Rage Against the Machine
Developer: The RATM Team
Publisher: ModDB
Designer: Matthew "Daedalus" Kallis
Engine: Build Engine (Blood mod; BloodGDX, NBlood, Raze), Kex Engine (Fresh Supply)
Version: "New Compact Version"
Released: October 31, 2007
Genre: First Person Shooter
Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer
Platforms: MS-DOS (original executable), Java VM (BloodGDX), Microsoft Windows (NBlood, Raze, Fresh Supply), Unix-like (NBlood, Raze)
UPC/A7: N/A
ISBN-10: N/A
Media: Download
"Rage Against The Machine, RATM or simply ‘Rage’, is a combined effort by select members of the Blood community to create a Blood campaign worthy of remembrance and worthy of honouring, and hopefully complementing, the Blood title and its legacy. Rage’s objective is to expand on the Blood universe, adding a little innovation where necessary, while not compromising the spirit of the original title’s unbeatable action, breathtaking atmosphere and overwhelming fun factor. So far, Episode 1 of the campaign has been released, but the rest are coming up. All the Single Player maps included in this campaign are fully optimised and compatible with Bloodbath, Co-operative and Team Mode Play. Difficulty levels are also implemented. Rage Against The Machine has the added bonus of including custom music that fully captures the essence of the original’s soundtrack. The Rage Against The Machine story is told through a series of gripping, live-action cinematics." — Official description
Rage Against the Machine was a fan add-on project to create a commercial quality Blood game; the title is sometimes shortened as Rage or RATM. Episode one was first released on October 31, 2007, before being re-issued as a "New Compact Version" on May 16, 2008, and is currently the only released portion of Rage Against the Machine.
The add-on includes a new soundtrack and is intended to add many new levels that are compatible with single player, BloodBath and cooperative play.
The story is intended to be played out through "live-action" cutscenes shown at the end of the episodes. It was created by Matthew "Daedalus" Kallis (project leader and mapper), Dimebog (musician), and Filip (oBe) Walgraef (artist and animator). As well as a founder of The Postmortem and later Altar of Stone fan sites, Daedalus was the previous creator of the Sin Campaign mini-episode, which partly utilized assets from BloodLines.
Daedalus essentially killed off the project on May 23, 2008 after finding a lack of time to continue mapping. On October 31, 2022 the mod was revived as Fate of the Damned, with a new version 1.1 to be released featuring a second episode entitled "The Shadow Out of Time".
Story[edit]
The game opens with an extended animated cutscene done up in the style of late 1990s pre-rendered opening introductions, which then proceeds to recap Caleb's gun-slinging past in the Old West, his ascension through the Cabal, and finally the betrayal of the Chosen and the murder of his lover Ophelia Price. It then cuts to a scene of Caleb approaching a temple, pitchfork in hand.
Episode 1: Till Death Us Do Part[edit]
Custom - Episode 1: Till Death Us Do Part
In a level featuring no enemies, Caleb gets himself let into the temple, ascends into its inner sanctum, and joins the other Chosen, Tchernobog's beast lieutenants Cheogh, Shial and Cerberus and the dark god himself. Tchernobog demands a sacrifice, and Gabriel is taken away by the spider queen, Ishmael is blasted by the two headed hell hound and Ophelia is taken away by the stone gargoyle.
Stunned, Caleb attempts to run away (RATME1M1: Tchernobog's Fatal Flaw), and falls down into an underground mining tunnel and has to make his way through a shipping area (RATME1M2: Six Feet Under). He heads out into a nearby forest, wherein he duels with zombies rising up outside nearby cabins and reaches an urban area through a temple complex, filling a basin of blood to get a needed key (RATME1M3: Forest of Shadows). To further his escape, Caleb stows aboard a train in a wooden shipping crate, before storming out and repeatedly leaping between twin locomotives to reach his objectives (RATME1M4: Cabal Express)
Crashing his way into the Green Town station, Caleb proceeds to "paint the town red", shooting his way through a gallery and an entire block of stores (RATME1M5: Green Town). Playing with some alphabet blocks in the toy store can gain Caleb access to a nearby swimming pool, blowing up the boiler to return from whence he came (RATME1M9: Morningside Springs). Caleb exits into a sewer and pump facility, facing entire legions of undead in the murky waters, and briefly commandeering a wooden boat (RATME1M6: Knee Deep in the Undead).
