Carmageddon 2: Carpocalypse Now

aka: Carmageddon 64, Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now
Moby ID: 1371
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Carmageddon II is essentially more of the same. Whether this is a good or bad thing pretty much depends on how you liked the first.

In case you need to be told, this game sends the politically-correct-o-meter flying towards absolute zero, perhaps only beaten by Duke Nukem 3D. The framework is a futuristic race inspired by Deathrace 2000 and The Cars That Ate Paris: The contestants, in sport cars, monster trucks, and other motorized abominations, are placed on a track, a real populated area. Getting to the finish line first is secondary, and in fact seldom happens; the real winner is the one to trash everyone else, running over pedestrians on the way for extra profit.

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Credits (Windows version)

111 People (104 developers, 7 thanks) · View all

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VP of Development
Executive Producer
Public Relations Manager
Marketing Managers
Manual Design and Layout
Traffic Manager
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QA Senior Tester
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[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 71% (based on 38 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.4 out of 5 (based on 110 ratings with 7 reviews)

Trying to beat the best ever wreck-o-rama game ain't that easy.

The Good
If you have happened to read my Carmageddon 1 review you know that for me it's the maybe the best game in the world. You can also see that on my nickname.

What about Carmageddon 2 then? Well, it's basically using the same idea as it's ancestor but it upgrades the graphics, sounds, damages, pretty much everything. But does it all work better than with the first one? Well... no.

When you first look at the game you see that the graphics have been upgraded with a rough hand. Well, it's a good thing, really, as the designers have made good graphics but didn't use too much of the newest gimics to make the game look like a graphics card demo.

When you start playing you notice that the sound engine has been slightly upgraded. Sure, it's not awesome, but it makes it's job.

From the first crash you notice the new damage engine. That's the first real part to make hoorays about. The cars get really demolished this time. For instance, if you hit a wall sideways, the side of the car gets smashed. Some pieces fall off if you damage them enough. The windows get shattered, the doors and the hood get opened up and the chassis might bend. But the most stylish part is when you hit a corner of a wall head-on. Your car get's sliced... Literally. If you're in luck, you can get it fixed up, but usually when the car goes into two directions at once, your race is lost.

The physics engine has been upgraded, but the basic stuff is the same. As I mentioned, the cars get damaged more realistically. One another new thing, though: You can drive through windows and some walls. Well, that's a new thing. One of the scenes has a whole wall full of glass. You can just break the windows if you don't hit the steel supports.

The driveability is pretty much the same as before, and no big news there. And the whole thing has been cherished with new levels and cars. the cars are in fact good, but the levels are checked out in the negative section.

All of these things have been upgraded more or less succesfully. These things make the game better than the first. But...

The Bad
... SCI has also upgraded the gameplay. And that's a big mistake.

First, they have increased the skill level. Well, that's not bad, but they've done it all wrong, by tightening the time limits. With Carmageddon 2, the first seconds are not relaxed driving around. They are panicking on the road as you see your time going on red.

Another thing is the level system of the new game. With the old one, you had five places to drive at a time, and as you won races, you lost old places and gained new ones. You also had very different scenes all the time to choose from, and if you didn't like one, you could just leave it alone. The system was a good example on how it should be made.

Unfortunately the new one is an example on how it shouldn't be done. In Carmageddon 2, you have ten levels and all of them have three similar scenes and one mission... Yes, the game has missions. It might sound good, but it most definately ain't even near good. The missions are not fun. They have waaay too tight time limits and if you make one mistake you have no change to make it. The goals are mostly "destroy all the antennas" or "kill all the cows/lunatics/somethings". You have to win all the three races and the mission to get to the next level. On level's, there are usually two races with the same scene and one different. All this stuff with the levels is a very big minus.

The scenes aren't as good as the old ones. Sure, this one has trains and/or civilian vehicles around, but whey don't get demolished. they are just moving chicanes on wheels. You don't even get points from them. Also, the 3D model citizens are not as nice to drive on as the sprite ones.

On the final note, the game is boring on a long shot. Playing it through took me (a player who played Red Alert 2 and Gran Turismo through over a weekend) two weeks just because I had to keep pauses due the boredom the game causes. You just can't go into the Carmageddon world and drive around hour after hour. I mean sure, you can hit a few pedestrians and drive around some more, but it's not fun after a while.

