If you like a lot of driving, fighting and explosions in your games, you’d be slightly insane to pass up the chance to play Mad Max.

The game from Avalanche Studios, makers of Just Cause, has been somewhat pretentiously talked up elsewhere, such as one review which said “it’s about learning to find something to cling to in a pointless existence of murder and regret.”

For me, Mad Max doesn’t need any high-brow meaning attached to it. It’s a game that’s about action and entertainment, pure and simple – and it’s a lot of fun.

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Set in the same world as the films but a standalone story from them, the post-apocalyptic adventure begins with Max losing his beloved car and being left for dead in the desert after an attack by the superbly named warlord Scabrous Scrotus.

After teaming up with Gollum-like mechanic Chumbucket, who thinks Max is some sort of saint or prophet, our not-so-lone-anymore warrior sets out to create the ultimate vehicle – the Magnum Opus – to fulfil his quest for vengeance and survival, and, most importantly it seems, get back his original motor from the violent gang who nicked it from him.

When the Mad Max lore is stripped away, it’s a pretty straightforward set-up that unfolds into a mostly formulaic open-world RPG.

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The player’s time is filled with missions and side quests which are mainly standard fare revolving around infiltrating strongholds, destroying enemy infrastructure, taking control of areas and killing particular bad guys.

These drive the thin plot forward and provide plenty of opportunities to upgrade Max and customise his car. The Magnum Opus starts as a wreck but soon becomes a souped-up and heavily armed monster – this satisfying progression is at the heart of the game, spurred on by the constant Borderlands-like collecting of loot (in the form of scrap) that’s found by passively combing the landscape and aggressively causing a trail of destruction.

Carnage is also at the game’s core, and there are many chances to create it, most commonly during the frequent bouts of vehicular combat.

It’s in these brutal clashes that the game is at its most creative and crazy. These are also what largely distinguish the game from other similar titles.

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You can defy physics by side-swiping enemy cars, you can ram then head-on using the nitro boost or you can dispatch the patrols and convoys you come across in various inventive ways using the assortment of weapons the Magnum Opus becomes equipped with.

These include spiked rims, flamethrowers, an explosive lance and the very versatile harpoon. The latter can be used to pull bits from enemy vehicles from afar or drag drivers out of their cars, in quite a Just Cause kind of mayhem.

The vehicle-based battles are joyously exciting and explosive, intense and spectacular.

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Another standout feature is the setting in which all the action takes place.

Unsurprisingly, the barren wastelands that comprise Max’s world make a great open-world playground, ripe for exploration.

Craft has gone into making an evocative and authentically savage, inhospitable and treacherous environment. It’s an artistic accomplishment, which manages to be persistently arresting.

While they are difficult to deal with in-game, the wild sandstorms that can sweep in and create havoc are particularly effective.

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Bearded Max, who is unfortunately a generically gruff and pained character, the like of which I feel I've seen in several other games, is at times required to get out of his car and roam on foot.

This leads to face-to-face hand-to-hand encounters with vicious bandits in which Max has to rely on his melee combat skills rather than the weapons attached to his wheels.

The brawls are good – but not as good as the in-car fighting.

Max can land some devastating blows with his fists (sometimes aided by items such as shivs that he picks up), and pulls off some impressively ferocious moves when he reaches Hulk-like levels of anger in fury mode.

It’s certainly not without its thrills, but the combat is also quite simplistic once you’re in step with its parry/dodge-attack rhythm. The system is clearly inspired by the Batman Arkham games, but isn’t as free-flowing or refined.

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Overall, Avalanche haven’t got everything perfectly tuned, concept-wise the game doesn’t differ that wildly from others in the genre (save for the excellent vehicle combat) and a little bit of repetition starts to creep in as it goes on. So it might not go down as a classic open-world RPG.

But if you’re looking to let off some steam and dish out some mad justice ahead of the big rush of autumn games, it’s worth jumping behind the wheel in Max’s crazy world.

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7.5 out of 10

Published by Warner Bros, out now for PS4, Xbox One and PC