Mad Max Game World Will Maintain Movie's "Sense Of Mystery"

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Mad Max Game World Will Maintain Movie's "Sense Of Mystery"


Avalanche Games wants to maintain a "sense of mystery" about the Mad Max game world and let players draw their own conclusions about how it came to be.

I've always found it interesting that Mad Max - the original - was set in a not-quite-post-apocalyptic world: Things were bad and you couldn't avoid the feeling that civilization was teetering on the brink of something, but it hadn't quite toppled over yet and the worst evidence of its decline remained on the fringes, "out there, with the garbage," as you might say. Things had gone completely over the edge by the time Mad Max 2, aka The Road Warrior, came around, but there was never any explanation as to what had happened, or why - only that "for reasons long forgotten, two mighty warrior tribes went to war and touched off a blaze which engulfed them all."

That's fine for a movie but not really sufficient for an open-world game, where some knowledge of history is an important part of the experience. So Avalanche intends to find a balance between the two, working out a more detailed background for internal use but not spoonfeeding it to players.

"We want to maintain that sense of mystery about what has happened in the world, and what is the history of every place that we visit. And while some of it is things that we have explained in development -- either on our own or through the consulting with George Miller -- while we know it, we don't spell it out to people, but it affects how certain areas are constructed and what we find in certain areas," Senior Game Designer Emil Kraftling told AusGamers. "There's a lot there for the players to discover if nothing else. They won't get the answer, but they will be able to look at a place and start thinking about how it came to be like that."

"There's a lot of interesting stuff there for us as developers as well as for players, and what we know and what the players know will not necessarily be the same," he said. "In some instances, I know myself that we have some stuff in the world, and it's not described anywhere why it is how it is, but I'm making educated guesses as to why it is this way; what used to be here? And what would people in this world think that this was? So that sort of sense of mystery, that's something that we really wanted to hang on to."

One thing the studio is being very specific about, on the other hand, are the cars. Kraftling said the "physics-based vehicle gameplay" means that what kind of car you have, how much it weighs, what you've packed into it and even how heavy you are on the throttle will all affect fuel consumption.

"That's something that will be more important here, compared to a game like GTA, where it's very much just 'get in and drive away' type of cars. Even other games that have done it, like the Mafia games, it never really came into play, it was more of a thing for the sake of having it," he explained. "Whereas we're really determined to have it have a real gameplay impact, and have you feel like this is something really valuable, without taking away your urge to actually drive and use cars and engage with vehicles."

Mad Max is slated to give it the bejeezus in 2014 for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC.

Source: AusGamers [http://www.ausgamers.com/features/read/3386606]


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Albino Boo

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The first mad max film didn't fit with the other 2. The original was set in world that was just 2 steps beyond what things were like in the late 70s early 80s. I just about remember the power cuts that took place regularly in the late 70s in the UK. Political violence was always on the news not just at home but in places like Italy and Spain. It was all very edgy, Mad Max was recognizably a near version of reality. The second and third post a full blown post nuclear war world but a long time after the event. Max was clearly old enough to know what happened but didn't.
 

octafish

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Apr 23, 2010
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It disappoint me that the game references are Mafia and GTA. For a Mad Max game I want to hear comparisons to Interstate 76. Oh well, I'm not really looking forward to this despite or maybe because I am a fan of the original movies. I used to know Reg Evans in passing before he died on Black Saturday, every time I saw him I'd say "We're here to meet a friend. Come in on the train." he'd love it and say "Nothing come in on the train except a couple of crates and a, uh, coffin". He was a great guy and a very helpful subject to photograph.
 

cerebus23

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I hope this turns out well, there is alot of openess for some good mechanics to the whole world and the vehicle stuff they talk about sounds interesting, fuel weight weapons all changing how the cars handle modifications and etc, now if the foot combat does not suck.

Really hope we get a riddick type game something you dont expect to be good but turns out to be great.
 

RicoADF

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Jun 2, 2009
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Is it set in Australia yet? If not then piss off there's enough American post apocalyptic games out there. Sounds like another Rage fail is on its way.
 

Psychobabble

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Aug 3, 2013
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Good lord. It's been years since I've even watched any of the films. Not that I didn't enjoy them back in their heyday, but are they still a relevant enough franchise for this game to work?
 

FalloutJack

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Unless I can drive a boat mounted on truck or something, I'm not really buying into it.
 

Genocidicles

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Psychobabble said:
Good lord. It's been years since I've even watched any of the films. Not that I didn't enjoy them back in their heyday, but are they still a relevant enough franchise for this game to work?
There's a reboot coming out next year or something, with Tom Hardy as Max.

This game is the typical tie-in game, so don't get your hopes up.
 

Varrdy

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The Mad Max films were excellent (Well...the first two were. The third one was...hit and miss) and as much as this game is being talked up, I can't help but hear three words repeating over and over in my head...

Movie. Tie. In.

Three little words that are locked in a battle with my optimism that so wants this game to be the one that breaks the mould but I just can't see it, even if I want to so badly.
 

Psychobabble

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Aug 3, 2013
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Genocidicles said:
Psychobabble said:
Good lord. It's been years since I've even watched any of the films. Not that I didn't enjoy them back in their heyday, but are they still a relevant enough franchise for this game to work?
There's a reboot coming out next year or something, with Tom Hardy as Max.

This game is the typical tie-in game, so don't get your hopes up.
Oh ... bleh. I like Hardy as an actor but I'm having a hard time picturing him as Max though. And yeah movie tie in game, low expectations all the way.
 

Moloch Sacrifice

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I'm cautiously optimistic about this. Dev's seem to have backed off from the movie tie in for a while now, and it's possible that they've learnt to actually develop it as it's own game rather than an attempt to cash in. That said, I'm not going to put any money on it.
 

J Tyran

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Dec 15, 2011
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Its a movie tie in? Well there goes that then, I had my doubts anyway. Last time a game filled out a movies missing canon it didn't end well (Colon Marines). Shame really, being the Road Warrior and a post apoc game being all about your car would be great. RAGE kinda almost got there but didn't quite deliver.
 

blackrave

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RicoADF said:
Is it set in Australia yet? If not then piss off there's enough American post apocalyptic games out there. Sounds like another Rage fail is on its way.
I think not.
Because "location doesn't really matter"
Still seems legit.
 

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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RicoADF said:
Is it set in Australia yet? If not then piss off there's enough American post apocalyptic games out there. Sounds like another Rage fail is on its way.
Sort of. I don't think they're specifying that it's in Australia but in response to the outcry over the "location doesn't matter" thing, they decided to go with an Australian voice actor for the main role.


http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125608-Mad-Max-Is-Australian-Again [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125608-Mad-Max-Is-Australian-Again]

It's a start.
 

Strazdas

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May 28, 2011
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Maintaining a sense of mystery is a nice way of saying "We wont bother to explain the plot".
 

RA92

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octafish said:
It disappoint me that the game references are Mafia and GTA. For a Mad Max game I want to hear comparisons to Interstate 76.
Um, the devs are specifically saying that this game will not be like GTA or Mafia.

Andy Chalk said:
"That's something that will be more important here, compared to a game like GTA, where it's very much just 'get in and drive away' type of cars. Even other games that have done it, like the Mafia games, it never really came into play, it was more of a thing for the sake of having it," he explained. "Whereas we're really determined to have it have a real gameplay impact, and have you feel like this is something really valuable, without taking away your urge to actually drive and use cars and engage with vehicles."