More often than not, video games based on or inspired by movies end up being disappointments. It's usually a rushed project meant to either coincide with the film or just bank off the success of the said film. However, every now and then, fans are gifted with movie licensed games that are shocking gems. GoldenEye for the N64, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Peter Jackson's King Kong for example.

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One of the most ambitious licensed games of the last decade was 2015's Mad Max. Clearly, it was made to capitalize on the hype generated by Mad Max: Fury Road at the time but it was a surprisingly good game. It slowly faded into obscurity over the years but Mad Max is a cult gem that deserves more recognition.

Visually Stunning

Max Gazing At The Horizon - Mad Max

While it certainly doesn't rival the likes of Batman: Arkham Knight or God Of War, Mad Max boasts some really good visuals. In a game where everything is just dirt, sand, and rock, it needs the proper fidelity to keep things from looking too ugly and detract the player.

The characters' models still look great, the cars obviously are works of art, and everything matches what is seen in the Mad Max films only on an even more grand scale.

No Nostalgic Pandering

Max Eating Dog Food - Max Mad

With Mad Max being an iconic series of films, it could have been so easy for Avalanche Games to just remake any of the films in game form. Or fill the game to the brim with references and Easter eggs to the point of actually driving fans away.

Fortunately, Mad Max stands pretty well on its own as a game, and anybody who has never seen a Mad Max movie can still enjoy it. Sure, there are references such as eating dog food and some name/location drops that fans will recognize. However, they are not hamfisted and fit in well with the rest of Mad Max.

Memorable Characters

Scabrous Scrotus - Mad Max

Max Rockatansky himself is a great character to guide the audience along. However, Max is only a small piece of the puzzle: Mad Max as a franchise is built off insanely memorable supporting characters that surround Max. Immortan Joe, Master Blaster, Imperator Furiosa, Lord Humungous, etc.

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The Mad Max game continues this tradition by having characters like Chumbucket, an ally that repairs and upgrades Max's car, or the dog Dinki-Do. There are villains like Scabrous Scrotus and Stank Gum. Even the hermit Griffa who gifts Max with perks is delightfully strange and memorable.

Lots Of Customization

Mad Max

In a game all about driving around the Wastelands, gamers are going to want to create the perfect car. Especially since the game opens up with the iconic car from the movies being destroyed. Fortunately, Chumbucket comes along and the more the player accomplishes, the more options to customize the new Magnum Opus become available.

Even Max himself has several cosmetic choices to choose from. It's not nearly as extensive as the Magnum Opus customization; but enough to satisfy anyone who'd like to swap up from the base look of the character.

A New Road Warrior

Max In The Magnum Opus - Mad Max

Again due to the iconic nature of Max Rockatansky, it could have been easy to make him a replica of Mel Gibson. They could have also made him look just like Tom Hardy to capitalize on Mad Max: Fury Road. However, Max in the game is much more unique in both appearance and voice.

Bren Foster plays Max and never does he sound like he's doing an impression of Max. Instead, he gives his own unique flavor to the character. Sure, Max still rocks the one shoulder pad and leather jacket but as the game progresses, Max gets upgrades to his look that help distinguish the famous outfit.

A Desert World That's Not Boring

Max In The Great White Sands - Mad Max

It is very difficult to do a game based entirely in a desert wasteland. Many fans agree that even desert levels in other games get stale quickly due to the limited and bland visuals of sand, rock, and dirt. Fortunately, there are games that have done it right in the past such as Assassin's Creed: Origins.

Mad Max is another one of those games; the aforementioned graphics help a lot but the Wastelands are designed so well that it's difficult to get bored of it. The different regions and biomes provide unique visuals and traversal. There are caves, crazy bandit camps, fortresses, and other locations that spice things up.

Side Missions Galore

Max Speaking With Wastelander - Mad Max

For a game like Mad Max, it could have been a basic open-world with Max driving from point A to point B, killing bandits, rinse and repeat.  Instead, Avalanche actually gives the player a lot of things to do. The game is structured around freeing regions from the grasp of evil bandit clans.

To do so, Max has a plethora of side missions to do: infiltrate camps and sabotage oil pumps, take out convoys for certain upgrades, take down scarecrows, etc. There are so many side missions of different varieties that lend to making the game seem genuine rather than a quick cash grab.

Familiar But Satisfying Gameplay

Max Fighting Bandits - Mad Max

Mad Max takes a similar approach to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order where it's a culmination of aspects from many other games mixed together. Mad Max features a combat system similar to the Batman: Arkham games, open-world aspects of Far Cry and Assassin's Creed, the crazy bandit enemies of Borderlands, etc.

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Now one could argue that just makes the game unoriginal. That's fair but much like Fallen Order, it combines all those elements and adds its own flair to them. Mad Max also never feels like a watered-down clone of those games; all of the aspects borrowed are executed well to make the game shine.

Driving Feels Perfect

Max Driving The Magnum Opus - Mad Max

With Mad Max, if there is anything that needs to be done right, it's the vehicular gameplay. Mad Max has always been about fast, wildly built cars doing crazy stuff, especially the further it went along. To the pleasure of every fan of the series, Mad Max's vehicles drive almost perfectly.

As Max's car, the Magnum Opus, is upgraded, more crazy weapons and defenses are added. This allows for racing, vehicular combat, puzzles, and more. The controls are not too slippery, not too stiff: they are just right.

Perfect Sequel Since Fury Road

Max Rockatansky - Mad Max

While seeing the films is not a requirement, fans of the series will love the game just as much. It's structured much like every other sequel where there is no continuity from the films other than Max himself. So much like The Road Warrior or Fury Road, it's just simply another adventure in the post-apocalypse.

As a bonus, the Mad Max game acts as the interactive fifth movie since an actual sequel seems to be in development limbo. So anyone who has watched all four films but still has a Mad Max itch can boot the game up for some more insanity.

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