No need to worry about dodgy camera angles
So, gameplay largely involves dragging your finger across the screen of the iPad 2 in order to point a variety of weapons preferbbaly toward the heads of mutants, while tapping like crazy on the “shoot” icon on the side of the screen to blast them to pieces.It’s a basic premise, but Rage HD is paced very well providing players with moments of fast-paced flourishes of gun-fire and sporadic attacks and then dropping the pace to give some time to collect bonuses and soak up the excellent graphics before another of mutants pounces.
Enemy variety is good with mutants behaving in different ways, with some mutants coming at you with large clubs and others throwing rocks from afar. Enemy A.I. also uses the environment to their advantage perching themselves up on high balconies or crawling like spiders across walls to descend quickly on your position. As a result of this varied A.I. behaviour, RAGE HD isn’t just about pointing and firing your weapon.
Running down the right-hand side of the screen are a number of icons that also come into play. Players can dodge, re-load and switch weapons on the fly – changing from the likes of a shot-gun, which is great at short range, to an Assault Rifle which can be used effectively to pepper mutants from a safe distance. And there’s a fair degree of skill involved too if you hope to survive, with quick reflexes and precision aiming vital when the action really hots up.
Ammo and health packs are littered around each level, but because the camera moves around fairly quickly you rarely have more than a few seconds to nab them, so you’re kept on your toes throughout. As you dive in and out of rooms and corridors, there’s also traditional Bullseye targets keep an eye out for. Ping these and you earn a wad of ‘Bash Bucks’ that reportedly improve your performance. We’ve actually seen no real evidence of that; the accumulation of cash appears to be for nothing more than a way to measure your final rating, and a line from where to improve.