It may be old, but it’s one of the most underrated open-world games on the market.
Mad Max was launched in 2015 to accompany the blockbuster film Mad Max: Fury Road, starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, which was released in the same year. For a couple of reasons, it was overlooked by many gamers at the time, but I am here to tell you: If you haven’t given this one a go yet, it is about damn time.
Besides the fact that Warner Bros did very little marketing for the video game, I only realised it existed when it popped up on Steam on release day; there were many open-world games released in 2015. Just off the top of my head, I can name Dying Light, Just Cause 3, Assassins Creed: Syndicate, Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Batman: Arkham Knight and, in my opinion possibly one of the greatest games ever made The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
And those make up the best of the open-world titles released in 2015; overall, there were a lot more. Competition in this genre was very stiff at the time and, coupled with the fact that it received very little support from the advertising department, it passed many gamers by.
Perhaps they were relying on the Mad Max brand’s strength to do all the hard work in that regard. The franchise began with the release of the original Mad Max film in 1979 and quickly gained popularity. The tale of survival in a post-apocalyptic wasteland resonated with audiences and resulted in three more sequels between 1981 and 2015, including the multi-Oscar Award-winning Mad Max: Fury Road.
During that time, the film and its protagonist have been featured in plenty of other media, such as The Lego Movie 2’s Apolcalypseburg that parodies Mad Max in its tone, aesthetic, and costumes.
There’s a Mad Max pinball machine and even a slot game titled Mad Max: Fury Road that can be found on online casinos such as 888 Casino. If we take a look at the 888 casino review, we’ll notice that there are various popular franchise titles.
However, the brand’s strength alone was not enough to bring success to the video game title. This is a massive shame because I am here today to tell you to go back and give it a shot, especially if you are a fan of the open-world genre. After all, it is well worth your time.
The game was developed by Avalanche Studios Group, the people behind the widely popular Just Cause series of video games. While Mad Max lacks the Just Cause games’ verticality, similarities can be seen and felt in the frenetic wheel-to-wheel vehicular combat. This company excels at creating games with insanely fun and chaotic combat, and it shows in Mad Max.
they managed to create a title about driving through a barren and mostly deserted desert without it becoming boring at any point.
The game is stunning to look at, even today. For a game made in 2015, the graphics stand up remarkably well. Do not expect it to rival the most pixel-crisp graphics out there, though; instead, they worked well with what was available to them. While the character and car models look great, the background art and panning vistas take the breath away.
The game offers the player plenty of customisation options too. After Max’s car is destroyed at the start of the game, the player receives a new ride and can create a truly unique vehicle to complement their playstyle. It is a fairly common feature in open-world games, but it is executed exceptionally well in this title and adds a huge amount of fun to your trek through the wasteland.
One of the biggest triumphs of this game is that they managed to create a title about driving through a barren and mostly deserted desert without it becoming boring at any point. Even after completing the game, I’m still a bit confused and more than a little impressed they managed to pull this off. Most games endure lulls in the action and fun at some point, but Mad Max seems to carry through. It did for me at any rate.
One of the ways they achieved this was through the clever implementation of side quests. With open-world games, this element is often relegated to an afterthought and ends up being nothing more than a bunch of fetches and delivering quests to pad out playtime. That is not the case in Mad Max. The side quests are clever, well thought out, and, most importantly, fun. They are all about slowly taking back control of the map by infiltrating enemy camps, sabotaging oil lines, destroying convoys, and just generally disrupting the enemy’s supply lines to make your region safer. They add a lot to the game, and it was an absolute joy seeing side quests implemented this way.
In terms of gameplay, there is nothing new here. They very much took the safe approach by mixing many elements and gameplay loops that have worked in other titles and tied them all up neatly with a box. The hand-to-hand combat feels quite similar to the Batman Arkham series of games. Overall, it’s a solid effort, and everything works, but there is nothing groundbreaking to write home about.
If you are one of the many, many gamers or fans of Mad Max that missed out on this game at release, do yourself a favour and check it out. I’d bet that you won’t be disappointed.
