‘Mad Max’ Comes To The Small Screen In New Game

The Mad Max film franchise has influenced many post-apocalyptic video games, and now, it has gotten an update if its own.

The last Mad Max game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990, five years after the last Mel Gibson-starring movie, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. This year’s film Mad Max: Fury Road has brought with it a brand-new adventure for our gaming consoles. While the game is not an official tie-in, Mad Max does draw heavily from this year’s film. The game, however, is a much more conventional experience. This game was originally announced in 2013, as a release for both seventh and eighth generation consoles.

If you’re not familiar with Mad Max, allow me to introduce you. If you are, here is the game’s storyline in a nutshell: our hero is Max Rockatansky, and he is making his way through a barren Wasteland. He is a lone wolf, and the only link he has to his past life, preserving memories of his dead wife and child, is his car, the Pursuit Special. He is ambushed by the War Boys, led my Scabrous Scrotus. Scrotus, who is the first of many beefed up bad guys, steals some of Max’s belongings. Max attempts to recover these possessions, but does not succeed. He does, however, leave a chainsaw in Scrotus’ head. So Max begins a journey to seek revenge, discovering information about Scrotus and collecting parts for a new vehicle, the Magnum Opus. Max’s only conclusion, through all the other factors, is killing Scrotus.

Now to the reviews: they’re a bit, well, mixed. Some reviewers don’t feel that Mad Max has a storyline that can hold its own.

Ravi Sinha from Gaming Bolt explains, “The main story missions consist of roaming from point A to point B to point C, trying to discover information about Scarbrous Scrotus and upgrading Magnum Opus to do battle with his forces.” Adam Kirkland from FilmGamesEtc. points out “the game does a brilliant job of emphasizing the bond between man and machine,” and continues to say “the plot of the game is a rather simplistic revenge tale.”

Basically, if you’re seeking a thrill ride like Mad Max: Fury Road, you won’t find it here, because “Max, in this story, could be anyone. There is no story.”

If you’re looking to fill your digital trophy case, you may want to look elsewhere, as Mad Max is more of a title that has one objective: to kill you. Supplies, such as water, car parts, and gas, are few and far between; for players who enjoyed that aspect of The Evil Within, it’s a challenge they are willing to accept.

The graphics, on the other hand, have received their own praise. The different locations on the Mad Max map each have their own distinct character, and the outskirts of the map are vivid, although they are portraying such a dull mess. Sound wise, Mad Max is said to be a game to be played loudly, mainly due to the satisfying explosions. The mixture of Australian and American voice actors is disappointing, as the game is said to be set in an Australian wasteland, not an American one. Max is declared a “decent protagonist,” and his companion, Chumbucket (no, not of Spongebob fame), rescues Max and offers to build Max a car — if he can find all the parts. Chumbucket’s dialogues can only be described as manic rambling, but are often humorous. Max‘s lines, on the other hand, are short and sweet.

All in all, Gaming Bolt concludes the following.

“As it stands, Mad Max isn’t a horrible game but it’s certainly one that could have and should have done so much more, given the time, resources, and development team backing it.”

If you’re looking to follow the storyline of the movie to a tee, that’s not what is happening here. If you’re a love of other post-apocolyptic games such as Borderlands, Rage, and the Fallout series, you’re in the right place. Its biggest fault? The fact that the game’s odds for success have been hindered by the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; but the success of Mad Max: Fury Road may tip the scales in Max‘s favor.

Mad Max: The Game was released on September 1 in North America. Mad Max: Fury Road was released on worldwide on May 14, and is currently on DVD and Blu-ray.

[Photos by FilmsGamesEtc]