Mad Max Reviews
Mad Max is bloated, full of busy work, and keeps women locked in chains. Fury Road this is not.
Mad Max's fondness for never-ending upgrades and tedious open-world quests stymies the exceptional car combat and compelling characters.
When it comes to simply chewing through yet another open world game, Mad Max does suffice. It's a substandard but largely competent "AAA" game in a sea full of them, and those who do value the idea of content above all else will find more than their money's worth here. There's simply no reason to pick it up, however, if you've yet to try The Witcher 3, Shadow of Mordor or Batman: Arkham City. There are tons of better games that go for what Mad Max went for and do so in a superior manner.
While Mad Max promises thrills and violence, it only delivers on decent driving mechanics.
Surviving in a real post-apocalyptic wasteland would be a miserable existence. Mad Max nails that feeling of just wanting to crawl under a rock wait for the end. It's a miserably dull grind, occasionally made bearable by the vehicular carnage once you've suffered through the first half.
One standout and entirely fantastic element of Mad Max is the technical performance of the game. It looks great, never once did I encounter any serious frame rate issues or bugs, not a single crash. In regards to the technical sides of the game it was a flawless masterpiece from start to finish. Now if they just spent more time on the rest of it…
Light gameplay and good graphics, average game
Whilst it may not initially be obvious, open world games have dramatically evolved in the last 5 years. I was once happy with mindless collectatons, but I've grown to want more. The best open world games nowadays are an expansion of the form, but Mad Max is highly regressive in far too many areas to be meaningful. Everything I experienced during my time with the game felt like it came five years too late to the open world party. Those with any interest in the genre will have already trod similar ground long before. We've seen all these tricks done dozens of times – so much so that all the props that were once cleverly hidden away are now clear to see.
It asks us to buy Max as a wasteland messiah whose life consists of spending his most sane years playing fetch.
Mad Max is a shallow, forgettable experience
The world of Mad Max is a wonderful and interesting one. It features a host of characters that can be very enjoyable to follow. They have great designs, and, in the case of some, even better character narratives. But the meat surrounding Mad Max feels derivative and tired. The mission structure constantly disappoints, and the hand-to-hand combat provides no thrills. If it were released five years ago, Mad Max could have been revolutionary. But it was released in 2015, so Mad Max will be just another open-world adventure lost in the dust.
By granting me what I thought I wanted—free reign to explore—Mad Max pushes its source material out of the fast and tantalizing drive of action movies and into the slow, repetitive plod of open-world action games. It delivers a vast, meticulously rendered desert with nothing special to see.
Mad Max feels like a polished title, one that tries to be a comprehensive sandbox game that, like its titular character, is able to hold its own. However, as fans of the films will know, in such a crowded world, not all can survive.
Mad Max's greatest strength is in many ways the title's most significant weakness as well. It is immediately familiar, reminding of the Batman titles and Shadow of Mordor - games that I am very much a fan of. Unfortunately on the whole, Mad Max is not as good as those titles either, coming up short in its narrative, controls and combat to create a less engaging overall experience than those titles.
Mad Max is a decent if, uninspiring time waster. You have a vast laundry list of tasks to chew through, but hardly any of them are particularly challenging or interesting. The excellent road combat and meaty progression system make it worth your time once you've beaten the significantly better open world games available at the moment.
Mad Max seemingly had it all but ultimately stumbles in the worst way possible - by not presenting enough interesting things to in its open world. Side mission and story quest design aside, there's a whole of repetition and not a lot of substance to the game's madness. Good for the odd casual playthrough but imminently forgettable.
While Mad Max avoids being the disaster that the development hell storylines surrounding it suggest that it could have been, it's an absolute testament to mediocrity. Its characters and the world itself provide a great deal of intrigue, and they will keep some players interested, but there are too many flaws to consider it a solid video game.
Mad Max's inescapable, monotonous looting in a derivative open world can't justify seeking the sparse instances of break-neck fun behind the wheel. Though there are moments that reach the level of Mad Max: Fury Road, they're unfortunately too few and far between.
Fury Road was a big, expensive, risky film that paid off because of the irrepressible will and talent of its director, George Miller. In video game form, Mad Max lacks that same kind of originality and danger. It's familiar and formulaic, competent but rarely exceptional. This Max could have used a little more madness.
Mad Max has the basics right and looks great, but beyond the first few hours it's a monotonous grind.