First Day, First Post, so obviously no one is going to be reading this. Rage is supposed to be coming out sometime in 2010, and I'm fairly interested in what it will turn out to be. Id Software does not have a reputation for being a particularly innovative. This is an ironic thing to say considering that they developed the first FPS game, but they've stayed with pretty much the same formula for the past 20 years, adding a reload mechanic with Doom 3. In terms of gameplay, Rage, (from various articles I've read), is not bringing about huge change either. Rage is set in a Fallout 3esque wasteland. The game is meant to create a sense of openness with huge environments - i.e big canyons and deserts. Id, who are renowned for their groundbreaking game engines, are basing Rage on Id Tech 5, one of the features of which is megatexturing. Basically what this is is using one gigantic image for a surface. A common dilemma in 3D games, is looking down from a height, and seeing texture tiles on what is supposed to be a gravel carpark or a grass hill. Megatexturing solves this problem, and will increase the realism in Rage, and other games in the future - which will in turn increase that feeling of a real, open world. However, its not really. Id still maintains a linear level design, like so many other games. You are given missions by characters in the game, and you must complete them for the game to be finished, or fulfilled, if you like. Carrying on from Doom 3 and Quake 4, Id are putting more concentration on characters and a storyline, and much more so than previous games. Put simply, they are trying to hit a sweet spot between Quake and The Elder Scrolls. Quake, while being tiny compared to the scope of Oblivion, concentrates mostly on gameplay, but brings about better purity because of it, helped by some excellent game mechanics. Oblivion (among the other TES games) gives the player options galore, not just because of character customisation, but because of the sheer size of the game world, and the content that the player can see, not just in a single playthrough - but in multiple. Id are betting that the illusion of a non-linear game environment along with dictated storytelling, is ultimately more entertaining than the player using their imagination. For me this is true, to an extent, but of course the thing that makes RPGs tick is the use of imagination. The game also features car combat, a genre (if there ever was one) which has never really taken off the ground. Whether this is merely a peripheral feature alongside the main FPS gunplay one cannot say. don't expect Rage to be some sort of a hybrid - like Deus Ex - but it does look to be a much needed expansion on the genre. Here's hoping that Id will show 'em how to do an FPS, or should I say, DOOM clone?