Caleb has now come full circle, and begins to storm through the temple he was first driven out off, intent on seeking his revenge (RATME1M7: There's No Place Like Home). Caleb returns to the inner sanctum, and meets Tchernobog, seemingly making short work of the dark god. He then collects a nearby key and ascends an adjacent castle to the Altar of Stone and sees Ophelia crucified (RATME1M8: Epiphany's End).
The end cut-scene shows Caleb express his grief at his lover's demise, before being interrupted by Cheogh, who lunges at him, only to be defeated by Caleb's boom-stick. Caleb then takes out his zippo lighter and gives Ophelia a more respectful cremation.
Episode 2: Clods TC[edit]
The listed entry for episode two, with presumably a tongue-in-cheek place-holder title.
Selecting this option cuts immediately to the game credits.
The cutscene compilation implies the episode proper would have started with Caleb breaking out of an Alcatraz-style prison in 1964.
Episode 3: Bloodclots TC[edit]
The listed entry for episode two, with presumably a tongue-in-cheek place-holder title.
Selecting this option cuts immediately to the game credits.
Episode 4: Cryptic Sausage[edit]
The listed entry for episode two, with presumably a tongue-in-cheek place-holder title that parodies the name of the Sunstorm Interactive expansion pack Cryptic Passage.
Selecting this option cuts immediately to the game credits.
Critical Reception[edit]
Reception for the add-on was positive, with it holding a score 8.2 out of 10 on ModDB, with many of the reviews stressing the quality of the level design, as well as its conservative approach to Blood styling. The title, which it shares with the band Rage Against the Machine, caused some consternation and confusion, with the project's authors stressing that it also "happens to be a common saying." The title has also been used by other mods, such as this one for Wolfenstein 3D. The release's manual stresses that the title was chosen for its unique status, as well as noting that it proved prophetic, hailing a number of technical and computer issues during the development of the project.
"The levels are very well done and the action is well paced (with one notable forest encounter genuinely frightening), though very conservative to the original game to the point of lacking a defining architectural character of its own (when compared to Death Wish certainly), which is made up for by its own quite indulgent romp through Blood lore - including opening with a in-game recreation of the Chosen's casting down and a twined repeat of the first episode's famous train level. oBe's opening and closing animations also provide another rich experience for players. Definitely a must-have for any hardened Bloodite, and a sadly incomplete experience." — Graham "Gideon" Wilson, Blood Wiki
"This draws on the spirit of Blood, while its not exactly original it does feature some of the best level design. We get to go through a town thats way more impressive than the one featured in the original game episode 3, and the town we saw of vaguely in the beginning of Post Mortem. This one features a art gallery, sewer, cave, swamp & a train level where we have to jump between 2 trains. Its a shame its just one episode but it was a real pleasure to come back to Blood after the years." — The Unbeholden
"Very smart level design, I especially liked the spooky sewer level and the surprisingly original train level. I also like how difficulty and gameplay (the way you get weapons) are very progressive throughout the first levels. The musics are moody and fit the levels well. My only problem with this episode is that I played on skill#4 and no way there would have been enough ammo to kill the end boss (I used full ammo set on every weapon avalaible + all the ammo provided in the boss area, and I'm pretty sure I didn't miss a lot). Great episode overall which is true to the original game." — NESfag
"A good mod so far, the mapping is fabulous (though I didn't like 'Knee deep in the undead' it was too dark and maze-like). The opening cinematic could be confusing to people who don't know the blood lore very well but it still works. All in all it was a very enjoyable experience." — St.Jimmy23
External Links[edit]
- Webpage from Death Mask
- Webpage from ModDB
- RATM New Compact Edition - RTCM
- Rage Against the Machine (Re-scripted) - RTCM
- RATM - Game Front
- DOS Game: Blood - Rage Against the Machine - YouTube
- Blood: Rage Against the Machine Dosbox playthrough (Lingyan203)
- Blood: Rage Against the Machine (BloodGDX) playthrough (pagb666)
Forum Threads[edit]
- Fate of the Damned thread - Altar of Stone
- 3D Realms Forums thread
- RATM story discussion thread (spoilers) - The Postmortem
- Strange RATM Theory - The Postmortem
