The Dominator reviews

for IBM PC

Distributed by
SCi Limited

Price: £29.99

System Requirements :

• CD-ROM IBM PC and Compatibles
• Windows 95 or MSDOS 6.2 and above. Windows 95 version requires DirectX 3a drivers or above
• Intel Pentium Processor P75 and above
• 8Mb RAM (16Mb for Windows 95 and Multiplayer Network Game)
• Multiplayer Network game requires IPX network
• Hard Disk Space: Install 20Mb, 51Mb or 264Mb version
• VGA & SVGA Graphics support (1Mb Graphic card required)
• Soundblaster & 100% Compatible soundcards
• Supported Peripherals : Mouse, Joysticks, Steering Wheels (Thrustmaster, Mad Catz and Performa)
• Quad-speed CD-ROM drive with MSCDEX 2.25 and above

Carmageddon is 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 one of those rare racing games where you can break free from the usual constraints of a set course and go looking for power-up, or mowing down extra pedestrians to give you extra time! While there are 36 set race courses split over a few environments, you can go visiting other parts of that environment which you would normally only visit on the other set courses.

You can play the game normally though, going through the check-points and winning the race, but you'll soon notice that your opponents aren't as interested in doing this, and would sooner see you plummeting to your death off the top of a high building (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 and leaving them for dead, as the alternative way to winning is to bump off all five other contestants...and it's a lot more satisfying. As long as you do all this before the timer reaches zero, then you'll have no problems. Take note though, as you do NOT get extra time for crossing the checkpoints, but instead for mowing down pedestrians! If you find the idea of mowing down digitised people as vile and disgusting as an equal-rights campaigned, then take the easy way out - go at top speed smashing into a few signposts and street lights instead. Why? Well, at least one of them is sure to catch a member of the public on the rebound! Such a thing is very satisfying to watch in an action replay!

As you progress through the game you'll amass credits, which after each game can be traded in for extras to soup-up your engine, armour or stronger items to attach to your car so you can do more damage to those of the others! Also, you start at the rank of 99, but as you go through the 36 races available, you'll eventually climb to the ranking of No.1...if you survive, that is. Each of the races has it's own description, my favourite being the last one which involves the slaughtering of many BSE-infected cows, and as such, It's Curtains for Beef!. And the name of that level? Beef Curtains of course!

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 subsequent races. When playing, I acquired a yellow Armoured Vehicle, and once in that I turned my nose up at anything else as this smashes through the opponents with ease.

Of course you can't just go smashing into everything and expect no recourse as your car will become damaged. A status screen in the corner shows the state of your car's systems, and as they become more damaged, they begin to fail or malfunction altogether. You can repair some of the damage to your car during a race though by pressing the repair button (initially set as Backspace), or repairing all of it by double-clicking on the button.

If you get stuck upside down and don't want to wait for someone to smash into you to put you back on your wheels, pressing Recover (initially set as Insert) will, for a price, right your position.

Installing the Game

Installation is simple and can be done both in DOS and from within Windows 95. Done through DOS, you can then choose to have the program automatically select your soundcard type, or select it manually. In Windows 95, not only will it automatically select and configure your soundcard, but you are also provided with DirectX drivers version 3a which are required, although also available on the internet now are the drivers for version 5.0.

If you're stuck between choosing a medium or full installation, the full one only benefits you if you have a CD-ROM drive slower than quad-speed as the only bonus you get out of it is to copy the FMV sequences onto the hard-drive. As most PC's these days come equipped with quad-speed or better, a medium installation should suffice.

Main Menu

The main menu appears after the introduction movie, which like any cut-scene can be interrupted by hitting any key or clicking the mouse, and includes options to start a new single-player game, a new network game (this version in 16Mb only), or the chance to load in a previously-saved game. You can also save your position, although if you do this during a race, it will only save the position at the start of a race, so you can only save the game inbetween races and after completing the current race.

The sound options control the music and effects, and there are a large number of graphics options for customising the complexity of the graphics to enable those with slower PCs to gain some speed. You can also select one of four preset keyboard controls setups, or alter them to fit your own preference. Alternatively, if you have a steering wheel (bought from a computer games shop and not ripped out of your car) you can use that instead to wreak your havoc.

New Game

When starting a new single-player game, you can select one of two drivers, Max Damage and Die Anna, the names of which can be changed to protect the innocent. During the game you can witness the reactions of the drivers via the Pratcam, which can be turned off should you tire of Die Anna piercing your ears every time she screams, but then let's be realistic, if you were strapped into a car being driven and thrown about by someone else, and had no control over it, wouldn't you be screaming ?

Skill Screen

Three skill levels. That's all you need to know, but they're not called Easy, Medium and Hard, as you'd expect, but bizarrely :

• 1. As Easy as killing bunnies with axes
  
• 2. Normal everyday carnage
  
• 3. Harder than French-kissing a cobra

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 of laps, length of track. The View Info button will change to View Racers which allows you to check out mugshots of the various opponents along with an image of their vehicle, plus how they plan to slaughter you!

• Change Race
  If the current race is too hard, just change it! You'll be given a choice of 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, power of items to whip the ass of your opponents as long as you've earned enough credits during the game.

• Change Car
  Be mean, be really mean! As mentioned earlier, after smashing up certain cars beyond recognition during the game, you'll be able to take them over after they've been repaired for no extra charge. Note that any power-ups you've bought in the parts shop apply to all the cars you have at your disposal.

