Mad Max Gets New Gameplay Details At Gamescom

Heading to the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One sometime in 2014, upcoming open world action game Mad Max is making the rounds at this year’s Gamescom event, with the developers offering up all sorts of new details about the game.

I’m guessing that quite a few of our readers are familiar with the Mad Max film series, featuring a super young Mel Gibson with an Australian accent, a cool jacket, a cooler car and plenty of the coolest weapons to make surviving a post-apocalyptic world just a little bit easier.

The Earth has been reduced to a desert landscape overflowing with shanty towns, heavily armored vehicles and groups of bandits that would sooner put a bullet in your head than give you directions. In the upcoming Avalanche Studios game, players will finally get to explore the inhospitable world of Mad Max, meaning lots of driving and even more shooting are on your future gaming agenda. According to a statement from publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment during this week’s Gamescom event, cars are the key to survival in this world gone mad. (See what I did there?)

“Gamers become Mad Max, a lone warrior who must fight to stay alive in The Wasteland, using vicious on-ground and vehicular combat against savage gangs of bandits,” reads the statement. “Following the theft of his iconic Interceptor, Max must align himself with a gifted, but peculiar, mechanic named Chumbucket and others to build the ultimate war vehicle as he works to escape from the dangerous Wasteland.”

Yes. Yes. Okee-dokee. Everything here sounds like a dog-gone good time. Originally announced during the Sony E3 press conference in a short, yet suddenly violent trailer, Mad Max is set to hit all four Sony and Microsoft game consoles sometime next year. At Gamescom, however, the folks behind the game are offering up a few more details about the upcoming game.

For starters, while playing as Mad Max, you’ll have the opportunity to utilize, craft and upgrade his weapons and gear, turning the guy into the type of (road) warrior you want him to be. Along with a big, dangerous world full of marauders, the Wasteland offers “hostile weather patterns” where every scrap of junk you pull from the dirt and wreckage can be used to make your arsenal even better. See a comp of bandits? Raid it, lay waste to those foolish enough to stick around, then pick it clean of scrap metal, bolts, etc.

Along with the main story, players will be able to experience dozens of side quests, take on various gangs and engage in “dynamic inter-vehicular combat.” Whether running over your fleshy enemies or unleashing part of your mounted arsenal, killing in cars is all part of the action in the world of Mad Max.

Finally, and kind of the point of your entire campaign, you’ll be able to design, customize and upgrade your own combat vehicle, the “Magnum Opus,” mixing and matching bodies, weapons, armor and engines until you’ve created your perfect ride.