www.madmaxmovies.com

After the fiasco known as Batman: Arkham Knight, I am holding off on pre-ordering the Max game. This has nothing to do with the studios who produced (or will produce) these, but mainly because I beat AK in a week, found zero replay value, the graphics were meh, and the gameplay was boring and repetitive (the drones sucked). My fear is that MM will be similar in these regards, and also because people are comparing it to Just Cause (also highly repetitive and boring to me). Even though we now have a Steam return policy, I just can't bring myself to preorder it.

Anyone else feeling the same way?

I'm waiting for the inevitable Steam Christmas sale. My PC more than meets the recommended specs, I just don't have any free time for games until long after summer is over. Mad Max turning into another Arkham Knight isn't much of a concern. Just Cause 2 was great and WB's reputation means a lot, otherwise they wouldn't have pulled Arkham from Steam after the backlash and wave of refunds. If you didn't like JC2 you should hold off for a sale.

i've stopped paying attention after it moved to next gen consoles because i cant see upgrading for one game and waiting until more come along to play. i bought the 360 so i could play ghostbusters; which i preordered; and then i had nothing else that interested me much until i got that game, then there was nothing for a while(i didnt have xbox live at the time so i couldnt download any updates to play my original xbox games).

after preordering fallout 4 and seeing that alot of my 360 games can be backwards compatible i'll be getting xb1.

i'm just not completely sure what the preorder bonuses there are if there are any, and if they dont interest me it may be a game i wait on; like aliens: colonial marines which i bought new for 7 bucks at gamestop.

They lost me the second I saw the vehicle physics.

Eww.

Just eww.

I've watched hours of gameplay footage from most major outlets. read magazine after magazine and eve digital 'zines on the game. even got to ask the devs a question (though sadly mine was not picked at the time of the podcast). Arkham Knight is a bit of like a cavier or pate in that it's an aqauired tastes when it comes to gaming as a whole. Personally I didn't like it but one has to keep in mind that AK was made by Rocksteady where as this game is being made by Aveleanche studios (thus the comparison to Just Cause which I won't say is repetitive for my tastes but it also wasn't a game I tended to stick with to the end of the game.) the point being that while Warner Brothers is the publisher you cannot simply compare it to AK done in a different style for a different audience to that of a game of a different style made for and by our audience of mad max heads. it would be like comparing grand theft auto to say that of a morjhong game,sure they both video games but neither one has much to do with the other.

if you are fence sitter then I don't hope to change your mind. wait for the reviews by those of us who have pre-ordered it and see what you feel about it then.

But I will say this. Miller wrote the main game..it's had the treatment by an author named "ODD" but Miller wrote the basic game. Miller also worked directly with the studio to for around 60% of it's delevopment until his duties with Fury Road took him away from being that hands on with it.

The question to ask yourselves really is 1. do you believe in George Miller? 2. do you like the world that Miller has created and maybe want to know more about it? 3. did you like Fury road?

if you answer no to number 1. well then I am not exactly sure why you here. the one solice in this is that this IS NOT a movie tie in game through it has related elements including those from event's that take place past thunderdome but before fury road.

If you answer no to number 2. then once more I'd have to ask what you're doing here. I say this because the world in this game runs on the rules that Miller has set for the world according to mad max. food and water are scares in this game making this a fight for survival. fuel can run out and must be managed and even taken from enemy cars a-la road warrior. Ammo is scarce so you have to choose,like max has had to,whether or not to waste the short or to not waste the shot.
dinki fucking di dog food is on of the few sources of food to help replenish you. and max isn't just some hero helping everyone and saving the day. he's still very much mad and still mostly in it for himself while being haunted by the past. it's a big sand box where you get to be mad max and play as you might want to play while wearing a mad max suit. I honestly am not all that sure what else you'd want in a video game about Mad Max. you want some of the lore but to not be bound to it by having to do the exact same things max has done on screen then you have that freedom here.

if you said no to number 3 then well I don't know what to say. this takes place before fury road but is it's own story and setting so as not disrupt the cannon we know and love. and some elements of the game are cannon not too unlike the comic books which were also written by Miller.

