In 2015 Mad Max The game is experiencing a resurgence in buzz around the release of Furiosa: The Mad Max Saga. Its virality on TikTok has brought the game back into the spotlight, throwing it straight into the cultural reassessment machine. But the question is, are these people just caught up in nostalgia? Are they cherry-picking the specific mechanics they love, and overlooking their place in the wider gaming experience?
Yes, that's right (sorry). Mad Max I reviewed this game just before its release in 2015. At the time, I gave it a score of 6.5, and that rating still stands. This game is just an open world game, Are you okayWhile I liked the decision to make Max's car a central pillar of the game design, many other aspects felt unfinished. Batman: Arkham Combat felt appropriately weighty, but more calculated and precise than a post-apocalyptic brawl should feel. The open world was vast, but very empty. And, yes, before any of you smart asses start posting in the comments, I know this is the desert and deserts are empty, but it's also a video game and there's got to be stuff to do sometimes.
But it's popped up on my “recommended” page so many times I was thinking Mad Max Again. I started thinking about how to improve this, and I think there's enough of it to make into a bit of content, if you're interested. (Yes, I know US wrote a similar kind of article the other day, but I'm going to do my own anyway.)
1. Let's take a closer look at cars
As I said before, I think the focus on Max's car was one of the smartest decisions Avalance made during the development of Mad Max. Taking Max's beloved V8 and asking you to build a new car (named Magnum Opus) from scratch is great. But I think we can go even further. I want to customize it to a really crazy extent. I want to feel like I can use every piece of metal, every spare part, to turn the car into a monster. I want to cover it in spikes, bolt a forklift arm to the front, build a flame thrower and attach it to the roof. so much It's built around a crafting and customization-first approach that makes both mechanics feel substantial and meaningful, and it means that no two cars are ever the same. In an ideal world, I'd be able to take my highly customized cars and sell them in online battles. Destruction DerbyStyle lobbying (although this is a pretty significant development undertaking).
2. Something needs to be done about this open world
As I said before, in an open world Mad Max It was a bit… lonely. I get that the desert can be lonely. This is also true to the movies, and in all the movies, including Furiosa, the wasteland is depicted as a big empty desert with only scattered civilizations. It's fun world-building in the movies, but in the games, you're driving through sand dunes with almost no landmarks for long periods of time. I think the open world should be a bit more lively. Maybe we could find a reason for it to exist story-wise. Maybe Max finds his way further into the coast where most of Australia's population historically lived. Maybe that would allow us to enjoy a slightly more crowded version of the wasteland.
While driving your car, you should also stay alert. You want to use your car for various things like jumps and stunts. You might even be able to set traps on the fury road to capture the moving transport vehicle and steal resources. You might be attacked by the dune raiders and a fight might break out inside the car. There are many options for entertainment on the road.
3. Bring back the Nemesis system
Zooming in a bit, (like most open world games) Mad Max You can benefit from the Monolith Nemesis system. The mechanism of the Monolith Nemesis is as follows: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War The game's introduction of a hierarchy within the orc ranks reinforces the orc hierarchy: by eliminating lieutenants lower down the chain of command, you can lure those higher up out of hiding, giving you the opportunity to kill or capture them. You can also use this to seize territory from Sauron's forces and use it for yourself. This isn't necessarily the case. wonderful Appropriate Mad Max In the game, Max mostly wants to be left alone, but it would help make the Wasteland's warlord territories feel more reactive.
One of the things we liked most about the Nemesis system is that it makes powerful enemies feel a little more alive. They each have innate strengths and weaknesses. Some are superstitious and will hole up in heavily fortified bases. Others, like wargs, have specific fears that they can prey on. It also gives enemies long memories; if you try to sneak into an enemy base and silently eliminate them and fail, they'll remember and modify their defenses to not try again. This makes the open world more reactive in a way that other players often fail to do.
Mad Max Intellectual property rights owner WB Games can benefit from this because they own the Nemesis System. The company patented it, so no one else can use it. But if the company owns Mad Max, Nemesis is back on the table. Imagine wrestling with crazy wasteland denizens who notice your antics. They're as determined to stop you as you are to stop them. wonderful to me.
4. Local Cryptozoid Max Rockatansky
The thing I tend to overlook is Mad Max Officially, Max himself is a bit of a mystery. Nobody knows anything about him, but he seems to be involved in something. He's the closest thing to a wasteland folklore hero or a Bigfoot-like cryptid. People talk about him around the campfire, and the stories get wilder and wilder. It would be cool if the game leaned into this inherent myth-making and tied Max's character growth and skill tree to the growth of the wasteland legend. As you defeat wasteland warlords, you gain legend and infamy. As your adventure brags spread, the branches of the skill tree will grow higher and higher. Max's moves could get more wacky with each new unlock to match the legend. At the very least, I feel this is one way to make the skill tree more interesting than just having it there.
5. Do I even need to play as Max?
Given the popularity of the character Furiosa, one question arises: do we need Max as a playable character? Everything I've described can easily be achieved with Furiosa as the main character herself. Furiosa also has a cool mechanical arm that can be upgraded, giving you even more crafting opportunities. Or you could have both Max and Furiosa, each with a completely different playstyle. Both are survivors, but Max is more of a direct brawler and Furiosa is more calculating.
Anyway, here's a very rough and extensive list of what I'd like to see in a new Mad Max game. What did you think of the previous game? What would you like to see in the new one? Let me know in the comments.
Images: WB Games, Warner Bros. Pictures, Kotaku Australia
