Video Game Review - Mad Max

So this year, the Mad Max franchise returned and made us all interested in it once more after a 30 year hiatus. We've had a 4th film and now Warner Bros. and Avalanche Studios (the latter being the creators of the Just Cause series) have now given us a game which in a similar fashion to the Batman: Arkham games, is a game that focuses on the mythology of the franchise and therefore, does not tie in with the newest film Fury Road, but for the sake of continuity, most fans will believe this takes place before Fury Road. Some revisions for this game, had to be made, but in the end, this is what we got. So let's enter the wasteland and see what we find:

So Max (voiced by Bren Foster) is on his way to a place called the Plains of Silence, but this journey is halted by a group of War Boys led by Scabrous (who just so happens to be the psychotic son of Immortal Joe from Fury Road) who attack Max and strip him of his car, clothes, supplies, ammo and whatever else he had. Left to rot in the sun, Max meets a hunchback called Chumbucket who has the one goal to create the perfect car, the Magnum Opus. With their goals aligned, they begin work on the car and set out into the wasteland to free those under the control of Scabrous and his War Boys, while also finding parts to help make the car. There is a lot to do in this game and most of it, is very distracting from the story, but that's OK. The game is an open world sandbox game which pretty much plays out like any other game like it. You have these camps to gain control of (like when you have to gain control of some territories in the Assassin's Creed games), a lot of loot to find and use on upgrades on Max and the car (much like with the Borderlands games), a lot of things to destroy such as the game's take on scarecrows and convoys, races to take part in, strongholds to help and pretty much every other thing that you would expect to see in similar games to this. So from a gameplay perspective, its a good take on these things, but as I say, its been done before, a lot. As you play, there can be a few glitches and lagging such as sandstorms not playing out right and not many, but some out of sync cutscenes. But the story and narrative is great.

So while it does play out like any other open world sandbox game, it does a great job of its story and trying to keep it to the roots of the franchise and make it standalone and not be just a simple tie in to Fury Road which is great. Its got its charm and there are some fun moments, but if you plan to complete this game, I should warn you that it is a long game and you'll be in one hell of a ride. I'd say if you're after something to play to fill up the time waiting around for the next Assassin's Creed or whatever games these days that get countless sequels, Mad Max is a good game to play and I'm sure fans will enjoy it too. 8/10