The Bottom Line
SCI managed to build a legend on wheels with the first Carmageddon. The sequel had big expectations, but it failed them almost completely. The relaxing and amusing feeling of the old game has been taken away on the small but very annoying mistakes in the gameplay compartment.

But, Carmageddon is still Carmageddon. The added graphics and improved damage model succeed in making the mayhem of racing fun in short takes. A few games a day, maybe. Maybe even less. If you get bored, take a pause and play more when you feel like it.

Windows · by Zamppa (99) · 2002

Looks better than original, but plays only marginally better at best.

The Good
Graphics are smoother with a bit more detail (e.g., cars' parts actually fall off and remain on tracks; people can be crippled). Bigger tracks suggest less inclination to "race" as it's easier to demolish one's fellow racers than to complete checkpoints; in the original game and its add-ons, I tended to "race" and complete checkpoints until the last dozen or so tracks because time and tracks suggested racing.

The Bad
While the gruesome idea of hitting pedestrians and watching other racers sit immobile in their cars after the coup de grace is not necessarily exhilarating, the improvement in graphics over the "Splat Pack" add-on is nice... after all, what's the point of more tracks and cars if one can't tell a tree from a pedestrian due to too much pixelating? Also, the multiple "floors" for each track, while offering some variety, was a tad annoying for certain levels (e.g., the aircraft carrier) if one couldn't find the way to reach that "floor". Finally, the missions could be incredibly aggravating and in a few cases (e.g., air control tower), seem to rely more on luck than skill.

The Bottom Line
Relax after a day's "road rage" commute: vent your aggressions in a game rather than in reality.

Windows · by justinstyles (4) · 2000

Absolute Insanity - Oh the hours I've spent...

The Good
Playing around with this one. I can vividly remember how excited the release of Carmegeddon II had me almost a decade ago. The game holds up remarkably well and still occupies a place in my gaming heart.

It's got a unique (In my 15 years of gaming, at least) replayability about it.

The insane physics still appeal to gamers years later, as recent titles like the Flatout series and from a few years before that, 1nsane show.

And it's that very same engine that allows for such insanity that makes this game so replayable. You're never going to slice your car in half the same way as you slide into the side of a building at 200 miles an hour. Playing chicken with a commercial airliner rocketing towards you, being compressed into a ball of crushed steel by an aircraft carrier elevator, pushing a pedestrian off a ledge into a 250 foot free fall... These are all situations unique to a game this original and none will ever be exactly replicated in game.

For basically a glorified racing game, you've got unimaginable freedom.

Not the greatest game ever created by any stretch of the imagination, but of all the "mindless" games I've played, the very most replayable.

A still active modding community, very solid graphics, tight controls, a huge variety of cars from armored sports models to logging vehicles and glorified go karts... For what it is the games just about perfect. Not exceeded by the first title in the series nor its predecessor.

The Bad
The game appeals to me on just about every level. It's not a difficult game to nitpick at, especially if it's not your cup of tea. But in my opinion...

The music could of been a bit more varied.

The "Kill so many pedestrians" objectives at the end of every three normal levels are almost all tedious and sometimes nearly impossible. I've always skipped them via codes.

There's a bug on the aircraft level where your opponent disappears, leaving the mission impossible to beat.

The Bottom Line
Without a doubt one of the most insane things, none the less games, I've ever encountered in my life. Not much to compare to making a sheep explode with an armored car going 650 miles an hour.

Give it a chance. I think the majority of gamers, especially if you've got a moderately open mind, will be pleasantly surprised.

Windows · by Russell Brisson (5) · 2007

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Argentina

The administration of Buenos Aires, Argentina tried to ban this game in 1999. They didn't succeed.

German version

The US version is banned in Germany for excessive violence against the innocent (30.10.99). The German version is censored - it has robots instead of humans.

References to the game

Stainless is thanked for Carmageddon 2in the readme for Grim Fandango.

Soundtrack

The Music in Carmageddon 2: Carpocalypse Now is played by the band Iron Maiden.

UK version

The UK version has zombies instead of pedestrians and green blood.

Information also contributed by David Moron, Emepol and phlux

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Chris Martin.

Nintendo 64 added by Kartanym. Macintosh added by Scaryfun.

Additional contributors: Ola Sverre Bauge, Attila, Corn Popper, tarmo888, Patrick Bregger, Victor Vance, FatherJack.

Game added April 26, 2000. Last modified February 17, 2024.