Tim Willits: RAGE 2, Side Games Possible

Unlike Doom and Quake, id has designed RAGE with room for additional side-games and sequels.

Given id Software's track record with its previous game franchises, it should come as no surprise that the developer is leaving room for a possible RAGE sequel.

It's hard to believe that id Software hasn't produced a new IP (franchise) since the launch of Quake back in 1996. Like the classic gothic FPS, RAGE will not only be the launch platform for a new engine--id Tech 5--but also for a new franchise. With that said, the studio has a lot riding on RAGE-- there's an understandable need to make sure that nothing gets screwed up before its launch next year.

Still, id Software has designed RAGE to be a more consistent, broader universe than previous titles, leaving the game open for a sequel rather than create a title that has a beginning and an end. "We want you as the player to feel that things happened before you got there and that things will happen after you leave, like a Star Wars universe," Tim Willits told GI.biz.

This also means that id can develop extensions to the franchise such as the two planned iPhone games. The difference between RAGE and the Doom and Quake franchises is that the team would have to conjure up a "convoluted story explanation" for the latter two--additional RAGE games would make sense within the new universe.

"There's a part in Rage that's almost like a side mission," he said. "The whole iPhone experience is centered around that theme. There's other people in the world: a resistance group, they have have their own story that you don't know much about in the big game but you can imagine maybe, a DLC pack that involves these guys, or you could imagine an iPhone game based on the story of this settler I met."

He added that without the backing of Zenimax, id would be rushing to get the game out the door. "It's so nice being able to say, let's ship it next year, let's get the multiplayer awesome, let's get the game as great as we can make it. Without their support, I honestly think that which would not be as good as it's going to be."

Uggg tease. He's hoping that RAGE will change the face of the FPS genre like Quake did back in 1996.