Xbox 360 A Guide to Playing Competitively

[mamessier]

A Guide to Playing Competitively​

When it comes to multiplayer modes that are awesome but that people barely know about, I think it doesn’t get better than Rage. ID Software is known for their legendary multiplayer titles on PC like Quake and Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and yes this time they went for a mainly single-player game with Rage, but there’s still plenty of fun to be had in its multiplayer mode… even if you don’t particularly like racing games or titles like Twisted Metal.

Indeed, I know plenty of hardcore competitive gamers that gave up on Rage after a few tries, but I guarantee that if you really try to understand the game, you will quickly learn to appreciate it. In this guide, I will show you a few tips to improve your game, but I think that you will mostly notice how the game plays more like a shooter than anything else. A lot of its playing logic comes from arena shooters like Quake.


The Quad-Damage

The main thing that is reminiscent of Quake in Rage is the how the items around the map work. There's only one item with the same name as in Quake (the Quad-Damage), but still, all the other more secondary items works in the same way as well – they all respawn at a definite interval. The main timing that will dictate the rhythm of a Rage game is of course the one of the Quad-Damage. The Quad respawns at approximately every two minutes and you don't want to miss it. You want to be a very precise with your timing as well, because the Quad is generally located at the top of a jump pad, so all your opponents (if they're skilled) will be trying to anticipate its respawn time and jump ahead of time. And this is without mentioning the insane fight that takes place at the beginning of each match for the very first Quad. This one is all about going straight for the item as soon as you can, but if you miss it, try to still allow yourself to see at what exact time your opponent caught it to outdo him next time.


Timing Others Items

Now if you want to feel even more involved in a game of Rage, I suggest that you learn how the other more secondary items work as well. The second most important item is probably the attachment refresh (the gold recycling/refresh logo) which will help you depending on what you've decided to wear on your vehicle. For example, this refresh item will be extremely important for anyone wearing the health recovery attachment. How often does the refresh item respawn? Approximately every half a minute. So considering that there are at least two of those of almost every map, they can keep you busy at all moments and give you a significant advantage for the long run (and between each Quad). So next time, instead of wandering who-knows-where with your vehicle, try to concentrate on these items and to plan your roads on the map accordingly. The same goes for the green health packs, who respawn even quicker than the refresh item.

Just like in Quake, timing items is really difficult at first, mainly because it takes your concentration away from the shooting action, which some players have a lot of trouble with. But learn one item at a time, starting with the Quad, (which is a small mental involvement with your only homework being to come back every two minutes) and once that habit of thinking about items will be in place, you will start to have more mental room for items like the refresh item and the green health pack. And don't forget, the effect of catching an item is always double – you take it away from your opponents as well. So while you might be able to recovery your energy consistently because of your control of the items, your opponents will be struggling to find anything to survive around the map.

So are you ready to get back on Rage multiplayer? Or even pop that third DVD for the first time? Let us know your results and struggles with timing items in Rage by posting below. Hell, if you want to improve your timing even more, you could even go to www.quakelive.com and play some more of that game too. Quake is the most competitively advanced game out there and you will meet plenty of item-timing-hungry players on those servers!