20 Hours in the Wasteland: My Early Thoughts on Mad Max

Mad Max was released to absolutely no fanfare whatsoever last week, as it was covered in the massive shadow of Metal Gear Solid V. Being the fanboy that I am, I decided to pick up the Mad Max game instead of The Phantom Pain, ready to explore the wasteland and live out my fantasy of being Max Rockatansky. I've spent a good chunk of time with the game and have barely even scratched the surface of what it has to offer. There's no other way to say it: Mad Max is a HUGE game. The map stretches on for miles and miles, and there is side content covering nearly every inch of it. Like any good open world game, you are constantly pulled away from the main storyline to complete a side quest, collect scrap, compete in races, or take down outposts. It takes the better bits from games like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry and mixes them up into a pretty solid post-apocalyptic package. Critics are mixed on the game, but personally I've been having a great time with it.

For the uninitiated, Mad Max is an open-world game that focuses on vehicular and on-foot combat. It features all of the trappings every open-world game does, including vantage points, a robust upgrade system for both Max and his car, numerous side quests, hidden collectibles, and more. The main plot revolves around Max's quest to rebuild his car so he can escape to the "Silent Plains" and finally find peace. Early in the game, Max (reluctantly) teams up with a master mechanic named Chumbucket, who, with Max's help, promises to build the "Magnum Opus", a new and improved version of Max's classic Interceptor. Throughout the course of the game, Max forges other uneasy alliances with various leaders in the wasteland, completing side quests and helping them rebuild their strongholds. There is a LOT to do in this game, which serves as its strength but also its greatest weakness (but more on that later).

First off, Mad Max absolutely nails the atmosphere of the George Miller films. The world is filled with the most awesome cars and bizarre characters you would expect from the Mad Max universe. It's also a visual feast, with some of the best graphics I've seen this generation. Voice work is solid, though Max tends to talk a bit too much for my liking. From a purely audio/visual standpoint, Mad Max is incredible.

Control-wise, the game does a nice job of balancing a lot of different schemes. Driving does take a lot of getting used to, as it feels a bit sluggish and heavy at first. Nothing has ever been too problematic, but considering how much time you spend in a car, the driving should feel better. In addition, driving and shooting gets a little convoluted as you have to press multiple buttons at once that can result in cramped hands. Regardless, I never felt that the game's controls were bothersome, and the longer I played the easier and more fluid they became. Max controls well when he's on-foot, but is somewhat sluggish as well.

Combat, both in a car and on-foot, can be exhilarating at best and middling at worst. Battling against multiple enemy vehicles while blasting across the dunes at 100 mph is super fun, especially considering how amazing the explosions look in this game. The on-foot combat system is stolen right from Rocksteady's Batman games, so you spend the majority of your time countering and attacking. There are some special moves you can unlock as you upgrade Max, but the core combat remains the same. After a while of beating down the same enemies in the same fashion, the hand-to-hand combat can get a little grating. Car combat can as well, especially when you're trying to complete various objectives and a group of enemies crash your party, forcing you into combat. However, other than the visuals, combat is the game's biggest strength and provide plenty of explosive (pun intended) and memorable moments.

Max's health can be replenished with water, which is scarce enough to cause urgency but is still readily available to avoid frustration. Same goes for gasoline, which is needed to power your car (of course). However, gas can also be used as a weapon to use against enemies as well as outposts, so you have to decide how to use it.

Your car is the main attraction here, as it can be outfitted with numerous weapons and defensive features. You can choose to build and customize your own car, or steal others from around the game world to use. In addition, Chumbucket also has blueprints for cars called Archangels, which are super powerful vehicles that each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

The main currency of the game is scrap, which can be used to upgrade either Max or his car. In addition to scrap, hidden "part pieces" are scattered all across the wasteland which can be used to build various projects within strongholds. For example, if you find all of the pieces for an oil drum, each time you visit that particular stronghold your car is automatically filled with gas. Scrap is the single most important collectible in the game, so make sure you're constantly on the lookout for it.

As I've said before, this game is massive, so much so that it constantly feels somewhat overwhelming, as the map is littered with seemingly endless things to do. While there maybe a lot tasks to complete, very little of it actually feels unique. This brings me to Mad Max's biggest problem: repetition. In order to progress through the story or gain upgrades, you have to drive around the map completing the same side content over and over. It's not as grind-y as you may think, but it does take time and patience if you want to get the best stuff. Even the combat can get repetitious, though not as much as the side content.

At its best, Mad Max is a thrilling ride that pays fantastic tribute to the universe George Miller created. At its worst, it's repetitive and sluggish. Despite my gripes, I've had a really fun time with it so far. I'm not sure if the need to grind and complete the same tasks over and over again will diminish my positive feelings towards in as I continue playing, but for now I give Mad Max a passing grade.