some of you are merely holding a grudge that they canceled the ps3 and xbox 360 versions,despite there still being a pc edition. and I hear you. there isn't much I can argue against that other then someday you will be able to afford the console and by then the game will be used or reduced in price on console so that you could pick it up without breaking the bank. Gamestop has pre-owned and refurbished consoles that are a lot cheaper their retail. my Xbox one was purchased with actually no money down thanks to their new retro game trade in. I got my console for free. so in a way all this anger that you feel you cannot afford the new consoles is kinda moot because there are options to getting the console if money is that much of an issue. and before I hear the cries that gamestop refurbs are shit. both my xbox one and xbox 360 are refurbs. it's practically the only way I could afford either machine right now and they work just as good as the new ones. so deal hunt or wait for it because I've played games that were multiplatform...even John Carmack of Doom fame has spoken how the pc and next gen ports suffer when older generation hardware is used because they make one version and then try to optimize that version for next gen and so far it's always been horrible. and I have friends who work at studios like 343 who will tell you they never have enough time,or money to make a brand new version for the newer consoles if they have to do older consoles. I am sorry if you hate this but you have to understand that this game would have suffered if it had stayed on the older consoles full stop.

if you want a really good idea of the game...even if you still want nothing to do with a pre-order, then at least look at this video and then make up your minds. it's 2/3 of the way into the game to give you a feel of landscape,of the car customization and more and is the best video I've seen on the game. it made me want this game sooner personally:

http://www.gamespot.com/videos/now-play ... 0-6426597/ if you still think the game looks like a loser then well it's your right to. not everyone has to like this game. I just think it's sad to pre-judge this game. after all I knew a mad max fan who pre-judged Fury Road and won't go see it and I'd like to think most of us can agree that they missed out on THE theater going movie of the year,if not most of our lives. best of luck fellas.

I think Arkham Knight keeps coming up because people are worried Warner may once again be rushing out a game in such a buggy, nearly unplayable state. Reportedly it's ok now but the damage was done and the PC version hasn't returned to the Steam store yet.

lord humungus wrote: The question to ask yourselves really is 1. do you believe in George Miller? 2. do you like the world that Miller has created and maybe want to know more about it? 3. did you like Fury road?

1. Absolutely
2. Love it and Yes
3. Absolutely loved it - can't wait for the next one

Nothing would make me happier than a cool Max game. I've tried to watch enough of the footage without spoiling anything (I prefer to be surprised as much as possible). I've been a PC gamer exclusively for well over a decade, so the console issue means nothing to me, though my aging PC is getting to be a bit like Max's Interceptor these days, so hopefully it would run it. You are obviously excited about this game (I envy you), and I hope you'll post your review for us here in the future. I would be very interested in your point of view.

Mad Max RW wrote:I think Arkham Knight keeps coming up because people are worried Warner may once again be rushing out a game in such a buggy, nearly unplayable state. Reportedly it's ok now but the damage was done and the PC version hasn't returned to the Steam store yet.

^This.

I just don't have the faith in WB right now after Arkham Knight, regardless of which studio worked on it. And I actually finished it - check out the reviews on Steam if you want to see some really upset people...far more than I was.

Regardless....I'll be waiting for reviews, it's just over a week away from release...if all signs point to a thumbs up from everyone, it will be a purchase for me, no questions asked.

lord humungus wrote:I've watched hours of gameplay footage...

I think you're way too optimistic, and I've learned that in video games that usually leads to disappointment .

It's the first Mad Max game in ages, so I'm definitely gonna play it. It does look decent, but at the same time it has a lot of typical third person action game stuff just skinned for Mad Max. For example, the boss fights, hello, why not some vehicle based boss fights? If someone's thinking convoys, nah, that's not a boss fight.

On the issue of being this harsh world where survival is difficult, I don't see that. Gas does run out, but they said that they don't want it to be a punishing feature so they will simply spawn gas nearby for you to pick up, and in one presentation they said your car would still work but move slow. Water is abundant, there seem to be fountains at every location where you engage in combat, even more than one I believe, and conveniently placed as well. And just to be clear for anyone that may not know, water is not essential, it's just the game's way of replenishing health lost due to combat. I don't know for sure about regenerating health, but I suspect the game will do it very slowly, or at certain points. Your car definitely has regen health as long as you're stopped. Yes some elements are a nice nod to the Mad Max universe, like shotgun ammo does truly appear to be scarce, but really this game is not a harsh survival experience, it's very forgiving like most big games have been for ages now.

I must admit I share some of the fears of others that it might get repetitive, in fact it's almost certain it will, watching them attack locations they only really used 2-3 distinct tactics. However a game can be repetitive and still great, an example for me personally is Skyrim. In that game I did a lot of the same things over and over and over, but the world and locations and little stories kept me exploring for ages. Mad Max also has the advantage of being based on something I'm already a huge fan of, so hopefully that can overcome any boredom from repetitive gameplay.

I did pre-order it though, only for the same reason as any other game I pre-order, better prices. In Canada we have pre-order promo sales every summer during E3 and that's generally the best price unless you wait some time after release. However, I recently heard it was very cheap on cdkeys and purchased it there. I know sites like that are controversial, but anyway I bit.

