to create a “Masterpiece” – the fastest and most powerful car in the entire wasteland. There are no cool or heartbreaking moments in the game’s plot. As I said – a simple story. And the search for parts comes down to two global activities – a trip in cars and hand-to-hand fights. Besides this game if you like online casinos then you can try the best high roller casinos usa.
Wasteland
Despite the obviously low budget, the first impression of the game is positive. The picturesque and majestic wasteland hides the stories of ruined destinies. Through the environment, notes and photographs, he talks about the old days, when the world was ordinary and safe. To be honest, in the first few hours I received a critical dose of a thick atmosphere and was already on the verge of catharsis, when I was suddenly thrown into the open world, where the main action began – the capture of towers, races and dozens of small activities.
The core of the gameplay is battles with enemies. The combat system is said to be taken entirely from Batman. But I didn’t play the Arkham series, so I’ll describe the fight in my own words. The main emphasis is on entertainment. Convex choreography and effective techniques. Max now and then wrings someone’s hand, twists his neck, kicks and pushes like a professional fighter.
For the player, a collision with an enemy is a timely alternate pressing of two or three buttons: block, counterstrike and finishing off. Max can also use a shotgun. But the player quickly realizes that they will have to shoot mainly at the fuel tanks and special enemies. Ammunition comes across very little, and fights with ordinary opponents that do not require the use of a firearm are abundant.
It is allowed to use both melee weapons and a kind of tactical element. Most of the time, however, enemies will just run towards you. That is, it is not at all necessary to plan every step. The clearing of any camp always follows one scenario: penetration, detection of oneself by the enemy, destruction of the enemy, and the fulfillment of additional optional conditions. And there are dozens of such camps – large and small – in the game.
I think it would not be superfluous to say that the open world is either completely empty, or is an explicit copy-paste – as you like it more. The location lacks intelligent life. Mad savages do nothing in their bases. They just wait for the player to come for them. And no one will even try to recapture already cleared camps, fortify the controlled territory or come to the aid of neighbors.
During the journey, the player will surely stumble upon a sniper ambush, an enemy patrol, or a group of wanderers dying of thirst. But now only 40 minutes have passed, and each of these events has already been repeated several times.
Of course, there are some unique memorable moments as well. Seeing on the horizon a huge headless statue with outstretched arms, I immediately moved towards it. On the spot, of course, nothing awaited me except enemies. However, the boss of the local camp before his death noted that every day dozens of people from all over the wasteland, just like me, come to this statue in the hope of finding shelter. Which is very convenient, since it is here that the main point of the slave trade is located.
Globally, the gameplay is reduced to the systematic cleaning of each region. Any activity, such as demining, destroying “scarecrows” or shooting the aforementioned snipers, lowers the threat level of the region.
They tried to weave the pumping of the hero into the narrative. Every time you decide to increase this or that indicator, Max meets with a certain mysterious stranger who begins to describe the fate of your hero in the most general phrases. The funny thing is that this whole pseudo-philosophical stream of thoughts will ultimately lead nowhere. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Max simply invented this wanderer. But one way or another – the lengthy empty dialogues and the inventive staging of these surreal scenes perfectly reflect the situation with the story as a whole. I will not expand on the plot and characters anymore. For there is nothing to talk about.
According to Online Casinos AU site the game looks good graphically. In some places – even very good. According to rumors, the project was developed for the old generation of consoles. And it seems that it is for this reason that there is no “soap” effect in the game. Now, for some reason, all games have this unpleasant feature. Shooters, third-person action games and even racing simulators. Everywhere there is a monstrous blur. Mad Max is a nice exception. A convenient photo mode complements a good visual impression.
Petrol
Heroes travel between outposts in four-wheeled vehicles. Cars – very different – were positioned as the main feature of the game. An important and unique element of the gameplay, designed to diversify the boring routine of hand-to-hand combat and search for secrets in enemy bases.
Let’s start with management. It is acceptable. The car feels heavy under the weight of the many modifications. Fits correctly in turns and has relatively realistic physics. The engine roars like a real one. And from under the wheels small stones fly out. All this has a positive effect on the perception of the car.
However, the driving process itself is not particularly interesting. There are only two riding surfaces in the game – roads and sand. There are no extreme tracks, no total off-road. During travels no ambient sounds, and the car itself gives only two simple elements of the game – racing and battles “on wheels”. The latter are tightly tied to pumping and scrap farming. Therefore, any fight with enemy cars turns into one of two states: either it is criminally easy to destroy the enemy’s cars, or it is extremely difficult. That is, modifications play the main role, and almost nothing here depends on the player’s skill.
Basically, riding, just like everything else in this game, boils down to repeating the exact same actions over and over again in the hope of making a difference. By the way, Mad Max also has its own madness. This is expressed in the names of the villains, their appearance and the environment in general. Especially impressionable and sophisticated players can be completely off-putting by this style. Seriously – the game has a lot of lewdness and it is definitely not recommended for children to familiarize themselves with.
Dog food
When I got the urge to buy a * mediocre action movie in the open world * – the choice immediately fell on Mad Max. I knew everything about the game and bought it with one goal – to get the gold medal. Collect all the details, find all the secrets and hiding places. In general, master the game 100%. You are probably familiar with this desire. One of the conditions was a visit to 191 “scavenging spots” – small locations where you can pick up precious scrap metal.
Words cannot convey my indignation when I realized that due to a well-known bug, the last – one hundred and ninety-first place of scoring – does not count and thus breaks the counter of one hundred percent passing. I started a new game and after another 70 hours I ran into this problem again. The game broke me. But is it final?
He said that the graphics in the game are not bad, but there are still a number of problems in it. The main one is the terrifying brown filter. From my screenshots, this may not be visible, but the game is very monochromatic. This once again confirms that Mad Max was originally developed for older consoles. Games in those days were also pretty often brown. And this, by the way, greatly interferes with playing.
And that’s absolutely everything – the colors, the emphasis on oak pumping, hundreds of small monotonous activities, clumsy mechanics, few but severe bugs and a frankly weak plot – all this greatly interferes with playing.
According to Steam statistics, less than 30% of players made it to the end credits. This means that the game attracts people to others. Attracts with a grind. If you like the thick and enveloping atmosphere of routine and monotony – no kidding – this game is definitely for you. However, Mad Max seriously loses to other games in the genre due to the primitiveness of its mechanics. All you do is farm. For armor, mods, racing, and even story. Sometimes it is also called “farm for the sake of farm”. And nothing else is in the game.
On the other hand, what else is needed? This is a Mad Max game! You can drive here. Jump, race, crash into other cars. Get out of the car and fight hand-to-hand with very diverse and deadly enemies. You can look for secrets, or you can simply go wherever you look. There is even a pumping. There is no plot. And the graphics are nice. However, all this is not collected into a single clearly structured system. And it turns out another walk-through game in the open world. Not bad, of course, but not good either. In a word – nothing.
Mad Max’s main problem? As always – superficiality and secondary. Not only in relation to other games, but even in relation to yourself. I can’t deny it’s all true. But sometimes, very rarely, I return to the wasteland. I know I’ll never find a 101st pick. It is a lie, it does not exist.