Both projects sounded troubled from the limited rumors finding their way to the press, but Avalanche Studios, the developer of the video game, appeared better positioned to turn things around. Video game developers, who often operate on tight budgets and impossible deadlines, have a habit of making gold — or at least silver — from a shit deal. And Avalanche in particular had the pedigree; its most recent game, Just Cause 2, featured car combat that allows the player to grapple onto a car, shoot the driver, and steal the vehicle with a few quick button taps. You know, the trappings of Mad Max.

Mad Max zigs wherever Just Cause zags

Mad Max zigs wherever Just Cause zags. Just Cause is an open-world game that motivates the player to take risks. Cars can be driven down mountains with the player riding them like surfboards. There’s no limit to how far a car can drive, and there's plenty of ammunition and explosives for the player when they’re on foot. Mad Max drops the player in the wasteland, and punishes risk-taking and adventure. Jumping off a cliff damages the car, driving into the distance uses fuel, and keep your finger off the trigger, because ammo is sparse. Early in the game, the player learns to collect scrap, wait while the car gets repaired, and locate gas and water. I never thought I’d call a game about post-apocalyptic car battles dull, but here I am.

On an arguing-at-a-cafe-over-video-game-theory level, I get it. Max’s world is a dangerous one, and the original films built tension on the sensation that these cars and the people inside them are incredibly vulnerable, relying on faulty materials and limited resources. A different game about survival might have made these work, but deep down, Mad Max wants to be an action game, and so it sends you from one mission of vehicular manslaughter to the next. Go have fun, it says, just not too much fun. Taking care of the car, like taking care of a someone else’s puppy, is charming for a few minutes until it becomes a chore.

This design is creatively risky and paradoxically also smells of top-level notes from the publisher Warner Bros. WB has made a name for itself in the game space from the Batman: Arkham series, with its open-world and hand-to-hand fighting, which Mad Max imitates to poor effect. The latest Batman, Arkham Knight, was released alongside a marketing campaign that highlights the pleasure of roleplaying. Be the Batman, the posters said. In Mad Max, the developers want you to be Max, without considering the hard truth that Max's life sucks. That the game doubles down on the worst parts of this crappy existence — finding gas, repairing cars, driving long distances — is like making a Batman game in which you attend Wayne Enterprises business meetings and wax the batsuit.