Carmageddon

aka: Carmageddon 3D, Carmageddon: Fahr zur Hölle!, Hole Hege
Moby ID: 367
Windows Specs
Add-on (official) Add-on (unofficial) Included in Special Edition See Also

Description official descriptions

Carmageddon is a violent car racing game where the racing element can be equally important as wrecking opponents' cars or gathering kills by ramming into pedestrians. At the beginning the player has only one car and is ranked at #99. The overall objective is to race all the way to the top, collecting the opponents' cars on the way as trophies (and possibly replacements to one's vehicle). In the race itself the player tries to damage opponents by driving into them, and can also kill pedestrians.

Damage, kills and spectacular moves earn credits for upgrades and even making repairs to the car at anytime during the race. If a specific opponent's car is wrecked multiple times in successive races, it is added to the choice of available vehicles. There are many power-ups strewn around the courses that range from useful (more speed, instant brake) to fun and downright absurd. Though the player can win a race by finishing first, wrecking everything in sight is encouraged. The game offers open environments where exploration away from the racing course is encouraged.

Spellings

  • חולה ×”×’×” - Hebrew spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

106 People (101 developers, 5 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 81% (based on 33 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 154 ratings with 11 reviews)

Though outdated, it's still one of the greatest racing games in computer game history.

The Good
As you can see from my nickname, I love the game. I'll try to tell you why.

Nowadays if you look at Carmageddon, you can't see anything remarkable in it. It has completely out-of-date graphics engine, ear-ripping sound effects and, being a DOS game, it takes some doing to get it work.

If you get past the point of disgust(No, I didn't need to pass it as I played the game right after it was published, but the current players with all the hyper GeForce cards might have to) you really start to see the sheer brilliance of the game. After you get into the game, you can't stop until it's been played from beginning to end. And suddenly you don't care about the graphics or the sounds.

The first point of brilliance is the playability of the game. The physics model is absolutely fantastic! The cars have a realistic amount of grip which alters on the change of the material you drive in. The jumps are realistic, and the car flies around and whether you land or your wheels or not depends on one thing: The laws of physics. The cars handle like a dream. The cars differ from one another, while Max Damage's car is quite easy to drive and still quite fast, Vlad's funny car is deadly fast but a true nightmare on corners. The damage model is also quite good, in fact it was one of the best at it's time but the time as made it obsolete. Still, it's good enough for the game.

Second point is the levels. There are some levels at least I don't like(like the mine and the industrial complex), but most of them are very alive. There are hundreds of pedestrians in the streets and many things you can interact with. For example you can hit a street light so hard that it falls down and then you can throw it at the pedestrians. But there's one thing that makes the levels the best: The freedom. Sure, you can race on the track, but why the hell to do that, if you can drive wherever you want?

The last point is the brilliant idea. The designers took one of the first moves to the direction that has encouraged the makers of GTA and such games to use the level of violence they use. Carmageddon was one of the first violent hits. The fact that you get points for demolishing your enemies and killing pedestrians still sounds like a good idea. SCI had the skills to make a good game out of the idea, which made Carmageddon a legend.

The Bad
The graphics, sound, and damage engines are outdated. No more critics from me.

The Bottom Line
SCI made a legendary game. It's a great shame that they couldn't keep up the quality in the sequels. Carmageddon is and seems like it's going to be the best wreck-o-rama game around for a long time to come.

DOS · by Zamppa (99) · 2002

Fun x Fun = Fun²

The Good
I loved the fact that you can run over innocent civilians. Simple but great idea. And you can run em over and get all kinds of special bonuses, like the splatter bones and the bonus for artistic impression etc etc. I really laughed my *ss off when i first played this game, I never had so much fun.

I loved the music. Normally I don't like rock/metal music that much, but this really adds up to the "stress killer" level of the game.

I really loved the variety of vehicles in this game. From basic sedan's with the grill removed to beetle's with spikes on top of them, bulldozers, bigfoots.... you name it, it's in the game.

I also love all the characters that drove the vehicle's. Their mugshots at the beginning of the race is all you'll ever see of them in the game, but it's always fun to know who you are racing against.

The characters can also challenge you to change positions at the start. You can accept it or "chicken out" on them.

