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Reviewed by Marty Dodge
Most images in this review can be enlarged by clicking on them
Over three months after being released on the PC, Carmageddon II is finally out for the Mac here in the US. In a bizarre gaming industry snafu, Carma II, the game is still not out in the Europe as SCI (UK) has just made an agreement with GT Interactive to handle distribution. SCI claims that the Interplay version is tamer than the European release. I doubt whether this will mollify the irate MacCarma fans in the UK and beyond.
SCI made a great effort to make Carma II
different from its predecessor. In some areas such as
graphics and physics it is greatly improved over the first
one, in others it is much worse. Someone at SCI decided that
missions were the thing to set Carma II apart from its
predecessor. This person should be hit very hard in the head
as missions in Carma II go along way to ruin the entire
game. Being stuck on the same mission for days on end in
neither fun nor useful. All missions are time limited with
no opponents and no way of extending the time. These
missions become tedious on about the third attempt. SCI has
admitted that the mission part of Carma II has been less
than popular. An SCI PR rep claimed that emails to SCI are
50/50 pro/anti missions, I doubt this to be entirely
accurate if the C3 Wish List message board is anything to go
by. I trawled through over 100 messages and found 1
pro-mission post and a great number against.
The second major problem with Carma II is the official system requirements. In my opinion and that off several major Carma II fan sites, (is a good place to start as they have an extensive piece on requirements.) for the Mac at the stats are way too low. My advice is that the minimum requirements to make the game playable are G3 233 with at least 4 MB VRAM and at least 64 built in RAM. I had to purchase 4 MB of VRAM for my RagePro card so that Carma II was not choppy and unplayable on the higher levels. I hear reports that those with slower machines and video cards are performing well but then again your card must have at least 4 MB VRAM to make it worth playing at all. Another annoyance when one has less than 4MB VRAM is that one cannot use the map feature, this is especially a problem in the mission levels.
Carma II does have
some good points however, hence the 4 rating. If you have a
fast enough machine with the right bell and whistles, Carma
II really shines. The visuals are amazing. Windows break,
signs break, cars break in half and bits of your car fall
off. There are a whole new array of power ups, some of which
are anti-pedestrian weaponry, like a flame-thrower and
morning star tail. There are of course new cars ranging from
a Bus to a WWII German airplane. There are 30 new tracks,
ranging from an aircraft carrier (USS Lewinsky) to an
airport with active airplanes. Unfortunately you cannot blow
them up, and they are merely obstacles. A greater variety
(150 different types) of pedestrians and animals provide
hours of gory fun. Oh yes and for some of us the soundtrack
is a bonus, Iron Maiden and Carmageddon, quite a combo.
I have not been able to test this version of
Carmageddon on a LAN, but I suspect that it will be as much
fun as it predecessor. As with the first edition of the
game, up to 8 can play on a LAN at one time and only the
host machine needs to have a CD in it. Full installs must be
done on all other machines. It surprised many that there is
no Internet or Modem to Modem play with Carma II. I suspect
the reason is that there is so much action taking place on
the screen that only Cable/ADSL players would be able to
play at any sort of reasonable level.
Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now is a great
disappointment, but still a great deal of fun to play. As
with the first game, expect to see lots of custom cars,
pedestrians and tracks popping up all over the internet. I
would approach CarmaII with caution if you have either a
slow computer or never played Carmageddon. There are no
plans for a Mac demo, so you have no way of trying it before
you buy. It is best that I finish this review now, before I
change my mind and lower my rating. I seem to change my mind
hourly, missions in a racing game! Bah!
