RAGE

Story

On August 23, 2029, asteroid 99942 Apophis collides with Earth, destroying human civilization and turning the world into a wasteland. The survivors join settlements in oases and other practical or habitable places, while the wasteland is infested by various bandit clans and mutants who attack all normal humans in a ravenous horde. In 2135, former U.S. Marine Lieutenant Nicholas Raine emerges from an underground bunker called the Ark, 106 years after being placed in stasis. These underground bunkers are the direct result of the Eden Project, a massive international project that sealed hundreds of arks with cryogenic capsules beneath the Earth's surface to preserve enough people to rebuild civilization after the asteroid collision. The Eden Project was not nearly as successful as hoped. Most notably, Raine's Ark was badly damaged, all the other inhabitants are dead and the equipment destroyed, and he wakes up alone with no particular destination in mind. Raine enters the surface, where he is immediately attacked by bandits, but he is saved by Dan Hagar, a settler from the wasteland, who takes Raine to his settlement. Hagar informs him that a powerful, technologically advanced organization called the Authority, which believes itself to be the only true government of the Wasteland, is hunting survivors of the Ark for some unknown reason. Raine briefly helps Hagar's settlement and others in the area by doing a few small jobs. In the process, it turns out that the nanotrites injected into Raine's blood before he went into hibernation have given him superhuman abilities that help him survive in the harsh environment, but have also made him valuable to the Authority. Hagar believes that Raine's continued presence is too dangerous for the settlement and sends him to the nearby town of Wellspring instead. In Wellspring, Raine helps the town with various problems such as fighting bandits and mutants and transporting supplies. Eventually, he comes into contact with Dr. Kvasir, an elderly scientist who used to work for the Authority, who tells Raine about the inhumane experiments they were responsible for, such as the creation of the mutants. Kvasir puts him in contact with the Resistance, an armed anti-authority group, and tasks him with rescuing their leader Captain Marshall, who has recently been imprisoned by the Authority. Raine again attracts the Authority's attention, forcing him to flee Wellspring and join the Resistance at their headquarters in Subway Town, where he gains the trust of the town and its tyrannical Mayor Redstone. He also learns about what happened in the last century from Captain Marshall, himself a survivor of the Ark. General Martin Cross, who was in charge of the Eden Project, sabotaged the operation just before the impact of 99942 Apophis on Earth by making sure that only the arks containing people loyal to him were opened on time. The rest of the arks were to remain forever in hibernation underground, including Raine's Ark, which only emerged because its systems were damaged and it automatically rose to protect the surviving inhabitants. As the Authority begins to forcefully extend its influence over the wasteland settlements, the Resistance is forced to act with the help of Raine. Captain Marshall plans to use this data to activate all the arks and form an army that can defeat the Authority, but the only way to do this is to transmit the data from Capital Prime, the Authority's headquarters. Alone, Raine fights his way through Capital Prime to transmit the activation code for the arks, and the game ends with all the remaining arks becoming active and appearing at the same time.