Carmageddon: Reincarnation, the revival of the classic racing/pedestrian splatting franchise may not have been the return to form that many had hoped it would be, but it continues to build a loyal community around itself. And at the very least, the developers need to support the community by supporting the game.

Which brings us to our new update for the title, which adds two, freakishly destructive new vehicles to the game. The new cars added in the update are Shredlight, which is a sports car covered in saw blades, and Blitzkrieger, which a sports car in tank treads- both are admirable weapons of mass vehicular manslauther, helping you mow down pedestrians in the increasingly gruesome which made Carmageddon stand out to begin with.

You can check out how the new vehicles work in the video below. Carmageddon: Reincarnation is available now for PC via Steam. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage on the game.

If that was indeed the aim of Stainless Games, then the company did indeed pull off what they set out to do. If they were looking for a game that was going to bring a great deal of love and admiration back to the series then they have fallen short. Reincarnation is everything that did indeed make the series one of the most popular games in its generation. There is plenty of crash-em-up and kill-em fun to be had in this game.

"There is plenty of racing too, though, like other Carmageddon games, causing as much damage and destruction always surpasses any desire to see if I could actually win a race here or there."

There is plenty of racing too, though, like other Carmageddon games, causing as much damage and destruction always surpasses any desire to see if I could actually win a race here or there. Luckily, the game brings the same kind of ‘side missions’ as previous versions in the series had. In other words, in order to win rounds, I didn’t necessarily needed to finish first in whatever race I was running. The other way I could accomplish goals and win the round in my “career” was to run over as many people or destroy as many other cars as possible.

All of this was set to the background music that is a staple of this game, which is a combination of techno and heavy metal. Of course, it’s been so long since I actually played another Carmageddon game, it’s possible that I’ve forgotten that the original didn’t have any techno in it. This might be an addition specifically for the 2015 addition to a series that has been running for more than 20 years.

The music certainly gets me in a killing mood and when it comes to killing, business is good. Bodies go flying early and often and there’s plenty of blood flying as well, though this is also where the game reminds me just how much it falls short of other titles that offer the same kind of mayhem. Despite the fact that this series is one of the first that actually allowed you to do some real damage to people that were just out on the sidewalks trying to mind their own business, it doesn’t appear much has changed.

"The music certainly gets me in a killing mood and when it comes to killing, business is good. Bodies go flying early and often and there’s plenty of blood flying as well, though this is also where the game reminds me just how much it falls short of other titles that offer the same kind of mayhem."

Watching a grandma with a walker go flying over my car hood is still plenty satisfying when I’ve had a bad day, but GTA seems to have taken the crown away from Reincarnation and the like when it comes to realism. Of course, because this game is really a call back to a bygone era, that can be excused somewhat. This isn’t supposed to be “remastered” version of the old games. It’s supposed to be a new entry in the  series and it seems as though it’s supposed to be an entry that acts like the last decade in video games never existed.

The graphics for Carmageddon were never meant to look anything like Project CARS. The game has a cartoony appeal and therefore the cars and the people have a cartoony look. There’s nothing wrong with this approach. Some of my favorite games (Borderlands 2 and The Walking Dead) from the last couple of years are going entirely for an art style that is in your face about the fact that they are illustrated rather than mimicking real life. I have no problems at all with the game in that regard.

Still, the cartoonishness seems to stop right at the water’s edge and doesn’t take the next step. Why not make the gore really over the top if you’ve already decided to go with gore? Carmageddon disappoints in this regard as well, go big or go home, especially when going big will actually make the game better.

"The ingame world is one that isn’t anything special but does indeed harken back to the Carmageddons that came before it in a pleasing way."

The ingame world is one that isn’t anything special but does indeed harken back to the Carmageddons that came before it in a pleasing way. What we need to talk about now is how poorly the game runs. At first, I thought perhaps the massive loading times had something to do with my computer going on the fritz. Then I tried booting up any other game and realized that Carmageddon: Reincarnation is simply a title that runs incredibly slowly.

