So coming up to nearly two decades on from the original
mayhem, does Carmageddon Max Damage live up to the past memories I have for the
original on the Playstation One.
From the opening the first level should bring back a massive
feeling of nostalgia for people that played the original game, Bleak City is
the one with the stadium in which you can run all the American football players
over to earn all extra time on the clock to achieve one of several objectives.
I only recall one way of finishing the races previously but
now multiple ways of winning are available to you, either finish the race by
hitting the checkpoints and finishing in 1st place, annihilate all
the other drivers or mow down all those pesky humans with the stage, there’s
also other game modes like Checkpoint Stampede, Ped Chase, and Fox ’N’ Hounds,
all set in different themed locales. One of my few issues from the get-go are the loading times, you
often feel like you’re waiting ages for the next event but considering how long
each can take to complete it almost feels like a valid exchange of your time, some
games took me nearly an hour to complete, but this is depending on how you
decide you want to win, another thing that leaves a bad taste in my mouth is
the HUD and controls when you collect power ups, seeing what power up/weapon
you have currently loaded for use is not the easiest at a quick glance during events,
and then cycling through these as you race around is not very well placed and
often you’ll find yourself wasting special attacks owing to awkward button
placement. The driving or more so, the crashing on this game feels
really good with the steering sliding you around like the good old days of the
series, it won’t be to everyone's liking as people that are new to the
franchise will find this fairly irritating and not know the origins of this
game, but a lot of people who haven't ever played a Carmageddon title will
probably be found on GTA V Online creating maps that will be unintentionally
similar to this title, the only thing missing being the crazy power ups you can
get in the game, for example the ability to dump out mines, give your vehicle jelly
suspension, or drag a giant medieval spiked ball behind your car, this game has
a lot of things to keep you interested so you’ll easily find yourself losing a
lot of time to murder racing because who doesn't like over the top garish
mayhem.
In my opinion the graphics are great, keeping the classic
style over a more realistic world to make you realise that this is still an
eccentric game but with a mix of over the top and realism that makes you want
to keep playing, the wackiness will also keep you entertained whilst everyone
is trying to take you out, the funny names that the achievements, score awards,
weapons and power-ups have, and not to
mention the insane ideas for some of the cars new and old really make me smile,
especially when you see a car convert with a jet engine in the middle sucking
up all the pedestrians to kill them or good old Electric Blue that will
electrocute anyone within range. The often, very sick sense of humour might not be for
everyone but for those that either loved the originals for a few years or
people that want a racing title that isn't your standard complete laps and
finish first to win kind of thing, I will highly recommend this to you as there
is so much fun to be had with the insanity of it all, the game manages to keep
its originality with the over the top 90's feel, much like the movie the game
is loosely inspired by “Death Race 2000”. If you like your racing to be more realistic, then go check
out the Forza or Gran Turismo titles as this game will go down like a lungful
of exhaust fumes, but for me personally I love it, it’s so bloody, funny and
over the top that it will keep you entertained in a ton of different ways and
is a welcome return for a series that crashed into our homes almost 20 years
ago.
Carmageddon: Max Damage is out now on PS4 & Xbox One