Rage Requirements Revealed

[Andy Chalk]

Rage Requirements Revealed

Bethesda has revealed the minimum and recommended system requirements for the PC version of Rage.

Rage [http://www.amazon.com/Rage-Pc/dp/B003ICGL7I/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1315347929&sr=8-3], the new shooter from id Software and Bethesda, is less than a month away from release in North America and that means that it's about time we got around to discussing the system requirements for the PC version of the game. Not just because it's the kind of thing shooter fans need to know, but because it's an id game, which means that it's probably going to take some serious iron to run it at even mid-range visual settings. So let's get to it.

Minimum System Requirements:

OS: Win XP SP3, Vista, Win 7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo or Equivalent AMD
Memory: 2GB
Hard Disk Space: 25GB
Video Card: GeForce 8800, Radeon HD 4200

Recommended System Requirements:

OS: Win XP SP3, Vista, Win 7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad or Equivalent AMD
Memory: 4GB
Hard Disk Space: 25GB
Video Card: GeForce 9800 GTX, ATI Radeon HD 5550

The minimum spec is about what you'd expect but does anyone else think that the recommend requirements seem a tad low? Quad-core CPU and 4 GB of RAM aren't much beyond baseline these days and a 25 GB install is beefy but hardly a deal-breaker in the era of terabyte hard drives, but it's the video card that really surprises me. The 9800 series of GeForce cards have been kicking around for three years, while the HD 5550 is a seriously sub-$100 card. These are really the "recommended" hardware for id's latest and greatest?

Rage comes out in North America on October 4 for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.


Permalink

 

[vrbtny]

The minimum spec is about what you'd expect but does anyone else think that the recommend requirements seem a tad low? Quad-core CPU and 4 GB of RAM aren't much beyond baseline these days and a 25 GB install is beefy but hardly a deal-breaker in the era of terabyte hard drives, but it's the video card that really surprises me. The 9800 series of GeForce cards have been kicking around for three years, while the HD 5550 is a seriously sub-$100 card. These are really the "recommended" hardware for id's latest and greatest?

*Mutters something about consoles strangling PC gaming development*

Still, these requirements are another thing in the long list of things to not persuade me to not get the game. I'm getting it, the damn thing had better be totally awesome.

 

[Waaghpowa]

That does seem rather low, kinda makes you wonder what kind of visual quality you're going to get from their "recommended" specs. For all we know, the recommended is the game maxed out.

 

[ph0b0s123]

So at most DX 10 maybe. Probably DX 9, which equals console port. Sure we will have some spin about how great it is that they have kept the requirements low.

Not really a surprise. ID are console focused now like everyone else. Nothing to see here keep moving....

 

[Waaghpowa]

So at most DX 10 maybe. Probably DX 9, which equals console port. Sure we will have some spin about how great it is that they have kept the requirements low.

Not really a surprise. ID are console focused now like everyone else. Nothing to see here keep moving....

Probably not even DX10. When Crytek put out the DX11 patch for Crysis 2, they didn't even bother to put DX10 support. It's likely that this is going to be DX9 only because it's easier since the 360 was the focus.

 

[omicron1]

Quite simply, (almost) all new games with console versions are built first as console-level engines. There's only so much jazz you can add to a game not designed around higher requirements - more shaders, longer draw distances, higher resolutions, sure, but that only brings you up to 2008-09 hardware specs. You can't redo the geometry to add more polygons (a blunt subsurfacing effect would likely run horribly and look horrible to boot, even on modern hardware), and while DX11 is a promising (and quite pretty, where supported - see Crysis 2's recent update) effect, even then it may not provide the world-class visual/spec upgrade referenced here.

Of course, on the games that have been built from the ground up for PC, the visual upgrade is astonishing. Crysis 2 recently joined The Witcher 2, Arcania: Gothic 4 (While a mediocre game at best, the graphics are often jaw-dropping - and require a system of similar heft), and the upcoming Guild Wars 2 as examples of what the latest and greatest systems can really do. RAGE just aimed for a lower target, and as a consequence, will not be able to stand up to its PC-focused peers on the technical side of things. That is all.

 

[JochemDude]

Just a beefed console port, has a good concept. I'm curious to how it's going to be, but chance is that'll suck.

 

[Worr Monger]

Well if that's the case... Rage is going to run SMOOTH AS BUTTER.

 

[Irridium]

ID games are optimized to the max.

Carmack got the game to run on a damn iPhone, after all.

And besides, are low requirements really that bad? Lower requirements mean more people can run it, which means more will buy it. The game also looks damn amazing.

I really don't see how this is a bad thing.

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

At least people won't rage over the requirements now.


...

 

[CardinalPiggles]

ID games are optimized to the max.

Carmack got the game to run on a damn iPhone, after all.

And besides, are low requirements really that bad? Lower requirements mean more people can run it, which means more will buy it. The game also looks damn amazing.

I really don't see how this is a bad thing.

Bloody ninja.

I would just like to add, this confirms what Jim Sterling said about PC gamers this week.

 

[Theo Samaritan]

For the record, the 9800 is literally nothing more than a repackaged 8800 with an extra chip for better HD processing of films. If you have an 8800GT or better you'll be fine.

 

[DasDestroyer]

My new pc is scores better than either the minimum or recommended settings(which isn't a surprise, as that was the goal I had in mind while building it...) but what's really interesting is that my age-old pc beats the minimum settings, and if it had 2 extra cores, it would match the recommended settings. Seems a bit low, imo.

 

[Tiamat666]

...but because it's an id game, which means that it's probably going to take some serious iron to run it at even mid-range visual settings. So let's get to it.
... These are really the "recommended" hardware for id's latest and greatest?

Actually id is known for its highly optimised engines that look great while still running fairly smooth by finding ways to accomodate lower-spec systems. Don't confuse id with Crytek.

 

[Zerbye]

Irridium and Tiamat666 make an excellent point.

Though you have to admit, the recommended specs for Quake when it first came out were a little optimistic.

Also, food for thought...check out today's Jimquisition that waves off techno-lust as the reason for PCs supremacy.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/4131-The-Beautiful-Irony-of-PC-Gaming

 

[draythefingerless]

Game never did look like anything special. but fuck, 25 gigs withthis low spec, texture rez, and overall not demanding processing game? what requires so much space on such a lowly powerful game? the maps must be huge!

 

[twm1709]

Personally, I'm happy I can still run all this stuff. I bought my radeon 4850 in 2008 and I can still max out everything I play without any framerate issues.

 

[Cronq]

When I got into PC gaming, I was told that I would need to upgrade my PC every 6 months in order to play the latest and greatest. I feel like I've been lied to.