9 Huge Video Games You Forgot Were Coming In 2019
6. Rage 2
Release date: May 14, 2019
Bethesda's name might be slapped on the box, but after the troubling Fallout 76, we're all thankful that it's present only in the capacity of a publisher. Instead, it's Avalanche Studios - the folks behind Just Cause 3 and the criminally overlooked Max Payne - that's heading development of the sequel to a similarly underrated last-gen gem.
But, as will be immediately obvious to fond rememberers of the original, a factory's worth of vibrant colours have been splashed over Rage 2, marking a stark aesthetic change to the original game's muted palette. The visual U-turn, as id's Tim Willits puts it, comes down to a mutual decision between it and Avalanche to provide a bigger distinction between Rage and id's other, similarly-styled franchises, an unfamiliar sheen that most definitely doesn't betray the core gameplay of Rage's asteroid-smashed world.
Open-world exploration, RPG-lite customization, wacky abilities, and, of course, thoroughly enjoyable vehicular warfare are all in for the sequel, the latter of which should prove to be a surefire winner, given Avalanche's track record with its aforementioned past works.
A final verdict awaits Rage 2's launch in May next year, but for now, all signs point to the sequel finding a pitch-perfect balance between old and new.