There were also some times when the framerate would drop way down or start to stutter. When you’re talking about a game that isn’t all that pretty to begin with, this becomes a kind of death knell for the title. In the end, I had some fun with the game, but when you consider the title seems to be one aimed at someone who wants to pick up and play the game from time to time, loading screens that can take five minutes isn’t a good thing.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Stainless Games’ Carmageddon: Reincarnation, a reimagining of the controversial pedestrian-killing racing game of yore, has left Steam Early Access and is now fully available to the general public.

The final commercial release includes 16 different chapters with 3 to 4 events each in the Career Mode. There are nine maps to choose from and 36 different routes to explore with 24 vehicles to choose from (with Kickstarter backers receiving a special edition bonus vehicle).

There will also be a multiplayer mode supporting up to eight players online or through LAN. There will be six different types of events playable through multiplayer including Ped Chase, Death Race, Checkpoint Stampede, Fox ‘n’ Hounds, Car Crusher and Classic Carmageddon.

Carmageddon: Reincarnation will also be releasing on the Xbox One and PS4 sometime in the near future, so stay tuned for more information on the same. Meanwhile, what are your thoughts on the game finally being available on PC? Let us know in the comments below.

The classic (and controversial) car combat/racing series Carmageddon will be returning next month, as the release date for the next installment, the eagerly anticipated and crowd funded Carmageddon: Reincarnation, releases on April 23, 2015.

Any PC player from the 1990s will go starry eyed at the mention of Carmageddon and wax eloquent about the game that was generating controversy because of its depiction of gore and pedestrian violence and manslaughter long before modern GTA was ever a thing. Its return marks just another chapter in the ongoing PC gaming renaissance.

The game will launch with a multiplayer mode capable of supporting up to eight players at a time, as well as a career mode that will include multiple event types. Those event types include:

• Classic Carmageddon
• Car Crusher
• Fox ‘n’ Hounds
• Ped Chase
• Death Race
• Checkpoint Stampede

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage and information of the title as we approach its release.

PC players who grew up in the 1990s probably remember the controversial but amazingly fun to play Carmageddon games; with the revival of the classic IP, Carmageddon Reincarnation, having been announced a while ago, and having been available in an alpha state, the rest of us have probably been getting antsy about when we get to hands on with a full build of the game.

The answer? Now. Though the game is still not complete, it finally has a build resembling the envisioned final product, and it is now available in public beta on Steam. This means the full game – including career mode, freeplay, multiplayer, achievements, challenges, all cars, levels and arenas – is now available to play.

Stainless, however, warned players that their progress may get wiped at any moment, though they also promised that they will be updating the game as soon and efficiently as possible, so they can get the game completed and released as soon as possible.

Carmageddon Reincarnation will be out soon on PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, and PS4. If you are interested in the game, make sure to check out our interview with the developers.

Carmageddon: Reincarnation is currently slated to launch on Microsoft Windows, Linux OS X, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at some time in Q1 of 2014 with no mention of a current generation console version. (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

The official confirmation of Carmageddon came all the way back in 2003 thanks to a financial report. Since then, the game has gone through various developers, publishers and states of development as a video game.  The developers were originally shown to be Visual Sciences (which was closed in February of 2006) who were working on the title “Carmageddon TV”, a game for the portable system and commercial flop, the “Gizmondo” from Tiger Telematics (which has sold less than 25,000 units in its lifetime).

Publisher at the time was shown to be 2K Games and the lesser known SCi (who purchased Eidos that was in turn purchased by powerhouse developer and publisher Square Enix). There was initially very little information regarding the game made public until sometime in late 2005 when SCi merged with Eidos Interactive (Tomb Raider, Hitman, Deus Ex) and decided that the game should be put on hold and as a result development halted.

The reasons for this was never made public, fan speculation cantered around the game not appealing to modern gaming audiences, making it financially unfeasible. Due to this lack of available information and the cessation of all press releases and updates, it was assumed by those inside and outside of the media that the game had been canned and that Eidos had moved on to new projects.

