Rage 2 is the most fun shooter since 2016’s Doom

Remember when shooters were fun and not about the horrors of war?

Ah, the double jump. The ability to jump in the air, and then while in the air, hitting the jump button to somehow jump again, using little more than the force of your own belief in yourself to defy gravity and science. Rage 2 has a double jump, which should tell you everything you need to know about Rage 2. Unlike the hyper-realistic shooters that attempt to ram their realism down your throats, Rage 2 is more concerned in making sure you have a fun, violent time, and for the most part, it achieves that goal. If you're thinking "But JOE, I haven't played 2011's original Rage, I'm not sure I'll be able to follow the plot", don't worry yourself. The story is: bad guys want you and all your human mates dead, and want to take a post-apocalypse Earth for themselves, and it is up to you and you collection of big guns to dissuade them. On top of the extensive, varied, powerful weapons, you've also got a menu of upgradable abilities to choose from, including that aforementioned double jump, and other sorta-mutant, sorta-psychic powers that will remind you of bits from Star Wars (the kind of Force Push) and Black Panther (the kind of Ground Punch). There are also whole vehicle sections that will call to mind the mania of Twisted Metal, as you blast across the Mad Max-esque barren landscape, using your souped-up, half-tank, half-quad bike to get into high-speed shoot-outs with your opposition. Combined, it is all A LOT of fun, but is more of a sugar high than anything substantial. Whereas the re-do of Doom (reDoom?) kept things interesting by mixing up the objectives, here you are mostly told to go to the place and shoot all the things. Again, that is fun, but variety is thin on the ground, especially in an open-world map that is mostly empty space connecting the remnants of destroyed towns. There are some entertaining things to find if you go looking hard enough, but even then, once you find them, the only real thing to do is shoot more of the things. If you don't put too much weight into your expectations, then you'll have a lot of fun for the 20-or-so hours of the main campaign, but maybe play it in increments so you don't get too bored, too quickly. Rage 2 is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC right now. Clip via Bethesda Softworks