Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 300 sampled Steam reviews (276 positive / 24 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Combat22% mention it
- Story & writing22% mention it
- Grind & repetition14% mention it
- World & exploration14% mention it
- Progression & loot12% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Grind & repetition33% mention it
- Story & writing25% mention it
- Visuals & art21% mention it
- Bugs & crashes21% mention it
- Controls & UI21% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
72%
36 reviews
5-15h
94%
48 reviews
15-40h
94%
104 reviews
40-100h
96%
94 reviews
100h+
94%
18 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 69 | 30 |
| Creator reviews (4 tracked) | – | 71 | 1 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 92% | 87 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 80 | 74 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 93% | 88 | 105 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 300 reviews sampled · 294 total reviews in window · weighted 219.8 up / 16 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (123)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 40
“When it comes to simply chewing through yet another open world game, Mad Max does suffice. It's a substandard but largely competent "AAA" game in a sea full of them, and those who do value the idea of content above all else will find more than their money's worth here. There's simply no reason to pick it up, however, if you've yet to try The Witcher 3, Shadow of Mordor or Batman: Arkham City. There are tons of better games that go for what Mad Max went for and do so in a superior manner.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“It asks us to buy Max as a wasteland messiah whose life consists of spending his most sane years playing fetch.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Mad Max is a brisk open-world actioner that takes advantage of the legendary film franchise it references in its latest installment, and while it goes its own way, it connects the two worlds through some of the locations and characters. A must for fans of the films, genre lovers will not be offended. Unfortunately, like other games of this type, it suffers from a certain repetitiveness, plus it has a weaker story. The solid game time (according to HLTB 20-60 hours), nice graphics and a good driving model are pleasing.”
read full review ↗ - 78
“Mad Max stops halfway between what it was supposed to have and what it really has. Even so, it's a great game, that succeeds in almost every aspect and could define the way of a new franchise, as long as the ones in charge decide to improve it with a second entry. ”
read full review ↗ - 80
“There's a great, yet flawed, game here. The open world is a joy to explore, but grows tiresome for those who want to get 100% completion. Combat is fun and brutal, but not varied enough to stay interesting long term. These flaws are not enough to highly impact the end product, thankfully, which manages to be a superb open-world experience, with a real unique style and character.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Mad Max's frame may be built from familiar parts, but that doesn't mean there aren't enough surprises under the hood to make for a furiously enjoyable ride. ”
read full review ↗ - 70
“A chaotic dust bowl of an open world, rendered and recorded with Avalanche's usual technical excellence on PC. Like Max's car some parts are a little ramshackle, but if you stick to causing bedlam there's plenty of fun to be had.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“As you wander the desert on the lookout for pieces of scrap, your enjoyment will feel like it's on a downward trajectory the longer that you play. As a result, you'll try to spend as much time as you can racing across its beautifully realised wasteland, while avoiding anything that pulls you from behind the wheel.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Mad Max is a decent if, uninspiring time waster. You have a vast laundry list of tasks to chew through, but hardly any of them are particularly challenging or interesting. The excellent road combat and meaty progression system make it worth your time once you've beaten the significantly better open world games available at the moment.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Mad Max the game isn't only a fantastic time, it's a great addition to the franchise, and one of the few games that completely destroys the expectations that a movie based game has to be bad. Mad Max is bad to the bone… but in all the right ways.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Mad Max will probably not be for everyone, especially for those who are pining to find some kind of innovative leap forward for the open-world genre. Avalanche has provided an intricate, fleshed-out interpretation of a world I didn't think would get a chance to have its day in the video game sun. The good things done here, despite the lack of that one killer thing,should give fans something that Max himself might not have: hope for something better.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Like Shadow of Mordor before it, Mad Max sees Warner Bros thoughtfully apply its filmic property to an open world.”
read full review ↗
The Jimquisition
Slant Magazine
Gaming Professors
Cubed3
Pure Xbox
PC Invasion
Push Square
GameWatcher
ZTGD
Worth Playing
Eurogamer…and 111 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Update: Mad Max, Patch 4Oct 26, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- Update: Mad Max, Patch 4Oct 26, 2015
- Update: Mad Max, Patch 4 is Coming SoonOct 17, 2015
- Update: Mad Max, Patch 4 is Coming SoonOct 17, 2015
- Update: Mad Max, Patch 3Sep 28, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- Update: Mad Max, Patch 3Sep 28, 2015