Road Rage Review

Growing up, I was a big fan of EA’s Road Rash series, so I was excited when I heard there would be a new motorcycle combat game. Road Rage isn’t all that similar to EA’s series, but it was close enough for me to get that nostalgic feeling. That feeling quickly faded as I played through Road Rage and realized that the game had several issues that severely impacted my enjoyment of it.

The Open World

The concept of Road Rage is pretty simple. It’s an open-world combat racing game set in a fictional crime-ridden city. The map is large for a smaller-budget game and is split into seven distinct districts with different characteristics. It’s not hard to tell what district you’re in from your surroundings. The only real incentive to explore these areas is to collect the single collectible available in each district. Yes, that’s right. There are only seven collectibles, so you’re not stuck searching for 200 different items, which I found to be a positive aspect.

Missions

There are numerous missions to complete, accessible through the menu or by driving to a designated point on the map. Most missions are based on racing, such as circuit races, sprints, time trials, and eliminators, where the person in last place is eliminated after each lap. There are stunt events where you must pop wheelies, achieve big air, and perform near-miss maneuvers. There are even missions where you need to escape the police by remaining out of sight for a pre-determined amount of time. The weird thing about the game is that it doesn’t tell you which missions are complete, which is mind-boggling and something I’ve never encountered in a video game.

Gameplay

Driving and Combat

The game mechanics work reasonably well. You can drive around and do everything you expect from a racing game. I will say that the bikes drive more like cars, and your character doesn’t lean into turns; they stay straight up, which felt weird to me. You can easily swing around corners and perform wheelies for miles without toppling over. Combat is equally simple, with a quick button press being the only method of attack. It’s a battle of quickness between you and the CPU, and you’ll barely ever lose.

AI

The AI in this game is just atrocious. There was never much challenge with the game because the AI is so prone to making mistakes and getting stuck. Every race I played ended up with me way out front while I passed racers who got stuck behind cars or ones that kept knocking each other down. The police were equally bad, and I barely saw them during any pursuits. They got lost and didn’t come near me at all. It was peculiar. It happened every time the cops were pursuing me.

Weapons

One positive aspect of Road Rage is that it features a variety of weapons, including hockey sticks, crowbars, and chainsaws. There are even more characters, bikes, parts, and upgrades to unlock, so there is a lot to strive for. There’s also a generous amount of money given for each race, so you’ll never feel like it’s too tedious to unlock anything you may want. My problem was that none of the weapons really made a huge difference, and my bike was already way faster than I needed it to be, so I didn’t feel the need to buy much. Some missions require other bikes, but there wasn’t much need to upgrade beyond purchasing the bike I needed.

Glitches

I encountered numerous bugs while playing this game. These were game-breaking glitches that took away any enjoyment I could have had from the game. I had to restart a few races because my bike got stuck inside the road. My bike fell through the world twice. I went through the buildings more than half a dozen times. It would help if you didn’t have to worry that the game wouldn’t be reliable enough for you to play it, and I felt that way the entire time I played it.

Final Thoughts

It’s a shame Road Rage was such an unpolished experience. This game still has some hope if it gets patched soon, but in its present state, I cannot recommend it. There are just too many frustrating bugs, and the challenge isn’t there with the unreliable AI.