Overview
Rage driving is not as easy as in other games (like in Borderlands, for example). It’s not just about directions, you should also take into account inertia/momentum and the terrain, and initially these additional factors might be quite annoying. Although, it’s mostly a matter of time before you master it, there are few tips you should know in order to improve your driving and racing performance. This guide will help you to save time before you get a grip on it.
Basics
1. Boosting (or just driving really fast) and holding the brakes button while turning the wheel allows you to perform a U-turn (flips your car 180 degrees). You can do it from parking position in reverse, too. Just keep in mind the tip No.2. You will be doing this a lot, because without these two maneuvers it’s impossible to win the races.
2. When driving in reverse, everything is opposite – when you turn left, the car (its front) goes right and vice versa. But it’s easier to think about this, by taking the rear corner of the car as your reference point. From that perspective, everything is the same – turn left and the rear corner goes left, turn right and the rear corner goes right.
3. Don’t forget to HOLD the brakes, instead of just pushing the brakes button, if you want to stop immediately.
4. When there’s little room for maneuvering, drive slowly (obviously) by releasing the drive forward/drive back button and letting the car roll. It might be tricky sometimes, when you’re on narrow road and need to drive in reverse, because camera in RAGE does not provide a 360 degree view.
5. When you want to shoot a bandit car, shoot a rocket only from a close distance and if the surfacing is straight (don’t shoot over hill tops). Thus, you will save the precious ammunition and time.
6. When you are hovering high in the air, don’t push boost, don’t turn your car and release the “drive forward” button. Otherwise, you’ll land on your rooftop and lose time.
Mail Delivery Missions
1. Learn your maps thoroughly. It’s impossible to complete the third mission with first try. Learn each section perfectly and just progress through them without any mistake until you’ve completed the mission. It’s just a matter of repetition, really.
2. Use the U-turns and boost your car after the turn in order to gain speed.
3. Using U-turns, when hitting the mailboxes, saves a bit of time.
4. Remember, sometimes it’s better to slow down a bit in order to avoid crashes and drifting and to save precious time.
5. And, as I’ve said before, shoot the rockets only, when you have approached the bandit cars closely.
Racing
Once, you’ve mastered driving and the tips mentioned above, racing is quite easy. However some of rally point races might be a pain in the ass. So, here’s what you should know about rally point races.
1. Upgrade your vehicles! Better vehicle, better performance (obviously). Booster parts are the least important, in my oppinion, because they’re plenty boost packs in the racing arenas. Save boost parts for the last upgrade and don’t waste your certificates on skins – they look nice, but they’re useless. You can also obtain certificates from Sally and Brick (the bartenders), which they will give you for destroying bandit cars in Wastelands.
2. Learn the spots where the rally points spawn. Don’t try to get them all. Learn which one are the easiest for you to get and focus on those only. In some races they spawn in strictly the same sequence. Sometimes, it’s not possible to get the first rally point. Remember the spot where the second rally point spawns and go for it instead.
3. Again, use the U-turns and boost after turn and stopping. It’s also a good idea to grab a rally point with a U-turn.
4. Watch the mini-map! If you see that you’re not going to make it before others, slow down and look for the next rally point to spawn. Shoot other racers in the process, if they’re in your line of fire.
4. Each rally point provides 5 points. Shooting other racers provides 3 points. So, it’s a good idea to shoot them with rockets. In some races, you can’t win, if you focus on rally points only.
5. Because of the reasons, explained in tip No.4, make sure you have enough rockets. Since you’ll be making a lot of turns anyway and there’s a lot of shooting going on, it’s better to pick rockets instead of boost packs, if you have to make a choice. And, again, don’t shoot over hill tops. Approach other racers and shoot from close distance.
6. It takes 2 rockets to blow up a cuprino and 3 rockets to blow up a monarch. So don’t waste your shields, unless your armor is depleted. Blowing up is not that big of a deal – you loose only about 2 seconds of time. Just push boost and proceed.
7. And, remember, while you’re in the air, there’s nothing you can do with your car. So just wait for landing and proceed from there. Otherwise, you risk flipping your car and landing on rooftop.
NB! You can’t fire the second rocket, unless the first one has hit a surface or an object.
Rage Cup
Racing is a major part of this game, and, personally, I don’t like it. Often, in other games, I choose running/walking instead of driving – I dislike it that much. However, I really wanted to get the Rage Cup achievement, so I put my effort in it. It’s hard, but it’s possible. If I could get it, so can you. I hope my guide will help you. Good luck!