Let's be realistic, this is not a game designed specifically for Mad Max fans and we all knew that from the very first announcement. As I said I'll definitely play it, perhaps on multiple platforms even, for some dumb reason . I think I'll enjoy it for some time anyway, there will probably be some interesting story notes and tidbits that tie into the comics and Fury Road, that'll be cool too.

the last two replies were what I was hoping for because,to be honest, they are fair and balanced replies with a lot of thought. and I honestly mean no disrepect but when I look at the title of this section and the first few replies I wasn't seeing what I just saw above. and I seriously appreciate you guys taking time out to speak to my taking points or to bring up some of your own.

as to the point of the PC edition coming out likely Buggy. I wouldn't put it past them (WB) to do so and it's not a point that's necessarilly easy to debunk,should a thing be neccessary. but we all looking at WB and not at Avelanche studios who are the ones actually programing the game. as far as I can recall "Just Cause" and "Just Cause II" weren't horribly buggy messes upon release. I would at least ask to think of all parties involved her. this isn't Avelanches first rodeo with pc and I think it's more then in their best interests to not be part of the growing number of pc ports that come out so broken. I could always be wrong on it but I do plan to also someday purrchase the pc edition because if it's as moddable as "Just Cause II" was then my 3d models should make the game even better.

"Water is not scares it's at ever outpost you attack" yes but you did happen to see the icons showing how much water was in there for your canteena. once that's out it's out and it doesn't replenish all your health every time. and if you get caught fighting in the wastes (which can happen if you stop to loot dead enemies or to loot scap from downed cars) there is small window of time you have to pick through things in the waste before reinforcements come. and that's coming directly from the developers. I haven't heard this rumor that gas will spawn near you if you run out but I have heard from the devs that the car will still run just slower.

"your car has rebounding health" yes but if your in a pinch and you don't get out of the car in time it will explode and kill you. would you rather have a game where the car can get so wrecked that you can't use it have have to be mostly on foot for the rest of the game? that might be more in line with mad max but it wouldn't make for a very fun game. but from all the videos I've watched max's health will not regen. you must find ways to heal in battle or even after a battle or you will find yourself dead. but, save points are very generious so some would say that either way it's a moot point because you suffer no consequences of just dying. plus there are storms that happen like in Fury road and they can kill you.

"no vehicular boss battles" on this I can't argue because as far as I know there are none and I do agree that Mad Max is a property that absolutely needs them to be more properly a max film.

"it's classic thrid person game" well yeah sure I guess but you can play the game in first person even in combat making the game a lot harder because you can't see around you. and all cars are RHD just as the cars of Australia are thus giving us even more attention to detail that other games haven't in the past. and while you say that you've seen the devs only playing the game one way there are absolutely hundereds of ways to approach missions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI0iHj94xvw how you outfit the car does effect your cars stats and if you max out a car it can become uncontrollable or at times unusable. you can outfit yourself the be a heavy tank fighter or someone who is light and nimble even the combat itself allows for any number of choices for fights and sometimes using the shotty causes A.I. to rethink if they want to attack you. then there are the weapons of the car that also allow you to look at how to take on take outs because you can't just run and gun your way through an outpost like you might in say a resident evil 6 kind of way and sometimes scouting things out and sniping are the best options but if you run out of sniper ammo then you have to rethink things which feels very very much like mad max two. max didn't just blaze in the compound and lay waste to them call of duty style he had to wait and figure things out and the convoys are sometimes more then you can handle and have to wait and armor up or level up to get to the objective. you can also just drive and ignore the game all you want and the map will auto generate way past the boarders of the map. besides devs are going to play the game as they know how cause they have litterally played it hundereds of times and I have seen them game over before in live demos.

" watching hours of gameplay doesn't mean you know the game" that's fair and I do agree. we all saw the aliens colonial marines "play throughs" and were wowed at close to the movies it all looked and we felt we knew the game and we got burned hard on that game cause it was horrible and did horrible things to the cannon. I don't tend to pre-order much if at all because I know that lying view trailers and fake gameplay seems to be more the industry standard. but I know Avelanche well enough to know they don't tend to over sell their games and tend to try to make promises that so far they seem to keep. but I could get burrned on my pre-order. I could get burned on the play through and find it to be a horrible and stupid experience but I might not. I don't have faith in much these days but I do try to have faith in studios and products that given me little reason in the past to doubt them. my point with the gameplay coment is that I've watched what is for sure a live demo of the game. I know because I've seen them play the same section of game and get different results in a way that shows me that this is a pre-rendered reheased "live demo" such as we had with Aliens game. could they bait and switch. yes as anyone could do. and so I guess at the end of the day I'll just have to wait and see. I got my game off of pure game trades at gamestop so I honestly paid 0$ to get burned. so I guess I won't be so pissed if I am burned. but this is why I got gamefly and mostly rent. some modern games were not as they were represented and I sent them back for a different rental. it's minimized the times I got burned by a game and so personally I'd recomend them since they are cheaper monthly then paying full price for a game each month. which I couldn't do anyways even if I wanted to (as far as buying a brand new game each month)

