LogFAQs > #921856345

And besides, I thought before diving into Rage 2, how many times could they use this cleft imagery in one game?

A lot, it turns out! The cleft is used with such frequency that it feels like a visual cue: The exaggerated cleft signifies the most mutated of mutants, subhuman beasts that are caged, ridden like horses, or mounted like animals.

Early in the game, I meet a scientist riding a humanoid beast. The creature also has a cleft lip, this one less exaggerated, more like my own at birth. The creature is covered in its own drool, a straw hanging from its mouth. Theres a certain Total Recall Kuato schtick going on here between the scientist and the creature, but one thing is clear: the beast is meant to be a freak. The intention is for every player to be repulsed.

On some level, Willits told the truth when we we last spoke. The good characters arent as pretty as they were in the original Rage though most of the women in the game easily fall within that realm. But their designs arent thoughtful or interesting either. The artists depict the spectrum of weight and age with the grace of a Mad Magazine cover.

Theres a lopsided consistency to the world. The better the character, the more traditional their beauty. The sketchier the character, the more deformed. Obviously there are the rare exceptions, but by and large, the good characters arent mutated. Most human characters look like central casting actors and actresses in post-apocalypse makeup. A little dust here and there.

When I spoke to Willits last summer, I came away from the conversation optimistic. Heres what I wrote a few hours after that meeting:

I recognize I have the rare opportunity to actually speak to creators in person, that there isnt a better means for other people outside my position to have this experience. And I recognize that people of other backgrounds have for decades had to play games that treat them as targets and that they still do. But for a moment, I felt a surge of optimism. If developers can be open, if they can make efforts to find other voices rather than wait for those voices to come to them, then everyone could feel welcome to play the hero, rather than be forced to spot themselves as the villain.

That optimism is gone. I suspect there could be a later game character that serves as a counterpoint, that the Crushers have hearts of gold and have been weaponized by humans, that theres some text log hidden in the world that explains the designers good intentions. But that assumes I can last another dozen hours in a wasteland that makes me miserable.

Midway through my time with Rage 2, I sprint through a sticky night club one of those forgettable video game environments that transitions the player from one big action set piece to the next. Its the sort of generic area you see the same art asset on the wall a half dozen times because, hey, the space isnt a huge priority.

On its wall, instead of posters, hang a series of identical mutant busts, all with the same exaggerated cleft. This isnt a Crusher or the scientists beast, and the asset, while custom, is not central to the game. Now Im no expert in game design, but I feel confident saying these busts could have been removed with minimal time and effort. It wouldnt have required canceling pre-orders, delaying development, or halting production on novelty special editions.

But here it is anyway. Another mutant with a cleft, letting me know this one is truly subhuman, so far from the other humans that it can be mounted like a hunted animal. It adds the tiniest environmental flavor for some players, but makes others feel like absolute trash.

So much for a little more sensitivity.