More recently however, in 2011 the developers of the original Carmageddon games “Stainless Games” managed to buy back the rights to Carmageddon from the (at the time) current copyright holders, Square Enix Europe (Thief, Kane and Lynch and Dragon Quest). With these reacquired rights to the property, Stainless Games revealed that there was a brand new Carmageddon game already in its early pre-production stage. Since the initial reveal of the pre-production reveal of their new Carmageddon game there has been various screenshots showing an early playable build of the game and numerous pieces of conceptual artwork. Since then it was announced that although the game will come to multiple gaming platforms, it will not be receiving a retail release and will instead be an entirely digital product, available only via direct digital download.

On May 8^th of 2012 Stainless Games officially announced through the official website for Carmageddon: Reincarnation that the game was going to be funded through the crowd funding site Kickstarter, with the funding came a promise of a February 2013 release date via Steam. The goal set by Stainless Steel was $400,000 through Kickstarter, to help accomplish their goal they included numerous incentives to entice fans of the series. Anyone that pledged $1000 dollars to the project would have a chance of being featured in the game, this was called the Fatal Immortality package which included all the goodies from the pledges below.

The official description is:

“FATAL IMMORTALITY: You can be a Pedestrian in the game! Or choose somebody you don’t like (but we will need their permission, unfortunately – damn you Western legal system!) We’ll map your or their face onto one of our in-game victims (you’ll get a choice of what style of ped you’d like to be – or you want your mother-in-law to be), so you can chase yourself and other Kickstarter backers and their nemesiseseseseses down in the game. We’ll even throw in an exclusive Carmageddon First Aid kit. You’ll need it! Yes, a physical THING to go with the abstract reward of digital immortality (or more accurately, repeated DEATH). (+Previous Rewards below $750)”

Within 10 days, the goal of $400,000 was reached and developers announced that if the project could raise an excess of $600,000 then the game would be ported to Mac and Linux based operating systems. By the end of the campaign (June 6^th 2012) the kickstarted fund had raised $625,143. What followed was a series of email updates on how the game was coming along and specifics on development details. In December of 2012 backers were sent an email informing them that the expanded scope of the game and the changes that were being implemented would take the better part of 2013, thus pushing back the release date.

On March 20^th 2013 the game received an additional 3.5 million dollars from Les Edgar, co-founder of Bullfrog Productions LTD to develop the game for next gen consoles. On September 26^th 2013 news came down the line that the PC version of the game will be available On Steam in Q1 of 2014.

Story

At the time of writing, there is no information regarding the games story. It is however safe to assume that the game will follow its usual crazed style and introduce gamers to an obscure, if not insane reason for the ensuing chaos of Carmageddon.

Gameplay

Carmageddon has a basic gameplay premise, and it’s this simplistic gameplay makes it both a cult phenomenon with a huge fan base and an amazingly fun game. Players will engage in vehicular from a primarily 3^rd person perspective as they race around various environments waging war against their opponents with all manner of weapons and power ups. And if any civilians just so happen to get in the way, the more is their pity.

Characters

Similarly to the plot, Stainless Steel are keeping a tight lid on who you can expect to see in this game, they have mentioned that many old and new characters will be returning. But in doing so they did give away the name of one racer in particular. “A host of old favourites make a comeback, along with some all-new faces. Only ever seen before as low resolution mugshots, now you’ll get to see them from head to toe (well, head to knees in the case of Screwie there) in full HD 3D glory – usually as they smash through their windscreen and hurtle past (or INTO) yours!”

Screwie – Screwie Lewie is a racer from the Carmageddon series who drives “The Twister”, his 1.7 ton supercar/monster truck/light aircraft/mole machine contraption comes outfitted with appropriately ridiculous tires and a large screw shaped weapon mounted on the front. Screwie also happens to be missing his legs, no official records exist explaining this, but it’s safe to assume it was an accident involving a vehicle of some sort.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

Fifteen years later Stainless Games are back with the latest incarnation in the series, Carmageddon Reincarnation. We caught up with Jason Garber, Publishing Director of Stainless Games to know more about the awesomeness that they plan to bring with Reincarnation.

