In Rage's story, the asteroid 99942 Apophis impacts the Earth on August 23, 2029, leaving few survivors. Human survivors have come together to form settlements around oases and other practical or habitable locations, including race tracks. These fragile homes are diligently defended by the inhabitants against bandits and mutants, which are divided into various gangs and organizations of their own.
The protagonist, the "Ark Survivor", emerges into this setting in year 2135, one-hundred and six years after being put into stasis inside an underground shelter called an Ark. These underground shelters are the direct result of the Eden Project, a massive international undertaking in which hundreds of Arks, containing cryogenic pods, were sealed under the surface of the Earth in order to preserve enough of the human population to rebuild civilization in the future. The Eden Project, however, was far less successful than hoped. The Ark Survivor's Ark in particular is heavily damaged, with all of its other residents dead, and equipment destroyed as well, and so he wakes up alone and uninformed. With no memory of his identity or objective, the Ark Survivor heads for the surface.
When the Survivor reaches the surface, he is attacked by members of the ghost clan. Dan Hagar (voiced by John Goodman),[11] a wasteland settler, saves him and brings him to his settlement. Dan informs the Ark Survivor that The Authority, a hostile faction, is looking for him and other Ark survivors for an unknown purpose. The Ark Survivor helps Dan's settlement and the Outrigger settlements by completing a few easy jobs. During this time, it is revealed that the nanotrites injected into the Ark Survivor's blood before he was sent into hibernation have granted him superhuman abilities to help him survive the harsh environment. However, it is these nanites that make him valuable to the Authority. Because his presence is too dangerous for the settlement, the player leaves and goes to the nearby town of Wellspring.