Rage 2 releases in just a couple weeks, and yet, we still don’t know much at all about the game’s story. Well, it turns out there’s a reason for that – according to a recent interview with Rage 2 director Magnus Nedfors, the game won’t be Red Dead Redemption 2. Like most Avalanche Studios open world games, Rage 2 will focus on action and player freedom rather than story.

　　“I will not sit here and say the deep story is why you should play Rage 2 – it’s an action game. But we’re trying to tell small stories, both by interactions with the NPCs that you meet, and also through the environment. It’s something that we want to push more and more. There are many good storytelling games that are open world games second, but the common mistake is to tell a linear story. Then you’re failing in giving the player all that freedom. I think the whole industry needs to find the magic moment where somebody comes up with an evolution in open world storytelling.”

　　In the same interview, Nedfors shone some light on another question fans have had – is Rage 2 more of an Avalanche or id Software game? While Nedfors doesn’t give a definitive answer, it certainly sounds like it’s the former…

　　“[Id Software] didn’t come to us and say, ‘We think you should do Rage 2 in this way.’ We got the opportunity to do our creative take and present an idea that we had from the beginning, before they gave us basically anything. […] It’s been a great exchange in both directions. Early on in the project, Tim said, ‘I don’t understand how you make these open world games’. I learned from a legend in the gaming industry, and he learned something from us as well.”

　　As for what id Software contributed to the project, Nedfors specifically pointed to the challenges of making a first-person game, which Avalanche had never done before. It be interesting to see how well Avalanche and id’s philosophies have meshed – here’s hoping Rage 2 lives up to expectations.

　　Rage 2 storms onto PC, Xbox One, and PS4 on May 14.