Pramath Parijat: So this is Stainless Game’s third Carmageddon game- you return to the series after having taken a break from the third installment. How does it feel to be working on the franchise again?

Jason Garber: Actually, we see this as a new beginning. We loved the work and result of the first two games, but this one is a New Dawn for the Brand. As a matter of fact, I had gone into a semi-retirement in darkest Cornwall where I spent my days shooting cans and drinking moonshine, but when I got the chance to yet again be involved with my darling Carmageddon, I packed up my guns and demi-johns and drove full-tilt back to the Island and the Stainless Studio. And so to answer your question, I am both elated and ecstatic.

Pramath Parijat: It’s been more than a decade since the series’ last release, and even longer since you guys worked on it. How did that huge amount of intervening time factor into the game’s development?

Jason Garber: We had to watch and wait from the sideline for all these years, while various attempts were made to reboot the Brand by its previous owners, and they all foundered before release (not counting the awful TDR2K – of which we do not speak). It made us think, ponder and scheme; what we could do if we could get our hands on it again. And the best part of extended time spent away from a loved one is that once you are reunited there’s a hell of a lot of fun to be had.

"We will be as violent and humorous as ever and leave it up to the tabloid newspapers to judge if we are controversial, because I doubt that gamers or the industry as a whole would see the game as such."

Pramath Parijat: What prompted the move to buy back the rights to the series, and then crowd fund a reboot? Do you feel Carmageddon is still relevant in today’s gaming market?

Jason Garber: We always felt that Carmageddon was “our” Brand, and no-one else could do it the way we could. When things panned out so that Square Enix eventually found itself in possession of the Brand, it seemed to us the time to start negotiations, as it didn’t seem like it would be a Brand that they’d want to develop as a publisher. We have an excellent relationship with Square, and so we thought we would give it a try. We think the brand was as valid today as it was back then.

The community never wavered away from it and the game and gameplay itself was still rock solid 15 years later. Of course we discussed if the brand was valid and came to this conclusion internally, but then the successful crowdfunding for the new game, and subsequent release and success of the APP for iOS/Android ports of the original game, proved that the brand was still relevant. Our downloading success is pure proof of that and I think that the amount of interest we have had over the past months confirms that too.

Pramath Parijat: I grew up with Carmageddon. Carmageddon II, in particular, was a game I used to play a lot, and my parents were pretty unhappy about that! Considering how much more mainstream penetration games have today, aren’t you expecting some sort of major controversy? Especially in this post GTA world…

Jason Garber: We know that at the time of the game’s original release, it was the poster-child of gaming controversy. But I think that the controversy is now left mostly to far more violent and extreme games than Carmageddon – and really to whip up the controversy by being ultra-extreme isn’t where we want to be. We never did – for us it was all about the laughs.

We always used humour as our major tool for tempering the ultra-violence and everything we’re doing now as we develop the new game continues this philosophy. We will be as violent and humorous as ever and leave it up to the tabloid newspapers to judge if we are controversial, because I doubt that gamers or the industry as a whole would see the game as such.

Pramath Parijat: So walk us through: what’s new in this game? Your Kickstarter page talks about online multiplayer, and it talks about Action Replay, but with support for Youtube and other social media. Are there any more features in the game that you haven’t revealed yet?

Jason Garber: The game is the reimaginingof the game that we developed in 1997. It features much of thegreat, bloody stuff we had back then, combined with lots of stuff we wanted to do back then but were blocked from doing by technical limitations.And as well as this, it features new stuff that we’ve dreamt up since then. And we’ve had a long time to dream! But really, we aren’t going to reveal everything before we launch the game in Q1 2014, as we want to keep some surprises for the players.

"Our primary platform of development has been, and continues to be, PC. The design document and philosophy that we’re working to hasn’t changed in the slightest."

