With Carmageddon you complete the levels by going through all checkpoints, wrecking all opponents, or running over all the pedestrians. There are several game modes that put an emphasis on winning a certain way, such as going for checkpoints. You can earn power-ups to help you along the way, they can vary from a simple turbo boost all the way to a a giant spring to fling enemies around. Almost everything you do earns you points which then can be used to repair your car in real time, reset your position on track, and buy power ups.
Earlier a mentioned that Carmageddon: Reincarnation brings the franchise up to date, but that’s only partially true; things in the game do not look or feel like a game made in 2015. While the graphics are better than previous games they do look dated compared to other games games in 2015. In fact, go back to 2006 and compare it the likes of Motorstorm for the Playstation 3 and it lags behind even then. Combine the dated graphics with long load times, inconsistent frame rates, and car handling that feels like the cars are on ice and it’s doesn’t feel like a modern title. Music consists of mostly heavy metal style tracks, with one tune featuring a guitar part that sounds very similar to Slayer’s Raining Blood. The original game was subject to controversy in the press due to the violence and subject matter but I doubt it will get the press now as there are far more extreme games out there and the fact the graphics being a bit outdated keeps it from being too realistic.
While it is not the next-generation Carmageddon game I was looking, Carmageddon: Reincarnation does feel true to the series; but in a way that is also its problem. While there are more game modes and new power ups, the graphics and handling could do with an update, not to mention that it feels as if it left Early Access a bit too soon. Even with the issues I’ve mentioned Carmageddon: Reincarnation is fun to play, wrecking opponents is satisfying and if you’ve played the previous games in the series and enjoyed them then you will enjoy this update. Is it worth the full asking price? At this moment I would say no, since the release on the 21st of May things have been a little quiet. I expect at least one post-release patch to sort out some of the performance issues so I would say wait for it and see how well the game is supported by the developers or the modding community.
