@baileymccomas
I write this to you all with tears in my eyes and pure anger in my heart as a result of reaching the end of the story mode of Mad Max. Warner Brothers hit the chrome-mine this year with reintroducing and reimagining the Road Warrior, both on the silver-screen and gaming consoles. Tom Hardy reprised the roll in Mad Max: Fury Road, which brought in a hefty $374 million just in box office sales.
Despite the success Hardy brought, the playable Max bears no resemblance to Hardy himself or the former warrior Mel Gibson (no surprise there). It is clear that this game was designed to stand on its own, and it certainly met that expectation.
Driving
Anyone who knows about the character of Max knows that his car is his life blood. I was not surprised when I spent hours driving, but with a terrain that is tough to cross if you go off the roads there is no real sense of adventure when just driving alone gets to be a bore. While the driving mechanics seemed simple enough, the fact that a handbrake is missing in a game designed primarily around driving is baffling to me.
If it was possible to outrun the NPCs in this game, I would feel much better about the combat so there could be a fight or flight option instead of being stuck in a battle with enemies too powerful for you. As of now, I am upset with the little choice you have of how to go about inter-vehicular combat.
Between snipers shooting at you, dodging molotov cocktails, ramming your way through convoys, and navigating a terrain that any vehicle would audibly sigh if it was forced to attempt it, Mad Max keeps you on your toes in the driver’s seat.
Upgrade System
The currency in Mad Max is pieces of scrap. You get paid for accomplishing tasks with it, and can scavenge the wasteland for it. This scrap is used to upgrade your car or Max himself. It is easy to come by, meaning you can reach the maximum levels for customization very quickly. Upgrading your car to match your driving style helps you feel more comfortable behind the wheel, and quickly makes you a formidable opponent in the wasteland.
Story
If I had to summarize the story to two words, I would pick “roller coaster.” Not because it has emotional ups and downs, more because it either had me interested or had me pressing the skip button on cut scenes. It starts with Max being overrun and his precious car, The Interceptor, being taken away by Scabrous Scrotus. This is absolutely where the connection between the two stops.
Max soon finds a mechanic who formally worked for Scrotus, and has plans for a car that was brought to him “by the angels.” The next notable event comes in the back side of the story where Max makes his way to Gas Town, the region that Scrotus himself watches over. Without giving any spoilers, all I can say is the game turns missions into ways to add drama to an ultimately upsetting ending.
The Wasteland
Seventy-five percent of the game is spent traveling from region to region to accomplish tasks for the leaders of the land to gain trust before they help you with what you need. The interaction with leaders is very dry and gets very hard to get emotionally invested in. It turns into you doing repetitive tasks for them in exchange for upgrades to your car.
Combat
The combat system in Mad Max is a copy-and-paste of the Batman: Arkham series. I can say that this is the one aspect of the game I have no complaints about. You never feel overpowered, and have to use your brain as well as mash that punch button.
The cut scenes are just too long and happen too often. Every time you eat or drink, there is a cut scene. Every time you blow up an oil rig there is a cut scene. It left me feeling like I was just playing a game that ran alongside a movie.
TL;DR
Mad Max will take all your free time if you let it. It can be hard to put down, but also hard to keep going at points. If you like games where you have to grind out to make your character as best as he can be, this is the game for you. Mad Max is making a cultural comeback, and this game captures the essence of who Max is, and how no one should come between a man and his car.
Synopsis
+ Beautiful landscape
+ Fighting system
+ Stays true to the franchise
- Repetitive missions
- Story starts slow
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