$16.99Carmageddon: Max Damage Racing Optional, Carnage Mandatory
Smash rivals, chase silly scores and grab power-ups that turn the whole race into chaos, on foot or behind the wheel.
Is Carmageddon: Max Damage worth it?
Carmageddon: Max Damage is worth it if…
- you grew up on the original Carmageddon and want that chaos with modern graphics
- you like games where wrecking opponents matters more than crossing the line first
- you enjoy dark, silly humour and physics that go wrong in funny ways
- you want short, frantic sessions you can replay over and over
- you prefer your racing games with gore, power-ups and zero respect for the rules
Screenshots
Winning by any means necessary
Every event gives you several ways to win, and none of them require coming first. Race checkpoints, wreck every opponent, or clear the streets of pedestrians: the choice is yours, and switching plans mid-event is half the fun. Ram a rival hard enough and their car crumples, they get wasted, and you can even steal their ride for yourself. One moment you are chasing checkpoints across town, the next you decide the driver ahead of you is worth more as scrap. It is not a racing game in any conventional sense, and that is exactly the point.
Cars that fall apart beautifully
Carmageddon invented real-time car damage back in 1997, and this entry takes it further. Crush, bend, twist and split vehicles in two, smash parts off, then watch your own car deform into a surreal sculpture after a big collision. The damage system is the star: cars are built to mangle and be mangled, each with its own character and job. Between events you upgrade Power, Armour and Offensive stats and customise paint and rims, turning each ride into your own personal wrecking machine. The physics get wobbly at times, but the crashes land more often than not.
Power-ups and other bad ideas
The power-ups are where the comedy lives. Classics like the Repulsificator, Kangaroos and Solid Granite return in enhanced form, alongside new arrivals such as Pelvic Thrust and a family of power-ups called the Tossers. Stack them together and the results get properly stupid: grooving helium-filled pedestrians, or peds left without legs at a Temporary Rapture. You grab them off the street mid-event and decide on the spot whether that glowing pickup will save you or ruin you. The humour is juvenile and proud of it, and the absurd situations it creates are the game's best jokes.
What can you do besides the career?
Can you play with friends online?
Yes. There is online and offline multiplayer with several event types, including Car Crusher, Fox 'n Hounds, Death Race and Checkpoint Stampede. Fox 'n Hounds is a long-time favourite of the studio itself. Be aware that finding strangers online can be tricky these days, so it works best with friends you bring yourself. Solo players still get a full career, a freeplay mode, challenges, collectables and hidden smelly bushes to hunt down.
Do you have to run over pedestrians to enjoy it?
Not always, but the game is built around it. Pedestrians and cows are points, and clearing them is one of the standard ways to win an event. If that premise puts you off, this is not your game: the violence is the core, played for laughs rather than realism. If it sounds funny rather than grim, you are the target audience.
