I find that interesting, as I think every single open world activity in Spider-Man save one was boring. It's mostly just combat, combat, combat and every fight in Spider-Man plays out the same way, mash the dodge button over and over again because someone or something is ALWAYS shooting at you from off screen. The game hardly lets you enjoy the melee combat system because you spend more time dodging weapon fire than engaging in fisticuffs. The game does occasionally throw some different enemy patterns at you, but even they repeat themselves. The Research Stations were the only interesting thing in Spider-Man because they each had you doing something different. Everything else in Spider-Man is typical open world busy work with the same check list of stuff that ALL open world games have. Find collectibles. Check. Fight lots of people. Check. Unlock fast travel points. Check. Take pictures of stuff, which is the same as finding collectibles. Check. Go to enemy bases and kill everyone i.e. bandit camps in Horizon Zero Dawn or bandit dens in Rage 2. Check. Stop cars with criminals racing through the streets which the game totally stole from Batman Arkham City. Check
I honestly don't think ANY open world game doesn't follow the same formula these days, which is why I take criticisms about Rage 2's open world with a grain of salt personally.
I've played a little bit of Rage 2. I'm slightly more positive on it, though I didn't play the first one
I think the post apocalyptic setting was refreshing in Rage 2, because it isn't just the typical dreary, bleak, the world has no hope, and humanity is barely hanging on formula. In Rage 2, there's a lot of chaos, lawlessness (particularly with you being the last Ranger), violent gangs and mutants causing problems, asteroids randomly falling out of the sky, Authority Goons causing problems, The Shrouded causing problems, and society has regressed in some ways. Yet, there is still remnants of technology being used. There are people finding ways to enjoy life and make a living. The planet still has forests and swamps rather than being a Mad Max-like wasteland and there seems to be some hope for the future if you and your allies can just get rid of Cross and the Authority. It's sort of like a semi-apocalypse hit that world. It messed up a lot of things, but didn't completely destroy any hope for humanity's future.
I like the combat. I agree with you on that. It's not just fun and over the top, but gives you lots of options and is really brutal. I can't remember the last time I played a game where I decapitated, de-limbed, splattered, and blew up so many people. It's pretty messed up seeing the state of the bodies after you have cleared out an area of enemies. A leg here. An arm there. Half of someone's face missing. Blood everywhere. Reminds me of Ninja Gaiden II on the Xbox 360. Everything feels smooth and fluid too when you're in combat. Everything felt so perfect, I didn't even bother tweaking the sensitivity settings for aiming or anything. I don't think the game lacked in enemy variety. The Goons. The Shroud. The Authority. Crushers. Muties. Big dudes in armor with blades on their arms. Honestly, Rage 2 has WAY more enemy variety than Spider-Man, which only really had low level thugs and those mercenary guys that show up later from what I remember. Every fight in Spider-Man was the same, try and pummel people to death while dodging a bullet or a rocket every two seconds. Beyond that, the only enemy interactions in the game are those dreadful stealth sections where they try way too hard to make Mary Jane seem important.
I like the Mad Max feel to Rage 2's characters. The Goon Squad are basically warboys from Mad Max, though with actual women in their groups as well, and more actual dialog than they had in Mad Max. Sometimes I will stop and listen to their conversations before storming in and killing everyone. And I like silly stuff in the game like a talking car with Linda Carter's voice driving me around. That brought a smile to my face. I even like just the completely random stuff that happens in the game, like when I just happened to come upon two random NPCs in a town arguing over their clothes until one just killed the other, got all fearful upon realizing what he had just done, and then nervously walked away as if he hoped no one had seen what happened. I was sitting there like, "Well that just happened". Then later I come back to that town again and now there's a random fight to the death between two NPCs happening with a crowd watching and making bets. I loved seeing stuff just randomly happening like that. And there's actually plenty of lore to find if you really look around and read everything. A LOT of stuff actually gets explained.
And just like the Mad Max, I like the progression systems. There always a steady feeling of getting incrementally stronger as you complete more and more activities.
Rage 2 isn't a masterpiece or game of the year, but it is FUN. I personally wouldn't call it mediocre, but that's just my opinion
