Mad Max From 2015 Went Under The Radar Like Nothing Else

I gave Mad Max a shot when it made landfall in 2015. Played the game for a couple of hours, appreciated what it did, and brought to the table, but I’ll be transparent: I couldn’t give the game an honest shot. There was this one other thing that kept me from coming back to Mad Max time and time again, and before I knew it, I forgot about Avalanche’s open-world effort.

That “other thing” I spoke of just now is none other than Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain, Kojima’s latest-at-the-time, supremely hyped, action game that quite a few players had been anticipating ahead of time. So, you see, when a title of this stature comes along on the same day as our little Mad Max here, you already know the latter’s getting slipped under the radar of many, as it did with me. 

But here’s why Mad Max deserves a lot more love than what it actually got, and how it manages to hold up strong even to this day. Fantastic combat, great vehicle driving, amazing world design, terrific characters, stellar storyline—you name it because I’m running out of adjectives here.

Mad Max Got A Lot Of Things Right Back In The Day 

Mad Max didn’t arrive in an era when tech and game development was at its highest, nor did it ever intend to achieve technological breakthroughs, but it still managed to deliver a rock-solid gameplay experience at the end of the day that gripped fan interest like there was no tomorrow. Fan interest in the sense that for those who actually gave it a proper go, unlike myself, rarely anyone endedup disappointed. 

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So what exactly did Mad Max pull off as to achieve this “underrated” status? Let’s take a deep dive into the action-adventure’s systems and figure that right out. 

Stellar Sound Design And Combat

One of the major selling points of Mad Max is how great the sound design works In this game. Whoever engineer worked on the IP really took the job seriously, as when a punch lands on an enemy, you feel it hitting through genuinely. The same goes for all the slams and upgraded weapon gunshots that put a hole in those who stand before you, whether that’s Rictus Erectus or War Dog in-game. 

But the part where the game truly shines is its vehicular combat, which is intense, adrenaline-fueled, and over the top in terms of sheer action. Those action-packed sequences are not to be missed, especially considering the way Avalanche designed Mad Max’s incredible physics. That on its own is another testament to the title’s quality, given how it was launched 9 years ago. 

Not a lot of games have been capable of achieving something like this. 

Amazing Level Design

There’s a lot to the overall creativity and freedom offered in Mad Max, and I’m surprised Avalanche was able to whip up a movie tie-in game as well-made as this one.

God damn Mad Max is a fun game.
byu/VaginalSkinAddict inpatientgamers

The big cinematic action unfurled as you course through the post-apocalyptic wasteland is nothing short of a blast, not to mention the events of the story that expand on the lore of the Mad Max IP. All of that seems splendidly well put together when you sit down to play the entirety of it.  

But Here’s Why It Couldn’t Shoot Up In Popularity As Much

Aside from the reason outlined in the intro of the piece — that Mad Max got overshadowed by a Metal Gear Solid game which had accumulated crazy hype back then — the game does pose a few shortcomings that I, as a gamer, understand how many could be put off with, with the replay value being none of them. 

For starters, once you beat the game, that’s the end of it. There is no NG+, but you do get the option to continue playing since it’s an open-world title. However, the number of activities you could take on in free-roam is fairly limited, and things do tend to get monotonous after, say, 30 hours in. But then again, that’s enough value on its own, in all fairness. Mad Max is about $19.99 on Steam. 

Some also have posed concerns for the game being too long in length, as to start making the gameplay feel a bit shallow, but that’s certainly not what the majority of Mad Max’s fans think, myself included. 

Is A New Mad Max Coming?

Yes, it’s likely that a sequel to 2015’s Mad Max by Avalanche will be coming out, but don’t ask when, and don’t expect it anytime soon. Us fans have to be patient for this one, though there’s hope to cling onto. In that regard, I’d say we’re better than others. Just ask fans of the Batman: Arkham franchise. All those years of wait and what those folks got is Suicide Squad and a Meta Quest 3 exclusive VR title. Shocker. 

So, one of the reasons that a new Mad Max game could be coming is due to how Mad Max: A Furiosa Saga treats the first title, confirming its events to be “canon.”  

That and this hot rumor that made waves across the board back in 2022, signaling Mad Max 2 being in development, further points to the case of the sequel coming down the road. As I mentioned it before though, don’t hold your breath. Said game could be years out for all we simpletons know.