REVIEW – The entire Earth is engulfed in chaos. There are no more borders, the seas are dried out. Everything is covered by sand. The biggest treasure is water and gasoline. Crazy assholes form groups and hunt for preys. If you are not on the lookout, you could become a victim real quickly.
Fear has become a part of everyday life, just like breathing.

Yet all of this does not matter for our protagonist. After he lost his family, he has become a shut in, and roams the land, maybe sometimes he stops at certain place. He kicks the ass of the bandit bosses, and moves forward. His fame is huge, and there are people who treat him like a god, and just call him as Mad Max – The Road Warrior. Would be if his favorite vehicle the Interceptor would have not been taken from him at the beginning.

After he wakes up, he meets with a hinged creature / mechanic called Chumbucket. He considers Max to be a part of the prophecy, and his goal is to build the Magnum Opus, an armored monstrosity that no one could stop. This is what the story is about. Would you need anything else? Yep you do.

Do not search for an oasis at this damned place

In my opinion the developers have nailed the visual atmosphere of the game. Everywhere is sand, rusty bases made out of scrap. There is no trace of the old world. In the movies I loved the gadgets for the Post-Apocalyptic world. The alternative ideas, that are forced on people in order to to survive in this harsh life. This is well shown in the game also, and you can pretty much forget that you are a superhero.

You will have to survive, steal gasoline, water that will replenish energy, and eat a few cans of dog food. If you fall from a high place, you’ll be limping like a shot fox. When you enter a sandstorm you’ll have to cover your face, and do not be surprised when you see flying wheels, or treasure chests. So in terms of atmosphere and faithfulness the game is there. The graphics are okay, it was not unbelievably superb, but it was not bad either. It is able to keep the 30 FPS. Maybe I would like to highlight the explosions as those are damn beautiful.

Speeding, brawling, action

That’s right, Mad Max’s gameplay is nothing more than car chases, and the good old fist fights. Honestly both are great, but not the best thing ever. When we are driving, our faithful henchmen will man the harpoon cannon at the back so that we can stop enemy vehicles would recommend harpooning the driver of a vehicle and drag them through the sand. It is real fun to do this to them. These crazy assholes are not easy to leave behind, so either you avoid them in time, or fight with them. The fist fights are really great, as they remind me of the Batman games’ combat, but the free-flow style is better here. Do not feel sorry for the WarBoys, hit them until they are dead.

Sometimes with fists, screwdrivers, knives or something else. The camera work is excellent in the game. Max responds to the button presses instantly, does not slows down, and smacks everyone down. It is great seeing the combat, and especially since the combos can be upgraded. Most of the times however we will be in our car, but this will not be too boring, as the open world is pretty big with lots of things to do. For instance enemy strongholds, destroyable towers, and secret cave systems. Although most of the missions are not too varied, i still recommend everyone doing the side missions, as through these missions you’ll get to know more of the world. Plus it is more interesting than the main story.

What is wanderer worth without a staff?

As we move forward in the story (that does not seem to have too many twists), we’ll be able to upgrade our vehicle. Wheels, armor, bumper, motor (V8 ofc). Let us not forget to add controllability, and breaks. Everything can be max. You’ll be driving a speeding tank by the end of the game. Of course you’ll need to get the right parts, and always try to balance out the properties of your vehicle. Ergo it doesn’t matter if you have a big gun, if the armor is weak on your vehicle. Also you’ll be able to upgrade Max’s abilities after leveling up. You definitely should think through what the tune, as the enemies will also level up later down the line, and it will not be a good thing to die quickly due to bad leveling.

PULL THE BREAKS!

Unfortunately after all the good things I said, I need to mention some of the bad. Luckily there is less of it than the positives. Max’s voice is not too good. I know he is not a happy guy, but they should have not given him a voice that sounds like he is constipating. The music is lacking, and there are no adrenaline pumping sounds during car chases. It is a strong average. I wrote about the missions a bit above, but to be honest 70% of them is really just go from Point A to Point B, beat someone up or blow something up. If the missions would not have been a bit more varied this game would have failed huge.

WITNESS ME!

All in all Avalanche Studios did a great work. Warner was pretty brave to release this game on the same day as Metal Gear Solid V. Of course Big Boss is miles ahead of Max. Still those who love the movies, this game is a must have. Even if you just want a fun action game, with great mechanics, you should get this game. If you are done with Kojima’s masterpiece, and still want some desert, go play Mad Max, you will not regret it.

-Parzifal-

Publisher: Warner
Developer: Avalanche Games
Genres: action, cars
Publication: Szeptember 1th, 2015