Rage 2 shows off its combo system in a very loud trailer

There are quite a few ways to cut short a hapless enemy's life in Rage 2, and the latest trailer shines its spotlight on a bunch of ultra-violent combos employing all sorts of fancy guns and special abilities. Take a look above.

In most cases, the result is the same: blood and body parts scattering everywhere. You'll be able to mess with gravity, sending enemies hurtling into wind turbines, or you can gather them all into one place so you can blow them up, set them on fire and then punch them. Seems like overkill, but that's clearly Rage 2's thing.

While the original wasn't particularly memorable, this time Rage wants to make it very clear it has a lot of personality. That personality is mainly explosions and being vaguely '80s for some reason, but it does make more of an impression than its predecessor.

The combos look like a hoot, even if I'm so lazy I'll just end up shooting people and forgetting all about the neat tricks. Phil also wrote about them in his Rage 2 preview, but he wasn't entirely convinced.

The combo options suggest some fun ways to play, but in general abilities feel like they could use some fine tuning. The way Ground Slam forces the first-person camera to look at the floor makes it hard to properly aim, and also makes it hard to tell what it's actually done to the enemies it hits. And when I lunged at an enemy with Shatter, more often than not they'd simply dodge out of the way. All abilities are on a cooldown timer, and wasting one is a disappointing way to break the flow of combat. I like how brash and loud the abilities all feel, but a little more finesse in the execution would go a long way.

Rage 2 is due out on May 14.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.