Carmageddon on PSone

Carmageddonis a racing car game with one rule – there are no rules!You can do what you want, where you want, and when you want, making this oneof those rare racing games where you can break free from the usual constraintsof a set course and go looking for power-up, or mowing down extra pedestriansto give you extra time! While there are over 30 set race courses split over afew environments, you can go visiting other parts of that environment which youwould normally only visit on the other set courses.

You can play the game normally though, going through the check-points andwinning the race, but you’ll soon notice that your opponents aren’t asinterested in doing this, and would sooner see you plummeting to your deathoff the edge of a cliff (again!) than crossing the finish line.

In fact, you may as well say to yourself that “If you can’t beat ’em,join ’em” and mash them into a pulp by smashing into their backsides andleaving them for dead, as the alternative way to winning is to bump off allfive other contestants…and it’s a lot more satisfying. As long as you do allthis before the timer reaches zero, then you’ll have no problems. Take notethough, as you do NOT get extra time for crossing the checkpoints, but insteadfor mowing down pedestrians!

As you progress through the game you’ll amass credits, which after each gamecan be traded in for extras to soup-up your engine, armour or stronger items toattach to your car so you can do more damage to those of the others!

As your car’s stature improves, you’ll find that some cars are rather special,because when totalled, they are removed from the race, repaired automatically,and are then available for you to drive during the next race and all subsequentraces. When playing, I acquired a yellow Armoured Vehicle, and once in that Iturned my nose up at anything else as this smashes through the opponents withease.

Of course you can’t just go smashing into everything and expect no recourseas your car will become damaged. A status screen in the corner shows the stateof your car’s systems, and as they become more damaged, they begin to fail ormalfunction altogether. You can repair some of the damage to your car duringa race though by pressing the repair button.

If you get stuck upside down and don’t want to wait for someone to smash intoyou to put you back on your wheels, pressing Recover will, for a price, rightyour position.

Main Menu

The main menu appears after the introduction movie, which can be interruptedby pressing a button on the PSX pad. Options are available to start a newsingle-player game, or the chance to load in a previously-saved game. You canalso save your position.

The sound options control the music and effects. You can also select one of fourpreset keypad setups. Alternatively, if you have a steering wheel (bought froma computer games shop and not ripped out of your car), or an analog joystickfor extra control, you can use that instead to wreak your havoc.

Playing the Game

Before you start to race, there are a few options to take care of first :

• View Info
  This one gives you details about the forthcoming race such as number oflaps and length of track.
• Change Race
  If the current race is too hard, just change it! You’ll be given a choiceof around 5 or 6 to choose from, so if you want to wimp out, now’s your chance.
• Parts Shop
  As mentioned earlier, you can upgrade your car with better armour, powerof items to whip the ass of your opponents as long as you’ve earned enoughcredits during the game.
• Change Car
  Be mean, be really mean! As mentioned earlier, after smashing up certaincars beyond recognition during the game, you’ll be able to take them over afterthey’ve been repaired for no extra charge. Note that any power-ups you’ve boughtin the parts shop apply to all the cars you have at your disposal.
• Race Summary Screen
  After the race, your race achievements are shown, listing your creditsearned and lost and total credits.

Hints, Tips and Cheats

• Handbrake Turns
  Missed that turning? Slam on the handbrake and go back for a second try,or just slam it on and take out a number of pedestrians in one go! Mmmm…COMBO BONUS !

  Just one slight problem with this though. You may find you want to try it inreal-life sometimes…

• Running out of time?
  What a pain it is to run out of time. In some of the later levels whentime is of the essence and you still want to complete the circuits, you mayhave to leave the beaten track and search the rest of the level for extra killsto boost your time bonus so as to give you plenty of time to finish the racewith time to spare. Easier said than done though, of course.

Graphics, Sound and Playability

One of the best things about the PC version was the quality and fluidity ofthe graphics. Here though, a lot has changed and it’s all for the worse.While some of the cars aren’t too bad, the graphics move fast and the humansand zombies splatter effectively into a stream of blood, the scenery is blockyand the pop-up needs a lot of attention. For those unsure what that is, as youdrive ahead you want to see all the coming attractions, but view is toostunted and too often you will be zipping along, get launched into the airby accident and look as if you’re flying up into the sky when all of asudden a wall appears and SMACK MY CAR UP, you’re back down to Earth with abang!

A trip into outer space is also on the cards. Fall off the track too farand the game runs out of graphics, leaving your car dropping down againsta static backdrop and what you were looking at just appears to float upwards.

In terms of the sound, the basic SFX car noises are fine with some nicegrinding motions and the game has a grungy rock soundtrack playing along inthe background, but without a dedicated soundcard (as you’d get in a PC) thecrunches between the cars lose out. At times the car’s SFX seem throwntogether in random order rather than playing out as you’d realistically expect.

Playability was another highlight of the PC original once you’d got to gripswith the keys, but here, once you’ve worked out which buttons do what, it’sall too easy to zoom off the track at high speed and into the ether. Perhapsif I had

Overall

I was really looking forward to seeing how this turned out but however longthe PC original took to put together, it looks like the Playstation versionwas trotted out in an afternoon while the quality control team were having aday off. Compare this with the tough job of puttingQuake II onSony’s grey box.

I expected to lose some of the features that made the original socompelling but Carmageddon has been turned into a bog-standard rallygame and isn’t a patch on any of the current top-sellers.

The things missing include :

• The ability to go at top speed smashing into a few signposts and streetlights instead. Why? Well, at least one of them is sure to fly off and catch amember of the public on the rebound! Such a thing is very satisfying to watchin an action replay…which leads me to…
• Action replay function!
• The ranking system
• The names of your drivers: Max Damage and Die Anna
• The skill levels
• Altering the grid position at the start of a race: although you couldn’tusually swap positions with someone who has a higher rank than you, you wouldoccasionally receive a dare to swap places with a nutter who’s only offeringyou the chance to go ahead in the hope of trashing you just as you think you’regetting away with it.

If you must try this game, rent it. That way you won’t lose out too muchbut it’ll be a real die-hard Carmageddon fan who shells out the full price forthis and just think how luke-warm the Gameboy conversion must be.

If you’re after some more Carmageddon info, you can check out theofficial Interplay Website at www.interplay.comand the original’s SCI Website atwww.sci.co.ukwhich also includes links to a stack of Carmageddon-related sites.

Also, check out my reviews of the PC originals :Carmageddon,Carmageddon: Splat Pack &Carmageddon II.GRAPHICS : *SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC: **PLAYABILITY: *ORIGINALITY : *ENJOYMENT : *——————————-OVERALL : *

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.