If the prospect of Mad Max Fury Road, the recent reboot of the classic George Miller movie series, isn’t enough to get your post apocalyptic battle frenzy taste buds in a state of heightened awareness then the fact that there’s also a Mad Max game on the way in 2015 could just about tip you over the edge. While it won’t be released for a good while, and there have been a number of delays to the project, as has been the case with the film, it’s still one of the most anticipated games of the year, especially with the recent appearance of the first gameplay trailer to go with the initial teaser from developers Avalanche Studios.
Release date
Details are still fairly thin on the ground in terms of an official release date for UK and North American sales, but we’re fully expecting this to hit the shelves around early autumn 2015. On the official site’s pre-order page it’s got a date of the 1st September 2015, although it’s not particularly clear whether that’s the full game or the Ripper pack they’re giving away with it, but if we had to guess, we’d probably say it’s the same date for both.
It was initially earmarked for summer 2014, but delays to the production of both the game and the Fury Road movie have pushed things back a little. While it will initially due to be released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, it’s looking slightly less likely now with no references to these on the site or gaming retailers, despite still being mentioned in the About section of their Facebook page. However, the biggest anticipation was always around how it was going to look and play on the PS4 and Xbox ONE, as well as on top spec PCs when it’s launched later this year.
Storyline
If you’re not familiar with the Mad Max films, they were released in the late 70s and early 80s focusing on a future, dystopian Australia as the global supply of oil begins to run out. Starring Mel Gibson as wild eyed and vengeful Main Force Patrol officer, Max Rockatansky, they featured a violent road warrior form of justice and a series of sadistic baddies to take down. While the plot for the game doesn’t have a great deal of detail, it will continue with a similar concept to the films as you will apparently be expected to “build the ultimate war vehicle, and leave the madness behind you”.
Gameplay
The concept of the Mad Max game follows that of the movies pretty closely with Max dishing out the pain in a 3rd person action adventure with a massive open world environment. With a dust bowl setting of post apocalyptic Australia t o roam around in there’s a lot of ground to cover, so you’ll have to find different modes of transport to cover the ground.
In general the gameplay looks like it will have a similar structure to the likes of Assassin’s Creed 3 with a big wilderness, known as The Wasteland, at your feet and a series of staged missions to plough through. However, there will also be elements of Dead Rising 3 with the need to tool up with all manner of implements of destruction, including the double barrels of Max’s trademark sawed-off shotgun, as well as a lot of even more powerful heavy weaponry.
Scavenging also plays a big part of the game, in a similar way to elements of both AC and DR games of the past, present and future. In order to survive in The Wasteland you’ll need to be as resourceful as Bear Grylls and as thorough as Viggo Mortensen in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.
As with the film, vehicles play a big part of the game; not just in terms of getting around the big, open world setting, but also as a mode of battle. This draws some parallels with Grand Theft Auto V, but from the look of the gameplay trailer below it looks like it’s taken to the next level with all out driving battle sequences to work through, which could be epic. In addition to being able to get hold of new vehicles, there’s also going to be a big reliance on customising them to to be able to create the kind of ultimate driving weapon that Mr T would be proud of.
Graphics
The graphics look awesome, but it’s hard to say for sure if the trailer is for current gen or next gen gaming. Our guess is that Avalanche Studios will have wanted to lead with their best, so it should either be Xbox ONE, PlayStation 4 or very high spec PC gameplay we’re getting a look at.
The detail and texture of the landscape is very cool, along with great animation on the vehicle battle scenes. Facial features and body movement looks good, but they’re not a significant step forward in terms of old versus new gaming experiences.
It’s going to be tough for the developers to ensure the game doesn’t get too samey with the barren scenery looking like it could be a permanent feature throughout the game. On the other hand, the shear blistering quality of the graphics for the vehicle battle sequences could be the big differentiating factor of the game.
