As far as extremely massive open worlds go, you can’t argue with the expertise of Avalanche Studios. With experience from the Just Cause franchise, they seem like the perfect ones to take on the expansive wastelands of Mad Max. The wastelands will be a sandbox for gamers to play in utilizing guns, vehicles and a sweet looking weapon known as the thunderstick. After seeing the map, you can rest assured that you are going to have a lot to play with when you step into Max’s boots.
Mad Max is a standalone title that does not tie in with the narrative from either the original Mad Max movies or the upcoming 2014 film. In this way the game is free to forge its own path without being subverted to locations and plot points from other media. This is a new take on the wasteland that will be fresh to newcomers and die hard fans of the franchise alike (unless you can’t get over the odd fact that he’s American). The developers are working to stay true to the general feel of the world though and have consequently included over 50 authentic Mad Max vehicles in the game. According to them, this is a game that is “all about the kick-ass cars”.
With that said, car combat is the number one feature that is being focused on for this game. Mad Max can build his own car and the various aspects change the physics of how the car reacts. I was told that there is no universal ‘perfect car’ but rather a perfect car to each individual player based on what feels best to that person. The car physics were really getting a workout as we were shown what happens when a heavier bumper is put onto the front, tire tread changed, and engine power ramped up. Needless to say the various alterations will cause vehicles to behave and handle extremely differently.
Next we were shown a brief segment of a mission. Max attempted to retrieve something from a gang leader that was on the move in his own car. The combat was varied and interesting. From shooting different areas of vehicles with your harpoon and shotgun, to enemies jumping on your car and requiring you to swerve in order to have them to lose their grip, we once again saw the physics engine hard at work in each of these facets of the game.
Following this was the combat on foot. Max can stealth kill, as well as utilizing his knife and shotgun in open combat. He also has the thunderstick. The devs didn’t talk about it at all, but rather demonstrated Max shoving a large harpoon like object into an enemy’s chest and forcing him back, after which the enemy exploded. Simply put, it was awesome! Even with car combat being the primary focus, the physical combat is looking like it’s going to receive just as much care and attention.
Expected to hit current and next gen in 2014, Mad Max looks like it will be a fun open world sandbox to play in, although here’s hoping we see a bit more terrain variety. Between the gritty and gory world and the physics heavy car combat, Mad Max is sure to bring in new fans and keep the current ones happy. Keep it locked to PlayStation LifeStyle as we give you further details on the wasteland closer to release.
