Game review: Mad Max

A screenshot from the Playstation 4 game Mad Max.

Burning tyres, smouldering wreckage and dust storms blowing across desolate wastelands. Right from the start, Mad Max gets one key thing right: the vibe. As Max Rockatansky, players will build a crazy armoured car, use it to burn rubber across impressive desert scenery and take on gangs of marauding War Boys in vicious hand-to-hand combat. With dust storms blowing up occasionally, making things even more intense, it really does feel like you're playing the Mad Max game the franchise deserves - especially after George Miller's big-screen thrill ride, Fury Road, stole hearts.

That rush doesn't last. Miller's movie was a perfectly concise road trip movie that revved its engines from start to finish. This game, from Avalanche Studios, starts by putting its foot to the floor but slowly runs out of gas.

A screenshot from the Playstation 4 game Mad Max.

It wears players down with repetitive chores like searching for fuel and scrap metal, and a storyline that doesn't really go anywhere. But to start with, it's one hell of a ride. As Max, you'll team up with your hunchbacked henchman, Chumbucket, and set up shop in an abandoned shipping crate in the middle of the desert. From there, you'll set about ridding the region of War Boys. If you've played the Batman: Arkham series, you'll know what you're in for: multiple fist fights can take a while to get used to, and stocking up on knives and shivs becomes essential.

Though the game's story is lacklustre - Max needs to take down warlord Scabrous Scrotus so he can find the Plains of Silence - it makes up for it with car customisation options. You'll quickly become obsessed with kitting out the Magnum Opus with grates, grilles, harpoons, flamethrowers and spikes.

No one will blame you if you skip the silly searches for water and scrap and spend your time creating car carnage, because that's what this Mad Max was born for.

Game: Mad Max
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Rating: R16
Verdict: It's easy to get lost in this desert.