"this was not a game made exactly for mad max fans." this one is up for interpretations. The game makers are deep max fans. the game draft was written BY Miller himself and he also participated in production of the game as said not just by the studio but by Miller himself. this may be an alternate take on max and his universe but it still opperates on Millers rules which only Miller and the Game studio know in detail. But one cannot argue that this game wasn't built as a game rather then being something ment to mimic the films directly and thus must also follow the rules of game making rather then film making and thus diverges from what one could say is made for us. I think the argument here,though, is that this game is trying to be made for a broader audience to make the most money and to be a success in which case one could then open the door to a talk that this is somehow a cash grab devoid of any value to us max fans and on that point I would dissagree because I doubt Miller does things just to make money off us few mad max fans who have the money to buy merch.

I will conceed that it is likely on some levels not the game we really really want. but it's a chance, not unlike Fury Road, to make max more relevent again. I thought Fury Road would destory the fandom thanks to the death of the interceptor. that it would divide us and destory what it is to be a fan. I was thankfully very very wrong and I've seen where Fury Road has actually brought new people in and grown the fandom. Miller did this without making a completely reboot where max is something he's not and the cars aren't anything they should be. If he's involved as heavily with the game as I read then I think it's awesome and should help the game to be awesome. and MAYBE just maybe. this could lead us down a road to a mad max game we do really really want.

lord humungus wrote:I haven't heard this rumor that gas will spawn near you if you run out but I have heard from the devs that the car will still run just slower.
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"your car has rebounding health" yes but if your in a pinch and you don't get out of the car in time it will explode and kill you. would you rather have a game where the car can get so wrecked that you can't use it have have to be mostly on foot for the rest of the game? that might be more in line with mad max but it wouldn't make for a very fun game.
...
but from all the videos I've watched max's health will not regen.

The thing about spawning gas nearby was the only thing I heard them say about what happens when you run out of gas until recently. I think the spawning gas thing was mentioned during the E3 demos. I'm fine with that, and yeah I know the game cannot be super punishing, I just wanted to point out it's very much a mainstream game rather than being "hardcore" so to speak.

About Max's health regen, I haven't seen it either, I just suspect it will be in there in some way .

lord humungus wrote:"it's classic thrid person game" well yeah sure I guess but you can play the game in first person

I don't mind the 3rd person, I just meant it's going to typical action game, like how it uses the same fighting as other games, typical boss fights, stuff like that.

lord humungus wrote: "this was not a game made exactly for mad max fans." this one is up for interpretations. The game makers are deep max fans. the game draft was written BY Miller himself and he also participated in production of the game as said not just by the studio but by Miller himself.

I really think your ideas about the extent of Miller's involvement are based on hope . Story, ok maybe, he could have had a lot of involvement. Art and aesthetic, yeah maybe lots there too. Game design and mechanics, sorry I can't believe he had much to do with it. I could even see Miller saying nah, that's not what I'm good at, it's all yours. That last bit is just a totally made up idea of mine , but in general I doubt he had much impact on gameplay and overall game design. We can already see most of that is taken from existing popular games.

I think the key point for me is they missed out on some opportunities to make this feel a lot more like a Mad Max game. Even if not Mad Max-ish, even just some actually new or different ideas. Imagine if there was a shotgun "fake" mechanic you could use on small numbers of enemies when you're out of ammo, maybe cause them to flee, or order them to do something like open a door to give you a shortcut, who knows. I think that would be cool. At least one game actually did that, I Am Alive, a post apocalyptic game where you often didn't have ammo but could still try to intimidate enemies with your gun. Also as I said, vehicular boss fights or some kind of more "grand" convoys. Maybe finding actual parts instead of generic scrap, essentially points, you use to upgrade like every other game.

As I said it's pre-ordered and I'm definitely gonna play it, but I'm expecting mediocre .

EDIT:

lord humungus wrote:MAYBE just maybe. this could lead us down a road to a mad max game we do really really want.

In the past I used to always say the only hope for a good Mad Max game that really nails the feel would be from indies, someone who loves Mad Max and decides to make a game in that spirit, not actually licensed of course. I just couldn't see it coming from the AAA world and I still don't think it can. And really this is not a Mad Max specific problem, it happens with all sorts of lore, old game franchises, etc. The AAA always wants huge sales and almost always make games that stay very close to recent successes.