When Bethesda, id Software, and Avalanche Studios officially unveiled Rage 2 earlier this year, fans couldn’t help but notice that it looked a tad different from its predecessor. While the upcoming sequel continues the chaotic post-apocalyptic theme that was established in the original Rage, it does so with a bit more flair, utilizing bright neon colors that factored heavily into both the game’s pre-reveal marketing materials and the reveal itself. According to id Software, the use of bright, flashy colors was a deliberate move meant to show that Rage 2 isn’t afraid to stand out from the crowd.
Speaking with PC Gamer during this year’s E3 event id Software studio director Tim Willits admitted that the original Rage had wound up in a familiar pitfall for many post-apocalyptic games:
“We knew that Rage was every shade of brown. We knew that Mad Max was every shade of brown. We had gone deep into brown. Then we wanted to evolve our characters with more color and diversity. Then we wanted to make the guns more colorful, and then the intensity of the game—we wanted to blow it out, to be more crazy than Rage.”
Thanks to the events from the original Rage, the upcoming sequel will certainly feel more vibrant and dynamic, not only in its use of neon colors, but also in the different environmental biomes Rage 2 players will get to explore. There will be desert wastelands and rocky canyons for sure, but there will also be swamps covered in thick vegetation and even pockets of woodland where players can weave around trees to avoid enemy gunfire.
Willits wasn’t afraid to admit that Rage 2 will have some stiff competition when it launches next year (he subtly motioned over towards another Bethesda property, Fallout 76, as he was saying this), but he also said he’s confident that the sequel will stand out much more than the original Rage did. For more on Rage 2, be sure to check out the game’s recent E3 coverage, coverage which included a full mission playthrough and a very bizarre collector’s edition item.