However, all you need to know is that the plot is more of the same. There's 50 totally
destructible vehicles, over 48 missions and races to complete, 9 3D single-player environments
to 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 state
recommendations of a Pentium III (266Mhz) or an AMD K7/Athlon (500Mhz)
and I can well believe it. When I played
Carmageddon 2 upon release
I'd only just upgraded my PC and it was straining a little then - just after
I'd got the first game to run like the wind.
When I first heard about this installment being in development it was
said 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've
broken the bank by upgrading my PC to the spec at the bottom of this review
and 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 the
demo featured a rickety wooden bridge in the desert area which moved up and
down as you drove across it quite realistically. Now, it doesn't move at
all. Rather a shame as it was quite a cool effect.
The sound is much better than the previous games and the TDR 2000
demo, 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, but
the SFX are much more entertaining, particularly the squelch as you run
someone over :)
As ever, the control system causes no problems, but those playing this game
for 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 this
is for you and at only £19.99, it's a must-buy. You'll need a pretty
beefy PC to run it on, but if it's fast enough to make games run like shit
off a shovel then you can't afford to miss it!
If you're after some more Carmageddon excitement, you can check out the
official SCI Website at www.sci.co.uk which
also includes links to a stack of Carmageddon-related sites, or click on these
links to access reviews of the previous releases:
Carmageddon,
Carmageddon 2
and the
Carmageddon:
Splat Pack.
GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ORIGINALITY ENJOYMENT
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
You've heard my comments on the graphics - if you have the spec. for it,
you'll be in heaven.
