TL,DR : RAGE is the epitomy of average. Steam page is overselling it, though for 10 bucks, if you are really hungry for a FPS, it's an eatable piece of digital tofu (if somewhat hollow).

Did you ever get the urge to scour your Steam library, finally getting to play all those titles you bought individually or in bundle, instead of buying new ones ?
I did recently and RAGE was one of the oldest suspects in custody. I tried it years ago and couldn't find the motivation to go on, this time I soldiered on and...
What a chore.

First, the scenario. I don't expect stellar writing for that kind of games, but the plot was barely there. You have next to no background on what happened (big asteroid hit the Earth, you're one of the happy few saved in statis inside Arches, you awaken to find yourself in a post-apocalypse world, good luck !) and the game doesn't care exploring its setting, characters, lore or anything beyond the bare minimum to guide you through the main quest.
Unsurprisingly, you're as talkative as Gordon Freeman, but at least he starred in a pioneering gaming, showing that FPS can tell interesting stories too.
No such luck with RAGE, amigos. You're a litteral walking deus ex machina, in a mostly hollow world where nothing major could get done before your arrival.
The introduction itself is laughable : a certain Dan Hagar saves you from hostiles, but tells you that by doing so, he endagered himself and his clan.
The solution ? Sending you to kill all the bandits in their nearby den, all by your lonesome, of course ! Just a couple of lines stating that you were meant to be a sort of super soldier could have eased such nonsense.

You'll have to wait until halfway before some semblance of plot is thrown at you : all the tasks that you were forced to do (getting cristals, eradicating more bandits, doing races...) proved that you are an able man, and the Resistance enlists you because the nebulous Authority would track you down, as your body contains Nanotrites they desire for experiments- so if you can't live peacefully, join the good fight !
Sure, but you don't connect with anyone and the Authority seems to be a token evil post-apo government for you to fight, without any depth to it : it's hard to feel engaged (the intrigue is certainly NOT riveting, however tolerant you might be in that regard). You are just a mute golem sent from task to task and you can feel the studio didn't put any passion in it, when you are in the second city, you must do quests for the local mayor, three not too endearing missions in order to fit in...
But it amounts to nothing as the Authority locks aways the mayor and you're back helping the Resistance. No turnabouts, no strong or epic moments, no funny or witty dialogues, no revelations, no gripping atmosphere or well-done post-apo feeling.

While I love story-rich games, it would be foolish to place it above all else in a FPS, even when it's quite lacking as it's the case with RAGE. What about the gameplay ?
Guns, for the most part, have a nice feeling. The shotgun is efficient and decently brutal, headshoting ennemies with the crossbow is satisfying, you have special ammo and gadgets (explosive mini-car, defense turret...) thrown into the mix.
Problem is that gunfights themselves are frequently not intense or challenging. IA is a mixed bag : sometimes clever enough to try to flank you, overwhelm you or smoke you out, sometimes not moving an inch or staying in a bad position.
Major painpoint for me was it got repetitive too often, overstaying its welcome. Boss fights are nothing special and the finale sequence, a glorified shooting marathon, doesn't even have any !
(And of course, you venture into the Authority's citadel without any allies. The Resistance pins all their hopes on you, and doesn't bother to accompany you for the most crucial mission...)
RAGE try to lure you with its vehicle combat and racing ; the former can be avoided most of the time and the latter is quite boring.
Level-design mainly revolves about more or less a unique path to the mission objective, and, as if you were in a Skyrim dungeon, you'll have access to a handy shortcut to go back to the Wasteland once you're done.

Sure it can seem alluring to upgrade your vehicle and roam the Wasteland... Until you realize how shockingly small this open-world is. Sincerely, I fail to see why they adopted this configuration as RAGE's world just doesn't have enough content to justify it, this being even more egregious with the railroading and debatable interest of the sidequests (like, killing mutants in sewers- as if you didn't crawl enough in off-putting places in the main quest).

To end on a more positive note, the game looks quite nice and holds itself well more than 10 years later.
And there's one mystery that still subsides in my mind : why is it called RAGE ?
You don't have a berserk ability, the Wasteland is ruthless but not more than other post-apo games, ennemies are not too frantic...
I could go on with more minor gripes, but if you have read this far, I think you get the idea. I bid you a good day, wherever or whenever you are, and to enjoy much better games than RAGE- or, if you do experience RAGE, I hope you get a more positive outcome that I did.
I'm still amazed they felt inclined to produce a sequel...

