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From the archive: this review first ran on the Mac Gaming Alliance (MGA), the Mac games site that lived here on DimensionZ in the late 1990s. It was published around 1999 and is reproduced as originally written, with the original screenshots (click to enlarge). More in the Mac Gaming Alliance archive.
| Publisher | XYZ Entertainment |
|---|---|
| Tested on | PowerMac G3 233 130 RAM (VM on) |
| Gameplay | 5 / 5 apples |
| Graphics & Sound | 4 / 5 apples |
| Interface | 5 / 5 apples |
| Difficulty | 4 / 5 apples |
| Bugs | 5 / 5 apples |
| Overall | 5 / 5 apples |
| Reviewed by | Marty Dodge |
Assault Vehicles is one of the those exceptions to the rule, it is not made by Ambrosia and it is a great game. AV has come along at the perfect time for all Carmageddon fans. Just when reliable sources inform us that Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now looks like it will be out in the new year at best, up pops AV to fill the gap. It is simple car combat game where you pummel your opponents with guns, rockets, mines and a few special attacks.
Gameplay
The game runs smoothly and rapidly on my machine in all modes. There is no screen jump or pauses. I am sure that the game is even better in Multiplayer LAN suffering none of the long loading time problems so often experienced with Carma and other games. Basically there are five zones in which one can play. These arenas (think Car Wars arenas with natural instead of cement borders.) are located in Egypt (complete with Pyramids), Himalayas, the Midwest, Siberia and South America. In the Trophy game one faces one more opponent at each level (1,2,3,4,5 max) which one has to kill to advance to the next level of play. After completing all areas one moves onto the Gold Trophy contest where one gets awards as one advances. (Options and two vehicles are amoung some of the goodies available.)
There are two other modes, both can involve team play with other cars. These are Elimination and Kill Count, last man stranding and a pre-set kill amount respectively. Both of these ways are a great way to learn how to play the game and develop skills needed in the Trophy chase. It would also pay to try this a few times before facing human opponents in the multiplayer mode.
Graphics/Sound
They are not basic but not the latest either, but then again this is shareware after all. Graphics are clean and uncomplicated. There is day/night modes and even the occasional rain shower. There is no graphical object overlap that there is many games of this type. The sounds are basic cars noises, nothing special but nothing too annoying either.
Interface/Difficulty
The interface is mostly on the keyboard, although the mouse can be used for movement. Keys are customisable so both lefties and righties will be happy. I recommend the standard layout for movement (numeric keypad) while using the defaults for the action keys. The controls do not take too long to get used to, what takes a while is learning how to survive and avoiding sucking missiles from all sides. One sits in the car and looks out the front, below this is a basic dashboard with information about location of enemies & allies, damage and armament.
The Trophy chase in single player is not at all easy and it takes some skill and tactics to survive past the third or fourth area. One must learn to conserve ones’ cars in the early stages so it will be possible to survive when facing 5 other opponents. Fortunately the baddies do have a habit of pummeling each other as well as you. Your allies take offence when you hit them as well, and are prone to nailing you with a missle or a shot if you hit them by mistake.
Bugs
None that I could find. There may have been some, as there is an update on the site for those who have earlier versions of the game.
Conclusion
This is a great little game that does what it does well. The only criticism I can think of is that one needs a copy of the CD is each machine on a LAN. Of course the fact that the game costs all of $15 from their website does make up for this problem. This is the perfect game for a 30 min session of flatten your co-worker. Assault Vehicles will fill the crevass in my life until Carma II comes out. If you like offensive driving games then this is the game for you.
Find a copy
Assault Vehicles has been out of print for years, but used copies of the original Mac release still turn up, and some classics have been re-released for modern systems. Search for Assault Vehicles on Amazon.
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! 