The cops are really annoying in this game, but when you waste a cop in this game, you'll have an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. Lovely!

The Bad
Well there are some lame things about this game. First of all, you can always splatter a pedestrian by bumping lightly into them. Doesn't matter how hard you'll hit them, they'll die anyway.

Another thing that I hated were the annoying remarks from Max Damage and Die Anna. It is fun when you first play the game, but it really gets into your head when you've played the game for about 15 minutes. Fortunately you can turn that off.



The Bottom Line
This game is fun. It is repetitive, but you won't notice it that quickly. If you had a rough day, and you want to blow off some steam, then this is the game for you.

DOS · by Goteki45 (323) · 2003

Fun at first, sucks later.

The Good
Well, it is very addictive at first (not as much as GTA though...)

The Bad
For one, the 3D engine is horrible. Really horrible. Slow even on a P2-350, and doesn't even look good enough to justify it. The controls are really, REALLY bad and even the pedestrians' screams aren't enough to satisfy the unwary buyer.

The Bottom Line
Leave it alone, and get it over with.

DOS · by Tomer Gabel (4539) · 1999

[ View all 11 player reviews ]

Trivia

Death Race 2000

The whole game is reminiscent of the 1975 movie Death Race 2000. The movie's premise is identical to that of Carmageddon. It featured David Carradine and a naive pre-Rocky Sly Stallone. And if you look at the main character's car, it is exactly like the main car in Carmageddon with a different paint job. Exidy's late 70's arcade game Death Race was another descendant of this movie.

German index

On October 31, 1997, the English version of Carmageddon was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS. More information about this topic can be found in the game group.

German version

The German version had robots, not people. This was due to Germany's strict legislation regarding violence in computer games. Those robots are also hidden in the standard releases. Calling CARMA.EXE with the "-ROBOTS" parameter will replace pedestrians with robots.

Indian version

The cows in Carmageddon were removed from the Indian release.

O. J. Simpson reference

One of the opponents, "OK Stimpson", is a clear reference to American football celebrity and actor O. J. Simpson in name and likeness. The game also alludes to the murder trial Simpson was involved in, by showing stains of a red liquid on his shirt in Stimpson's portrait picture, as well as having him drive a "Fraud Broko" SUV, similar to the Ford Bronco involved in a police chase in relation to the real-world case. Most likely due to the legally sensitive nature of the topic, some of the references were removed for the US release. The driver was renamed "Juicy Jones" (still a reference to Simpson's nickname, The Juice) and the stains on his shirt recolored to orange.

Sound

The engine noises came from a variety of places. One was my '67 Buick. Another was a guy who happened to come and check my hard drive. He had a rally car replica, so we strapped a minidisc to the back and he drove it around the Isle of Wight at highly illegal speeds! The pedestrian squelching noises were made by my partner Bill, the design director. He refuses to admit how. We think they're some dubious bodily function."

--Patrick Buckland, interviewed in PC Review May 97

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to Carmageddon consisted partially of music by the band Fear Factory, with the songs Body Hammer, Demanufacture, and Zero Signal. These tracks were off their album Demanufacture, but had the vocals removed for the game.

Starship Titanic

Carmageddon is listed in the "thanks" section of the Starship Titanic end credits.

UFO

In the level "Roswell that ends well" it is possible to find a UFO. Go to the top of the big pyramid, and jump into it. After your fall, you will be able to see it.

UK version

The game was only given a release in the UK after a palette change, converting the humans into 'zombies' with green blood (There were also 'zombie' cows, etc). Later, a patch was released, restoring the original palette.

Information also contributed by Emepol, emerging lurker, Floodspectre, hydra9, JayBee, Late, Ola Sverre Bauge, Ummagumma, Xoleras and Yeah No

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by robotriot.

Android added by GTramp. iPad, iPhone added by Sciere. Symbian added by Kabushi. Windows added by The cranky hermit. Macintosh added by agaiz.

Additional contributors: Heikki Sairanen, Daniel Saner, tarmo888, Kabushi, formercontrib, Crawly, 1gnition, Patrick Bregger, GTramp.

Game added November 2, 1999. Last modified March 18, 2024.