Mad Max Reviews

One of the biggest things that Avalanche Studios got right was casting an Australian as Max – a basic no-brainer, Max sounds like the character he was initially created as; tough and strong, but also isolated and with little hope. Many games have come and gone that have taken the Australian accent for granted, but credit where credit is due, one can’t help but feel a little pride hearing that gruff Aussie accent behind the character. And the rest of the cast don’t exactly suffer either; Max’s sidekick Chumbucket is frantic and insane but also full of comedic gold, and each other character in the world really adding to the post-apocalyptic madness.

The best summer drought game ever speeds into view at precisely the wrong time.

Republished on Wednesday 28th March 2018: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of April's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows.

Should you drive past this game or make a quick pit stop?

Mad Max manages to blend gameplay elements from a few genres in a rich setting, but once its carrot on a stick gameplay begins to lose its allure its imperfections start to show.

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Almost everything is technically good with Mad Max, but the game does feel like it is more style over substance. The car combat should have been the main focus, and while battles can stretch across miles of desert, they can lack difficulty and are outdone by the melee fights. Additionally, missions don’t really capture the imagination either and suffer from a degree of repetition. Avalanche Studios is known for creating a series of games that are incredibly entertaining, but Mad Max doesn’t have that same kind of pull. It isn’t a bad game and there is entertainment to be had, but the lack of variety in this world and some drawn out moments keep it from greatness.

But these negative points are barely even minor blemishes to what is otherwise an incredibly well accomplished open world experience. In terms of value for money, Mad Max offers upwards of 50 hours’ worth of content, and you can’t get more bang for your buck than that. The sheer breadth of types of missions on offer means that a wide spectrum of tastes are catered for; from exploration, to combat, to car racing. Whilst the story may be somewhat lacking in terms of substance, the incredibly well-realised world combined with well-written characters more than makes up for it. More than anything else, Mad Max is incredibly fun and rewarding to play, and any fan of the open world genre would be wise to scavenge it out.

What you have here is a decent, if flawed game. And it’s been released into a market with some really stunning games in the same genre. If you’ve bought it, and are playing it, the chances are you’re having fun and not regretting the purchase. You would, of course, tick Yes when asked if you like it. So would I. Days of playing and I’ve still a third of it to go, which I could quickly plough through, or continue meticulously clearing the maps and ignoring the deathly dull and empty main plot. A plot which is invariably just an excuse to have you drive to the next Stronghold rather than any actual narrative exercise.

Mad Max, from Warner Bros. Interactive and Avalanche Studios is very obviously a labor of love for both companies. It’s got the lore hooks from the films, it nails the tone and look of Miller’s recent film, and it’s also got some of the best car-based combat in games today. But it’s where the open world RPG-lite tries to do too much that it falters.

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Mad Max's frame may be built from familiar parts, but that doesn't mean there aren't enough surprises under the hood to make for a furiously enjoyable ride. We've spent over 40 hours crusading through the most inhospitable regions of the Wasteland and don't yet feel ready to retire the Magnum Opus to the garage, which might just be the ultimate compliment. Mad Max isn't a perfect game, and it probably won't win over anyone tired of the open-world formula, but this is an instance where we feel pure fun trumps any minor disappointments. Hit the road and find out for yourself.

Mad Max is a decent if, uninspiring time waster. You have a vast laundry list of tasks to chew through, but hardly any of them are particularly challenging or interesting. The excellent road combat and meaty progression system make it worth your time once you’ve beaten the significantly better open world games available at the moment.

Mad Max is bloated, full of busy work, and keeps women locked in chains. Fury Road this is not.

Mad Max is a flawed experience, but its late game character moments and beautiful wasteland save it from being purely mediocre.

Mad Max is a solid, if slightly unremarkable open-world game that does a good job in replicating the atmosphere and tone of the movies, and the character's essence, but fails to provide any real excitement beyond its vehicle-based combat. Exploring the Wasteland can be a boring affair at times, but if exploring Max's relentlessly bleak world sounds like your cup of tea, you'll probably love Mad Max. Still, it's hard to shake the sense that this could have been better.

While it might feel familiar to those that have played other open-world action games, Mad Max presents the universe of the films perfectly in video game form. Vehicular combat especially will please anyone looking for adrenaline fueled gameplay, but more could have been done to differentiate the experience from other titles.

The new Mad Max game offers vehicular combat and scavenging that will leave you in the dust. Here is our review!

Although players will be able to power through the game's main story without dedicating their whole lives to the game, there is still plenty of reason to return to the wasteland once the main narrative is finished. Players can continue collecting scraps, leveling up, and hunting down bad guys for dozens of hours after the end credits. Mad Max may be a bit of a mixed bag, but the faithful recreation of the film universe, the ridiculous car combat, and loads of content will keep players coming back to the desert for a long time.

I went back and forth in terms of my assessment multiple times throughout my time with Mad Max. I’d be having a blast in the car, and then I’d get to a particularly samey part on foot, and so on. But ultimately, I did enjoy my time in the wasteland, even if it doesn’t offer up a whole lot that we haven’t seen before.

The Arkham series transformed the action game canon, and now, six years after the release of Asylum, some games are still paying very direct homage. We all know Batman: Tolkien Edition, aka Shadow of Mordor, and now I’d like to introduce the next Bats wannabe: Batty Batman, aka Mad Max.

Mad Max is a juxtaposition of exciting, thrilling fun set in a world of disgusting, primal depravity – like a singing telegram informing you of a death in the family, or an ice-cream cake with your terminal test results written in frosting. It’s a conflicting place of despair, a personal playground of explosive action and compulsive, unending progression that I can’t wait to get back to, and one hell of a ride.

Hot on the heels of a strong cinematic comeback with the blockbuster hit Fury Road, Mad Max is hitting the asphalt for his first video game since the long-forgotten 1990 NES title. After years of rumored stops and starts, Warner Bros. tapped Just Cause veterans Avalanche Studios to meld its signature brand of open-world chaos to the beloved sci-fi series.

Hit the road, Max.