Rage unveiled at QuakeCon

At its QuakeCon press conference, id Software’s John Carmack announced ‘Rage’, the company’s new internally developed FPS based on the new Tech 5 engine.

The new title and showpiece for id’s Tech 5 engine is coming to PC, Mac, Xbox 360 and PS3, and will be a departure from id’s usual dark or poorly lit game environments. “Maybe it’s time for id to do something that’s not so dark,” Carmack joked.

Rage is set in a distant future in which civilization has been decimated after a comet smashed into Earth. That’s not all though, with players having to fight off a host of monsters and mutants and take a stand against an oppressive regime.

Although still an action-heavy FPS, Rage will see players taking control of a variety of vehicles to navigate the game’s vast environments. Expect to spend around 40% of your time driving around and the other 60% taking out monsters in more traditional FPS style.

Carmack also revealed that the game is going to cost tens of millions of dollars across a four-year dev cycle and the game will be release across two DVDs or a single Blu-ray.

Although pushing the visual envelope, Rage won’t rely on DirectX 10 features. “We’re not going to make any of those centrepieces of our technology…There’s nothing there that I’m dying to get my hands on,” said Carmack.

The game’s multiplayer elements will also abandon the id norm, ditching deathmatch and opting for co-operative online elements. Vehicles are a good example of where players will benefit from having a real-life player alongside them: one player will drive while the other takes control of a mounted gun. Head-to-head racing is also planned.

As usual with id no release date was given, simply stating it will be released when it’s ready.