Carmageddon 2 is the first race… cargame I ever played, and I have never had this much fun with a racer since.
Since this game is so old, I'll mostly mention the gameplay elements.
Race, Kill, Destroy
That's basically it, you do those 3 things, all the time, for fun, because you can.
Back then there already were soft-body physics, and though unrealistic and totally goofy, they are still fun, satisfying to see. Not only this, but they actively, and severely influence the gameplay itself, making you actually aim for certain ways to collide at times, just to cripple your opponent.
Though crashing into your opponents, racing across the creative maps, and killing all the peds you see is great fun by itself, this is even made better with the addition of tons of crazy and goofy powerups. Nowhere else can you send a car flying across the whole map using a coil spring, but here. (and maybe soon in the new Carmageddon too)
FIND ALL THE SECRETS!
Yes these maps were all designed to be explored, making them not only great and interesting battlegrounds, but also filled with tons and tons of secrets, powerups, and curiosities. Not only this, but most maps also have challenges ready for you, to unlock those secrets; ever tried a jumping puzzle with a car? (or 10ft truck?)
The Fun, The Crasy and the Annoying.
Now a lot of fun is ready for you as you already read, but there are also some warnings I’ll have to give, especially regarding the physics engine.
Carmageddon has a great physics engine, but it doesn’t feel or play like one of a racegame; often you will feel like you’re actually floating on water, or flying through the air like you’re on the moon. (even without the lunar-gravity powerup) This by itself means… DON’T EXPECT FLUIENT RACING. Jumping puzzles are made easier because of this, but making tight corners, or any corners at all at high speeds, are impossible.
Be certain that you want a crazy, goofy, arcady game if you plan on buying it. This is not a real actual racegame, even if it is definitely a car game.
The glue that keeps the mess together.
The game has a simple GUI and should offer no problems at all. There are many quirky things to keep in mind like stats and cars to own and buy during and around the actual ‘races’, and the GUI certainly makes it easy to keep an eye on everything. The big flaws here lie with the controls settings, and the ‘map’.
The controls are by default mapped to the NUMPAD KEYS… I know, a total WTF, and to make things worse, you can’t rebind them to any key you want… meaning that you won’t be able to use arrow keys or WASD. Trust me though, even if you could rebind them, you wouldn’t be instantly comfortable either due to the physics, so please forgive the game for this and give it a shot anyway. It won’t be long before you get used to it. I do however recommend that you try to rebind the other keys (repair, handbrake, use power, etc) to keys convenient to you. I know the game used to work with a steering wheel, but I am uncertain how it responds to the more modern ones. I do recommend using a steering wheel if you get the chance.
In regards to the map, this bugger is probably the only annoyance you’ll have with the GUI. There is a minimap you can put on your screen, but initially it’ll be in the center of the screen. You can fix that using Shift+arrow keys though, to move the lil bugger around. However, due to the low resolution of the game, it’s too small to be able to actually effectively use it as a minimap the way you’re probably used to. Apart from this there is a big map, which is a big overlay displaying the whole map at once. You can still drive though using a little portrait sized window… a bit the opposite concept of the minimap.
The GUI has a little trick that helps with the map issues though, which basically locks on to targets and the next checkpoint. The minimap displays a line in that direction then, so you will at least be able to find the checkpoints and chase enemies, after looking at the big map on how to get there.
Sounds And Visuals
Now it’s 2014 so be gentle on this old-timer. Regardless I can already tell you that, although low quality, the sound is generally satisfying and applicable within the context. Scraping, bending and crashing metal sound very much as you’d want it to, as well as a very pleasant sound for breaking glass. Apart from this, Carmageddon offers you 4 tracks of heavy metal from Iron Maiden and 3 songs from Sentience… which… I don’t even know, but it sounds alright I guess, considering the game it is. So you’ll probably want to play your own music the 2nd time you run the game, since you’ll be hearing the same song over and over again otherwise.
Visually Carmageddon is very simplistic, and very dated. This however isn’t any problem within the context of the game, and in fact can be amusing at times. If you don’t mind the old graphics style, then you’ll still find that artistically, the game is unique, entertaining and satestfying.
Personal Opinion
This game I have been playing since childhood, and has never let me down in entertaining me with some good old fun, even if it’s old.
Everybody has some game which is like a child to them, often old and forgotten by most of the population, and this is mine.
Notes
Have a Wacom tablet? I have, and with this game it’s been a pain in my buttocks. Often windows would suddenly start thinking my tablet is my main cursor input, causing many annoying bugs with my mouse. SOLLUTION: turn off the Wacom driver, either before or after, depending on how skilled and knowledgeable you are with your keyboard.
I have never played this game online yet, so this entire review is based upon single-player experiences.
For all of you who don’t have enough fun yet with the game by itself, there are many cheatcodes available that allow you to do countless amounts of things. This game was made with FUN in mind.
Are you 15 to 25 years old? Good! This game will have exactly your level of humor if you know where and when to find it.
There apparently have been ports for this game, so you collectors, N64 owners or PS1 owners, you might be able to find this baby somewhere for those consoles as well.
This game has aliens, rideable rollercoasters, zoo animals, clowns, nuclear bombs, airplanes/jets, underwater driving, juvenile humor, rideable 10ft high trucks, rideable bobsleigh tracks, aircraft carriers, flamethrowers, tesla powers, rideable ski-jumps, underground mines, landmines, volcano’s, farmyard animals, the grand canyon, pyramids, helicopters and much much much more.
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