PS4 (reviewed)/Xbox One
Developed By: Stainless Games
Published By: Sold Out
Date of Release: July 8, 2016
In the year 1997, the feces hit the radiator fan. A racing game so vulgar, crass and violent was released that even the pope* lost his shit. Carmageddon had arrived in full force, and the gaming world would never be the same. Contestants would strap themselves into motorized death machines, and try to smash the crap out of their opponents while flattening as many pedestrians as possible along the way. Reaching the finish line was optional. Back in the day all this gratuitous gore was shocking and memorable, but this day and age it doesn't carry quite so much in the shock factor department, though it's still a decent way to spend an afternoon.
Thankfully the newest reincarnation of the franchise, Carmageddon Max Damage, has brought things forward into modern times. From the shiny chrome-plated graphics to the bone-crunching sound effects, they've provided the full package here. Also much improved is the game's control system, which quite frankly was an utter shitshow on the older PC games in the series. Everything that made the franchise fan-f**king-tastic has returned full force, and then some. The classic Carmageddon gameplay mode is here, where you can take the checkpoints, smash all your foes, or tediously hunt down each and every pedestrian to win (blah!).
That's not to say everything is popping up smelling like roses. The load times in particular reek like bullshit, sometimes taking several minutes to load up the carnage. The framerate tanked a few times on me as well, but with that much highly-detail gut-spewing destruction onscreen at once it's to be expected that the game engine might shit it's pants occasionally. But despite a couple of dingleberries in the mix, this hot mess still comes out on top. It's saving grace is the fact that on the market right now there's just nothing like it at all, and that fact makes it a gleaming polished turd bobbing in a sea of boring cookie-cutter sequelitis diarrhea. So go for it, blow your load (of cash) all over Carmageddon: Max Damage. Just make sure to wash your hands when you're done.
*Greg Pope, MP
