id: Rage Could Get Digital Distribution After All, Unveils Plot Details

id Software creative director Tim Willits isn't quite ready to write off digital distribution for its upcoming race-infused adventure shooter Rage (PC, 360, PS3), despite the game's large reported size.

"We have not written off digital distribution for Rage," Willits told 1UP. "We haven't figured out what we want to do yet. But I do want to fix the fact that John [Carmack] said [digital distribution is] not going to happen. What I'm saying is that's not true."

Willits explained the source of the confusion as the oft-confused state of Rage's final form on disc: "John Carmack made a comment about the media size, which unfortunately wasn't exactly correct because we haven't crossed that bridge yet. He said it was going to be too large to download, and I was thinking to myself, 'You know, uhhhhh, people can do lots of things.'"

The Rage designer even alluded to considering the game for Valve's popular Steam digital distribution service. "Our relationship with Valve and our stuff on Steam has been very successful for us," he said.

Willits also took the opportunity to explain the plot for Rage, expanding on the previously known themes of post-apocalypse and lawlessness. The details, reproduced from the 1UP interview, follow:

You play a survivor from the past; one of many people placed inside a "cryo-ark" buried safely beneath the surface. The plan was that when it was safe to return to the surface, after the impact winter and the dust settled, your ark would emerge, and you would then work with the other ark inhabitants to rebuild society. But that plan went haywire. More people survived the impact than anyone predicted, and those survivors rebuilt society on their own without a government, without laws or rules. When your ark emerges and you begin the game, you discover a world that is much different than what you expected -- much harsher, much more dangerous. There are a number of different factions that are vying for control in the wasteland. There are settlers, mutants, and different clans of bandits, all fighting to survive and for control.

As the game begins, the first thing you need to do in this world is learn to survive on your own. Then you must work with the settlers against the bandits and mutants. Ultimately, you will align yourself with a small resistance group fighting against a mysterious force in the wasteland called the "Authority" -- a regime-like government bent on controlling everything.