TL,DR : RAGE is the epitomy of average. Steam page is overselling it, though for 10 bucks, if you are really hungry for a FPS, it's an eatable piece of digital tofu (if somewhat hollow). Did you ever get the urge to scour your Steam library, finally getting to play all those titles you bought individually or in bundle, instead of buying new ones ? I did recently and RAGE was one of the oldest suspects in custody. I tried it years ago and couldn't find the motivation to go on, this time I soldiered on and... What a chore. First, the scenario. I don't expect stellar writing for that kind of games, but the plot was barely there. You have next to no background on what happened (big asteroid hit the Earth, you're one of the happy few saved in statis inside Arches, you awaken to find yourself in a post-apocalypse world, good luck !) and the game doesn't care exploring its setting, characters, lore or anything beyond the bare minimum to guide you through the main quest. Unsurprisingly, you're as talkative as Gordon Freeman, but at least he starred in a pioneering gaming, showing that FPS can tell interesting stories too. No such luck with RAGE, amigos. You're a litteral walking deus ex machina, in a mostly hollow world where nothing major could get done before your arrival. The introduction itself is laughable : a certain Dan Hagar saves you from hostiles, but tells you that by doing so, he endagered himself and his clan. The solution ? Sending you to kill all the bandits in their nearby den, all by your lonesome, of course ! Just a couple of lines stating that you were meant to be a sort of super soldier could have eased such nonsense. You'll have to wait until halfway before some semblance of plot is thrown at you : all the tasks that you were forced to do (getting cristals, eradicating more bandits, doing races...) proved that you are an able man, and the Resistance enlists you because the nebulous Authority would track you down, as your body contains Nanotrites they desire for experiments- so if you can't live peacefully, join the good fight ! Sure, but you don't connect with anyone and the Authority seems to be a token evil post-apo government for you to fight, without any depth to it : it's hard to feel engaged (the intrigue is certainly NOT riveting, however tolerant you might be in that regard). You are just a mute golem sent from task to task and you can feel the studio didn't put any passion in it, when you are in the second city, you must do quests for the local mayor, three not too endearing missions in order to fit in... But it amounts to nothing as the Authority locks aways the mayor and you're back helping the Resistance. No turnabouts, no strong or epic moments, no funny or witty dialogues, no revelations, no gripping atmosphere or well-done post-apo feeling. While I love story-rich games, it would be foolish to place it above all else in a FPS, even when it's quite lacking as it's the case with RAGE. What about the gameplay ? Guns, for the most part, have a nice feeling. The shotgun is efficient and decently brutal, headshoting ennemies with the crossbow is satisfying, you have special ammo and gadgets (explosive mini-car, defense turret...) thrown into the mix. Problem is that gunfights themselves are frequently not intense or challenging. IA is a mixed bag : sometimes clever enough to try to flank you, overwhelm you or smoke you out, sometimes not moving an inch or staying in a bad position. Major painpoint for me was it got repetitive too often, overstaying its welcome. Boss fights are nothing special and the finale sequence, a glorified shooting marathon, doesn't even have any ! (And of course, you venture into the Authority's citadel without any allies. The Resistance pins all their hopes on you, and doesn't bother to accompany you for the most crucial mission...) RAGE try to lure you with its vehicle combat and racing ; the former can be avoided most of the time and the latter is quite boring. Level-design mainly revolves about more or less a unique path to the mission objective, and, as if you were in a Skyrim dungeon, you'll have access to a handy shortcut to go back to the Wasteland once you're done. Sure it can seem alluring to upgrade your vehicle and roam the Wasteland... Until you realize how shockingly small this open-world is. Sincerely, I fail to see why they adopted this configuration as RAGE's world just doesn't have enough content to justify it, this being even more egregious with the railroading and debatable interest of the sidequests (like, killing mutants in sewers- as if you didn't crawl enough in off-putting places in the main quest). To end on a more positive note, the game looks quite nice and holds itself well more than 10 years later. And there's one mystery that still subsides in my mind : why is it called RAGE ? You don't have a berserk ability, the Wasteland is ruthless but not more than other post-apo games, ennemies are not too frantic... I could go on with more minor gripes, but if you have read this far, I think you get the idea. I bid you a good day, wherever or whenever you are, and to enjoy much better games than RAGE- or, if you do experience RAGE, I hope you get a more positive outcome that I did. I'm still amazed they felt inclined to produce a sequel...