The domain of the Mad Max video game is a lovingly crafted landscape of natural, wondrous desert beauty scattered with the detritus of a world that was once similar to our own. The characters-"friend" and enemy alike-are appropriately feral psychopaths, all with their own unique neuroses, dangerous...

I've heard it said that the Mad Max films are less about Max as a conquering hero and more about a passive protagonist, someone who has no real control over his own fate, someone who events happen to.

Just think about the comparison though. Just Cause games are set in a tropical paradise and give you tonnes of guns, skydiving, mid-air car surfing, anything-goes grappling hooks and the fun cranked up to 11 for the duration.

Car combat can be a lot of fun (eventually; On-foot fights against smaller groups work well; Gotta love that grappling hook

Everything in the game takes too long; Early exploration punished; Map and bases are uninspired

I'm going to be honest right from the outset and tell you all that I am incredibly unsure about this game, for a number of reasons. Mad Max was part of my childhood, and a franchise I remember well, and that crazy universe seems to be almost tamed down in the game, which disappoints me deeply.

I've never been hugely excited about having to go shopping, but the few times any joy came from that task was finding something I never knew I wanted, picking it up, and later enjoying it.

Open-world video games have been very prevalent in the past few years. They are a great way to bring life to a bustling world to quickly entrench the player. One of the newest games to hop onto the open-world train is Mad Max, developed by Avalanche Studios, who you may know as the guys behind the...

Visual design is incredible; Features some rather enjoyable characters; Vehicular combat provides a thrill or two

Lazy mission design disappoints at every turn; Frame-rate issues plague otherwise wonderful visual; Hand-to-hand combat is derivative; Max is a terrible main character; Story seems non-existent

Avalanche's take on George Miller's post-apocalyptic wasteland is replete with striking visuals, basically enjoyable busywork, and not much else.

There's a good reason why the new Mad Max game occasionally resembles this year's Mad Max: Fury Road : it's a canonical prequel that pits you against Scabrous Scrotus--son of the film's sinister Immortan Joe.

The desert wasteland looks beautiful; with excellent lighting and weather effects; Car combat is explosive and thrilling; Peculiar characters draw you into the story

Hand-to-hand combat is simple and easy to exploit; Logical inconsistencies pull you out of the world and story; Most missions feel repetitive and mundane; Despite its efforts; it fails to simulate survival in a dystopian wasteland

At first when the trailer came out I was initially excited for the game, the combat looked great, the driving was diverse and exciting, I was pumped. On the day that I received the game, I was surprised.

"Smooth animations" "Polished combat" "Explosive action

"Riddled with bugs" ''Tedious'' ''Repetative'

Welcome to the end of the world. A world of dust, blood and gasoline. You are Max and you want to escape this world. The noise, the violence, the memories. You want to cross the Plains of Silence and your car is ready for that.

Beautiful graphics | Dust clouds so real you can taste 'em

Repetitive world | Silly restrictions on upgrades | Max is a d*ck