• Grid Position Screen (not in 8Mb version)
  Just before the race begins you will have a certain degree of freedom to choose your race position. Although you can't usually swap positions with someone who has a higher rank than you, you will occasionally receive a dare to swap places with a nutter who's only offering you the chance to go ahead in the hope of trashing you just as you think you're getting away with it.

• Race Summary Screen
  After the race, your race achievements are shown, listing your credits earned and lost, total credits, rank increase (if any) and present rank.

• Wrecks Gallery
  Want a good laugh? Click on the pictures of the cars you trashed in the last race and watch the 3D rotating model to see just how much damage you did inflict.

Action Replay (not in 8Mb version)

Once you discover this option, you'll never stop using it. Pressing the Enter key on the numeric keypad puts you in Action Replay mode. Just like a VCR, you can effectively tape the race and watch it back at your leisure. Due to the available memory, if the space available for action replay info fills up, the oldest stuff gets wiped.

As well as full control of the replay, there are three different camera angles. Very commendable, but there's only one I use, and you'll see why soon.

• Panning Camera
  A glorious collection of panning overhead views of the action, allowing you to see all the things you missed first time round and the camera tracked your car.

• Standard Camera
  View the game through your car's windscreen, and use the arrows to move the camera around.

• Action-tracking Camera
  This is the one to watch though, and is easily my favourite. Similar to the panning camera, the viewpoint of this one changes to the best view for watching a good wreck, or for watching the panic in a pedestrian's eyes as they attempt fruitlessly to escape your path of destruction. Watch in horror as the old lady's legs fly one way, and the zimmer-frame goes the other!

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 in real-life sometimes...

• Wheelspin
  Holding this button down allows you to turn very tightly, and also allows you to spin the car around under power when you hold accelerate, turn and wheelspin at the same time.

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

• Cheats Galore !
  Want to make extra money or extra kills? These cheats will help you do both. My favourites are Pedestrians Glued to ground to stop those irritating humans running away, and Pedestrian Electro-bastard Ray for when it doesn't matter than you just keep missing the people, as they'll fry when you come within an inch of their lives !!

           Effect                                           Codeword
  Mega Bonus (loadsa Money)                             GIVEMELARD
  Pedestrians Glued to ground                           SPAMSPAMSPAMSPAM
  Giant pedestrians                                     SMALLUDDERS
  Explosive pedestrians                                 SUPERHOOPS
  Hot rod (Huge speed increase)                         IGLOOFUN
  Turbo pedestrians (pedestrians move at high Speed)    FUNNYJAM
  Gravity has gone strange                              IHAVESOMESPAM
  Pinball mode                                          MOOSEONTHELOOSE
  Bouncy Bouncy                                         CHICKENFODDER
  Oh dear jelly suspension                              BUYOURNEXTGAME
  Pedestrians shown on map                              ILOVENOBBY
  Pedestrian Electro-bastard ray                        RUSSFORMARIO
  Blind pedestrians                                     HAMSTERSEX
  Pedestrian respawn                                    NAUGHTYTORTY
  Drugs                                                 INTHELOFT
  Grip-o-matic tyres                                    BOYSFROMTHEBUSH
  Pedestrian harvest (pedestrians stick to car)         TRAMSARESUPER
  Vesuvian corpses                                      ISLANDRULES
  Gravity from Jupiter                                  RABBITDREAMER
  

Blood Version ? Zombie Version ? Pardon?

Look at the map opposite. No, it's not the international scenario for the next Mission: Impossible film, but an indication of which countries have had which versions of this game.

In good ol' Blighty, the BBFC decreed that they wouldn't allow us to mow down ordinary people, even after applying an 18-certificate to the game, so UK gamers have to put up with mindless, identical zombies whose green blood looks more like guacamole all over your windscreen... or do we? Available on the internet, if you look for it, and you don't have to look too hard I can assure you, is a Gore Patch which reinstates the human pedestrians.

Also available is a 3Dfx patch for those with suitably-equipped 3Dfx graphics cards to improve the quality and speed of the graphics.

Graphics, Sound and Playability

The graphics and the interaction between the cars, pedestrians and scenery is all first rate. Each of the cars is very detailed, mainly down to the fact that they've been rendered with polygons, as is the scenery, the only parts which are sprites being some track accessories and the pedestrians. Also, the collision-detection is spot-on.

The sounds in the game set the tone perfectly, but lose a point for being not a great deal more than you'd expect from a racing game. The sounds that do stand out are the grinding crunches between the cars which are great fun. If you have your PC connected up to a hifi or surround amplifier, make sure you have the volume turned up as you plow into the opposition!

Playability is nothing short of excellent. The combination of keys can take a little getting used to, but once you've worked out what goes where, or have configured the keys to suit your own preference, you're well on your way to venting your frustration on the bad guys. After this, it's a case of practice makes perfect, or try, try, try, try and try again...and again and teach the opposition a lesson they'll never forget.

Overall

Overall, for me, this is the game of the year so far. It takes the conventional racing game and gives it a sharp kick in the teeth, not to mention doing the same for political correctness. :)

If I wanted to make one alteration, I'd allow the saving of your position from within a race, but then the way it stands now will make you try just that bit harder which may increase the longevity of this game as you won't want to stop until you reach the top-slot.