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Dom Robinson reviews
SCi Limited
- Windows 95 or 98
- Intel Pentium II 266 / AMD K6-2 300Mhz
- 32Mb RAM
- DirectX 7-supported 3D graphics card
- DirectX 7-supported sound card
- 210Mb Hard Disk Space
- 8-speed CD-ROM
Carmageddon TDR 2000has been two years in the making and continues the popular series of the driving gamewhere gentlemenly conduct never wins the race. Instead, just running through checkpointsisn’t the half of it – you need to smash your opponents up and gain extra time byrunning over the pedestrians. You don’t get the same amount of time for each personthough as in previous games, but the extra seconds depend on how well you despatch ofthem, such as punting them far and wide when you hit them.
And most importantly, since this version contains no video footage then the BBFC don’tneed to be involved and I was pleased to see, upon installation, that it blessed me withthe ‘English Blood Version’.
There’s a pointless storyline about the third millennium beginning and a plague of mutantsevolving from the result of dropping nuclear bombs on a town where all the human scumballswere shoved – sounding rather like the ‘New York’ inEscape From New York – and you’rein the middle needing to escape.
However, all you need to know is that the plot is more of the same. There’s 50 totallydestructible vehicles, over 48 missions and races to complete, 9 3D single-player environmentsto explore and destroy and 7 multi-player game types in 9 custom maps.
The second installment…
You’ve seen the above system requirements, but the box does staterecommendations of a Pentium III (266Mhz) or an AMD K7/Athlon (500Mhz)and I can well believe it. When I playedCarmageddon 2 upon releaseI’d only just upgraded my PC and it was straining a little then – just afterI’d got the first game to run like the wind.
When I first heard about this installment being in development it wassaid that economies would be made so it would run well on low-end machines,but given the minimum specs above that clearly hasn’t happened. Still, I’vebroken the bank by upgrading my PC to the spec at the bottom of this reviewand it does play damn well.
Graphics, Sound and Playability
You’ve heard my comments on the graphics – if you have the spec. for it,you’ll be in heaven.
The only slight niggle I have from playing in the first level is that thedemo featured a rickety wooden bridge in the desert area which moved up anddown as you drove across it quite realistically. Now, it doesn’t move atall. Rather a shame as it was quite a cool effect.
The sound is much better than the previous games and the TDR 2000demo, not because it features music from Utah Saints and Plague,both of which I turn down because they’re not quite my cup of tea, butthe SFX are much more entertaining, particularly the squelch as you runsomeone over 🙂
As ever, the control system causes no problems, but those playing this gamefor the first time may take a short while to get used to it.
The Carmageddon cartoon strip online
Overall
If you’ve loved the series so far – like me – and have been clamouring for more, then thisis for you and at only £19.99, it’s a must-buy. You’ll need a prettybeefy PC to run it on, but if it’s fast enough to make games run like shitoff a shovel then you can’t afford to miss it!
If you’re after some more Carmageddon excitement, you can check out theofficial SCI Website at www.sci.co.uk whichalso includes links to a stack of Carmageddon-related sites, or click on theselinks to access reviews of the previous releases: Carmageddon,Carmageddon 2and theCarmageddon:Splat Pack.
SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC
PLAYABILITY
ORIGINALITY
ENJOYMENT
OVERALLThis game was played on a PC with the following spec:
Intel PIII 600Mhz, 128Mb RAM (133 Mhz), Voodoo 3 3000 AGP, SoundblasterLive! 1024.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.