There's an expression that the only people who need the latest and fastest computers are those whose professional lives demand it and gamers. In that spirit, Carmageddon 2 is one of those games that's bound to push your hardware to its limits with its advanced and very demanding 3D engine that's capable of incredible detail especially with a 3Dfx card.
Requirements: You have been warned
We can't stress enough the hardware demands that this game requires in order to run acceptably. A G3 is a must, and even a G3 upgrade may prove to be inadequate at some of the slower speeds. Suffice it to say, the simple requirements of a PowerPC and System 7.5 are highly understated. The latest version of the Mac OS is always recommended, and while the game has a suggested RAM requirement of 40 MB, you'll be better off giving it more (just make sure you increase the size of the appropriate application within the Carma2 folder inside Carmageddon 2, and not the simple "launcher" application which is what you most likely always will be loading up).
Carnage: You have been warned
Carmageddon 2 is everything a sequel to a hot game should be, although the nonexistent story line and relatively linear game progression have been carried over from the original. With a game like Carmageddon, though, the story line wouldn't exactly be your reason to play it. Carmageddon 2 features better graphics, better sounds, dozen of vehicles, more detail, more damage, more pedestrians, more power ups, more levels, and a lot of other improvements.
The objective in Carmageddon 2 is to earn credits and win races by one of three ways:making it through all the checkpoints first (boring), destroying all your opponents (which is relatively easy but satisfying), or killing all the pedestrians (nearly impossible, although fun to try). You won't be driving Miss Daisy in this game, you'll be driving over her.
The various levels (40 in all, which includes 10 "match" races where you have no opponents and are racing against the clock) are all nicely designed and include some memorable locations, such as the USS Lewinsky where you race on an aircraft carrier complete with flying planes in the sky, gun turrets, and of course the many crew members.
After races you have the option of purchasing the vehicles of your opponents, adding them to your list of cars you can choose from. While your default Eagle 3 is one of the nicest cars to choose from, commanding some of the others can be plenty of fun, especially the semi and dump truck, both of which will make short work of your enemies. The engine sounds are very realistic and at a certain element of realism to this highly unrealistic game.
All things considered, Carmageddon 2 isn't a very challenging game although its replay value remains none the less high. You can only lose a race by running out of time or completely destroying your car, but the latter can be avoided by the on-the-fly reparations that can be performed during the race. Your computer opponents, however, can't repair their vehicles so a few head on collisions will knock them out of the race as you drive away repairing your car back to 100%.
Pedestrians!
While trashing an opponent's car is satisfying, it doesn't always measure up to the sadistic requirements or nature of some gamers. For those, there are pedestrians an animals. Hit a pedestrian fast enough and his body will rip to pieces, or feel free to go for the crueler approach of dragging them under your car them slamming on your breaks, sending them flying forward and off a cliff, into a lake, or whatever means or torture you can think of.
Besides giving your car a boost or some sort of weapon, power ups can also alter the state of pedestrians. The huge heads power up does exactly what its name implies, other power ups will send your victims floating when you hit them or guarantee that their limbs fly off upon contact. The drunken pedestrians power up is very amusing, as is the suicidal pedestrians one that sends them all running in the path of your call. Straighten up your car and let them fly. Just watch out for the giant pedestrians -- you can't kill them -- and good luck seeing the pedestrians when they're in stick figure mode.
Quenches your thirst for carnage
Despite how sadistic the game sounds Carmageddon is, in your editor's humble opinion, less violent than games like Quake and Unreal for the simple reason that its out of proportion realism, or lack of it, turns it more into an amusing high than an exploration into evil. Just remember that when you step into your car, society seems to frown on you if you carry over your driving from Carmageddon 2 into real life.
