Review: Mad Max

Strewth, you guys. I never thought I‘d see the day where Mad Max, of all movie franchises, had its own video game. And not a crappy movie-to-film adaptation at that. Set before the events of this year’s excellent Mad Max: Fury Road film, Mad Max presents us with a Max who’s lost it all. Knocked off the road by warlord Scabrous Scrotus (the most delightfully unpleasant name I’ve EVER had the honour to type), Max loses both his beloved V8 Interceptor and his leather jacket and is left to die in the wasteland.

Of course, our Max is having none of that. Quickly finding himself an ally in the hunchbacked mechanic Chumbucket, Max works to help construct Chum’s Magnum Opus – a car powerful enough to let him reclaim the Interceptor and travel on to the Plains of Silence, the land where he hopes to finally find peace in a world gone mad.

Developed by Avalanche studios – the guys behind the Just Cause series – Mad Max is heavily invested in its vehicle mechanics and combat. Predictably, it’s a very well-built system thanks to the experience the team has from their action-heavy franchise. The Magnum Opus handles with a feeling of true gravity, but is not always pinpoint precise; the sandy deserts, mucky oil bogs and rough terrain all fight against your control of the vehicle in just the way they should. Once you get a feel for the game’s particular physics however, it becomes easier to predict and counteract the effects these tough terrains will have.

Vehicle combat is one of the primary elements of the game. Random vehicles will confront you throughout the game world, giving you the choice of fight or flight. Road convoys offer a steeper challenge, allowing you to take on small fleets of vehicles in long-form battles that definitely make you feel like the underdog. In fact, this underdog status is one you’ll find from the very beginning of the game – given the basic nature of the Magnum Opus when you first acquire it, it’s no surprise that almost every vehicle will outclass you at first.

This helps drive home the idea that you don’t have to take on every car that crosses your path, and also encourages you to fight smart instead of gung-ho. Upgrades are drip-fed to you through the course of the game as you reach particular story beats or take down secondary objectives in the game world. It can feel almost too slow at times, but stretching out those rewards does help you to master what tools you have available.

The other major element of Mad Max is its hand-to-hand combat. Certain locations such as enemy encampments will force Max to exit the Magnum Opus and make his way through on his own merit, often leading to Batman: Arkham-game style combat mobs. Much like the Arkham games, you’ll find yourself juggling between various enemies as they attempt to interrupt your attacks or knock you down for their fellow combatants to take advantage. All the requisite on-screen prompts and rapid button timing is there, but it doesn’t feel as well-executed here.

Parries, in particular, did not feel well-telegraphed, often giving a little too small of a warning before the attack lands. The on-screen prompt is also a little misleading at first – Avalanche have taken the approach of ‘circle shrinking down to circular button prompt’ for the visual. A button press any time during this will parry, but hitting it right as the ring reaches the button icon will provide a Perfect Parry, boosting Max’s combo and Fury gauge, allowing him to hit harder. The problem is that there appears to be a delay between your own button press and the onscreen prompt, meaning hitting it at the expected time will usually reward you with a punch to the face and broken combo chain. Combined with an often-too-close camera, this can leave your prompts out of view and less than useful, especially when confronting larger mobs.

But the big question is, does it FEEL like Mad Max? Well, yes and no. The game definitely has the look down – the world is huge, flat and largely empty. Everything feels very lifeless, and the slapdash nature of enemy structures really sells this as an apocalyptic landscape. The day-night cycle especially looks fantastic, with sparing clouds and a beautifully red moon in the sky most nights. Random weather effects will also blow through the world, such as small twisters and the far more dangerous sandstorms, which block out your view entirely and blow random debris and loot across the landscape.

The problem is more in the characters themselves. After an initial faux-pas saw the early coverage for Mad Max present the titular character with an AMERICAN ACCENT – perish the thought! – Avalanche studios bowed to fan demand and replaced it with a proper Australian voice. However, Max seems to be one of the few Aussies in the game’s cast. Sure, the scattered dog food cans Max can chow down on for health boosts are “Dinky-Di” brand (even if Chumbucket pronounces it as “Dinky-Dee”, in a flagrant oversight of my cultural heritage). Sure, the light beam that hits Chum’s blueprint for the Magnum Opus when you first see it is a perfect silhouette of Australia, but it doesn’t feel like enough. The game begins in the Great White, a dried-up ocean bed, implying that you may be in the vast nothingness between the former countries of the world.

It’s reasonable to assume that survivors from all over are present in this place, but other than Max it seems that only the occasional nameless NPC hails from the Great Southern Land. The overseers of the game’s strongholds are heavily American, and there really doesn’t seem to be any other nationalities in play. Thankfully, Max’s voice is rough and Australian in just the right measures, but it still feels like the spirit of the franchise is lost in the sea of American wastelanders. If nothing else, it’s a small mercy they haven’t tried to utilise half-baked Australian impersonators to fill the gaps.

In the end, Mad Max is a fun game to hoon around in. The mechanics are almost all on point, and the world feels properly apocalyptic. While some of the optional content can feel a little repetitive, taking on vehicles in combat and busting enemy camps is satisfyingly destructive and rewarding. If it weren’t for the ties to the existing franchise, it feels like this game would be closer to a home run – but to my tastes, it’s just not quite Australian enough for my liking.

Doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop blowing up cars.

Mad Max was reviewed using a retail copy on PS4, as purchased by the reviewer.

Review: Mad Max

The good Top-notch vehicle combat. Great environment and weather.	The bad Really not Australian enough. Repetitive side-content.

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