MAD MAX Hands On Impressions - E3 2015
I had the pleasure of checking out Mad Max at E3 today and I gotta say I loved every minute of it. I’m a huge Mad Max fan; I’ve seen Fury Road four times now and have watched the first two countless times (I don't count Beyond Thunderdome). My expectations for this game were very high and they were still blown away.
The game world seems massive. I felt like I was literally lost in a wasteland. Max is still a man of few words and has that Aussie flair to his voice. The great thing about this game is that you get to create and customize your very own Magnum Opus (Max’s car). You do this on the fly, too, which was awesome. You don’t have to drive to a garage or anything. If you have scavenged enough parts, you just press start and customize on the fly. Throughout my time in the wasteland I scavenged parts, water, and gasoline.
The driving had a weight to it, you really felt powerful behind the wheel, using boost really made you feel like you were going at insane speeds. On the back of the car you have a mechanic (Chumbucket) who helps you throw boomsticks at other vehicles and scouts for you, pointing out places of interest or tells you when there are enemies closing in. Max’s sawed-off shotgun is back and in working condition. You can use this on foot or in the car, shooting enemy drivers or tires. My Magnum Opus also came equipped with flamethrowers on the side, which were incredibly powerful but also used gasoline, which is a precious resource, so I had to be smart about using it. The game also gives you the ability to launch a harpoon to rip open cargo crates or to destroy outposts. You can use a sniper rifle from the back of your car to shoot at far way enemies causing you trouble.
The game also has a first person feature when driving, and I have to say this was my favorite part. I really felt like I was Max. I was this awesome action hero I’ve always wanted to become. The big mission I took on was wiping out a convoy. The action is frenetic and never stops. There is really no reason to get out of your car when it’s the best weapon in your arsenal. Making enemy vehicles explode and go dancing through the air was extremely satisfying. The game features a danger system telling you how dangerous certain areas are at a given time; by wiping out outposts, convoys, and such you reduce the danger. Scattered throughout the wasteland are collectibles and such, but in Mad Max they have meaning. Some of the collectibles are things from before the apocalypse; this little addition does a great job of expanding the lore of Mad Max. I experienced a lot of chaos and carnage behind the wheel in the wasteland, and I cannot wait to explore it further when Mad Max is released on September 1st, 2015 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.