Witness me, Bloodbag!
There are few moments in my life when I was more amped than watching Fury Road the first time. Luckily, I was able to catch the last day of showings in the motion seats. Considering its one continuous car chase, it’s probably the best suited movie for them. The film itself is like a beautiful art piece laid over an enthralling action movie. Inspired casting, seamless practical and digital effects and some of the most original world-building I’ve ever seen. Possibly my favorite movie-going experience ever.
Long before seeing the movie I had read of the video game adaptation by Avalanche Studios, the developer behind the Just Cause series. I was intrigued initially, but movie adaptations are infamously horrible. After seeing the movie, with still a few months to wait for the game, I didn’t imagine it living up to the new level of George Miller’s vision.
The open-world adventure starts in a similar fashion to the movie, with a quick car chase and a lot of destruction. While the standard tutorial portions of the game are there, it doesn’t hold your hand through the story. It starts you out in the world, and you can enjoy and random thing you come across. I was ecstatic the first time I barreled into a dust storm, ramming cars full of cackling Warboys into the lightning. It takes a little while for the impressive array of skills and upgrades to become unlocked, but the battle systems (both hand-to-hand and driving) are entertaining enough to keep you progressing. The majority of open-world titles end up feeling repetitive or hollow, but Mad Max has such a wide assortment of missions, enemies, collectibles, and distractions, finding a break in the action to turn it off becomes the challenge.
George Miller has recently reiterated the fact that he has grand plans for the two greenlit sequels to Fury Road. I once again struggle to imagine anything surpassing the first, but like the game, maybe they can recapture that glory. In Valhalla!* SPRAYS MOUTH *