If you want to know why people don't like the game, and others love it, then scroll to the end of my review and read the truth.Short Review: If you love shooter/action/fps/adventure games, then I suggest you give this game a try. Whether you play games for the story, gameplay, or graphics, you will all be satisfied. Awesome animations incorporated into the action and firefights. Literally, *revolutionary* AI both with enemy tactics and amazing firefight responses. Story is awesome until the end, where the game ends abruptly. It took me about 10 hours to beat the game, and I loved every bit of it. If you don't want to buy, then just rent it and give it a try. This is definitely NOT a game you want to pass up. A few blips in the graphics is not a reason to turn down this game.Long Review:Graphics and Sound: The graphics are phenomenal! Id has new mega-texture technology, which lets their models and textures look amazing. Now if you spin around real fast, the textures take a second to load, but what do you expect from a game that looks this good. Especially in Subway Town, the graphics honestly could not look better, even at the 30 frames per second on the ps3, compared to the xbox and pc's 60 frames. This game is easily one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. The sound and music are pretty standard, nothing special, but how advanced can sound design really get nowadays?Gameplay: Most people shrug the game off as a standard Fps, and they go into the game expecting standard fps action, and getting it. What do you people seriously expect? ALL FPS GAMES ARE THE SAME. But where the real fun comes in is the gameplay tied in with the enemies animations and AI. Id's mastered the weapon design and balances, and a firefight never felt so thoughtful. You shoot an enemy in the shoulder, and the enemy falls to their side but rather than falling straight on their face, they hold out their other arm and push off the ground. Instead of running straight at you like a moron, the enemies make quick ducks and lunges to avoid your bullets. I cannot tell you how many times I was waiting for an enemy to get within perfect range for my shotgun, only to shoot at the perfect moment the guy decides to take a quick duck out of my crosshairs. The mutants make it a habit to jump off walls and run diagonally at you to avoid your bullets, and they absolutely love to jump and flip over every obstacle in between you and them. The Authority also does more than your standard "smart bad guy". I expected them to do the norm, throw grenades at me when I'm behind cover, and hide behind cover themselves. I was surprised when they actually makes tactics together. By far the smartest enemy AI I have ever encountered in a game. If an authority enemy has a shield, his buddies line up behind him in a row behind the shield. If they want to move up on you, they have 3 or 4 guys lay down suppressing fire while the guy with the shotgun comes running up to you. If you are trying to be stealthy, every half minute or so the Authority enemies check in with each other on the radios. If one doesn't reply, they all come rushing to where he was. Honestly, I can't even begin to describe how awesome the firefights are. The enemy AI, coupled with advanced animation mechanics and combat tactics make an honestly unforgettable experience in an action game.The driving parts are a welcome element. They add some nice diversity to the action, and the races are rather entertaining. You only need to complete maybe 5 races throughout the game, none of which are especially difficult. The controls handle well, and results are satisfying. The main driving action comes in the form of driving from point A to point B, and usually encountering some bandits on the way. People mostly attribute this mechanic from Borderlands, but seriously, how else can you travel across a wasteland without running for hours on end?Controls: The controls are a little odd at first, and take some getting use to, but they flow surprisingly well. Selecting weapons and ammo types is as easy as pulling one trigger, but it stops your movement, but not the action. I usually hate the triangle button being the jump button, but I rarely found myself jumping in the first place, so it worked out nicely.Story: The story starts off strong, and ends strong. Its fairly straight forward, and even though its marketed as about 20 hours of gameplay, I got roughly 10 hours playing on normal difficulty. Granted I didn't explore and do side missions much. However, I have one complaint. The story ends immediately out of nowhere. No epic boss fight, no incredible battle, no life-or-death situation. You just kinda do the mission, and then its over. Very disappointing and anti-climactic. The middle part of the game (around the time you start going into the Dead City) is where most of the boss fights happen, and they are enjoyable but not too difficult.Execution: Even though there are several "no-no"'s of triple-A games, the game is still very well done. Some invisible walls are present, but only to help you not fall down endless chasms. They are there to help you, not restrict your movement. Also, the world is exactly open world. Its a story-driven game, just with opportunities to explore and do side missions. Don't go into this game expecting it to be like Fallout. The game is a narrative piece, telling a story, not letting you tell your own story.In conclusion, this game is one of my favorite games to date. I hate the narrow-minded CoD and Halo games, and this game puts id back at the helm of the FPS genre they created. With only several new concepts (concepts that make the gameplay that much better), but every other FPS concept is perfectly executed, balancing, movement, amount of ammo given, the feel of the guns, everything is perfect. A well-polished masterpiece, deserving more than people are crediting it with. I give the game a 5/5.End Review, begin rant here:First things' first, this game is not Fallout OR Borderlands. In fact, this game started development in 2005, with the id Tech 5 engine being finished in 2004 and Borderlands starting production in late 2005/2006. Therefore THIS GAME DID NOY COPY BORDERLANDS, and in fact Gearbox got inspiration for Borderlands FROM Rage. And no, this game doesn't copy Fallout either. Just because the game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world doesn't mean it has to be like fallout to be good. The game is an action game, not an rpg. This game has no dumb giant fire ants, and no stupid radioactive scorpions. Only humans, and mutants (who are only there because of the authority testing on humans, not radiation) Don't worry, thats not a spoiler. People are complaining because the game isn't like Fallout, but I'm glad it isn't like Fallout. Rage has a specific story and specific experience it wants you to have, which is not wondering around in a wasteland aimlessly shooting at everything that moves.This game is unique, and creative, and with its genius incorporation and advancement into the interaction of enemies, I hope other games adopt this idea and it catches on just like the first person perspective has.Now I admit, id shot themselves in the foot when they said this is an rpg, but people are giving this game bad reviews because it isn't an rpg. Really, is that how close-minded we are? People are giving the game bad reviews because IT ISNT an rpg. People should review games based on what they aim for, and how well they reach it. If we rated CoD on how many rig elements it had, then it wouldn't be very good, but its not an rig its an action game, just like Rage. Don't call this game trash because it isn't an RPG like you wanted it to be, grade it on how well of an FPS is.