Pramath Parijat: Carmageddon Reincarnation is also coming to consoles- now we’re aware that on PC platforms, it will be a purely digital release. Are you guys looking at a retail release for the game on the consoles?

Jason Garber: Yes, it is coming to next-gen console. What console(s), when and through what medium is still all under wraps…

Our primary platform of development has been, and continues to be, PC. The design document and philosophy that we’re working to hasn’t changed in the slightest. It was always our intention to make any compromises that might be required to console builds only after the primary PC version was complete, rather than tune all the releases of the game to the lowest common denominator in platform terms. The PC version would never be “nobbled” to bring it technically into line with a less capable console version.

Pramath Parijat: Why doesn’t Carmageddon Reincarnation have a PlayStation Vita or Wii U version? I understand there might be an issue with demographics or install base, but did you ever consider those platforms?

Jason Garber: As they couldn’t be considered as “Next-Gen” platforms, it wouldn’t be something that we could consider due to the technical demands of our game engine tech.

Pramath Parijat: From a development perspective, the PS4 has 8GB of GDDR5 RAM. Now we have many developers in the past praising Sony’s move toinclude such a high speed memory in consoles. But GDDR suffers from latency. How do you guys plan to over come that so you can make use of that higher bandwidth memory in Carmageddon Reincarnation?

Jason Garber: When the talk gets technical, I just reach for one of my guns. There’s plenty of ways to “persuade” the coders to deal with this sort of thing. I’m sure.

"CarMODgeddon is one of the features we’re really looking forward to releasing. We plan to make the game as accessible to modders as possible."

Pramath Parijat: Furthermore, what kind of differences can players expect between the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game?

Jason Garber: We haven’t yet confirmed which console(s) we will be releasing the game on, and so we can’t say anything about differences between versions either.

Rashid Sayed: Since the series started out on the PC, do you have something special planned for the PC version?

Jason Garber: CarMODgeddon is one of the features we’re really looking forward to releasing. We plan to make the game as accessible to modders as possible. The original games needed “dedication” to get involved with modding (although plenty of fans found ways to – and still are – modding Carma 1 and 2). So making the game even more accessible to the community to add their own content and mess around with the data that we release too, is something that’s going to be great and we can’t wait to see what comes out of it.

Rashid Sayed: Can you please talk about the damage model in the game and furthermore, how big the world is this time around?

Jason Garber: Masses of the game content can be damaged. As well as the cars and pedestrians which are the obvious stand-out assets that can be crushed, crumpled, ripped and split into component parts and twisted wrecks, there’s also the environmental accessories that can also be damaged and destroyed. It’s what’s central to the enjoyment of the game, so it’s the area getting most attention lavished on it.

The game isn’t a completely open world exploration-fest, as we’ve learned from some of our earlier levels that too large a scale of level can lead to a certain lack of focus to the core gameplay – wrecking your opponents or mowing down the population. So, we have a number of “levels”, which are pretty comparable in size to the levels in the original game. They allow for exploration and a good, long game if you decide to complete it by killing every single ped in the level. At the same time, you won’t get frustrated trying to find opponents.

"Now that we have the brand back, we are at the dawn of a new beginning. We see many, many more possibilities to expand the universe of Carmageddon stretching out towards us, an endless vista of crushed metal and giblets glistening in the early dawn light."

Rashid Sayed: A lot of games, especially those that are independently published are making a move towards Linux, including Carmageddon: Reincarnation. Furthermore,Valve recently announced SteamOS and Steam Machines that are based on Linux. Do you think this will cause a major shift in the industry and will we see more and more games developed for SteamOS/Linux, especially after the Windows 8 fiasco?

Jason Garber: Personally I think that the SteamOS thing is interesting. Steam arguably ‘saved’ PC gaming and I think that was an excellent thing. We always planned to develop the Linux Carmageddon: Reincarnation version, so the SteamOS announcement is a welcome thing for us. It means that we will be able to provide people this experience from the get go.

Pramath Parijat: Lets talk about the gore. How are you planning to make it different from the classic games? Or is it still simply the case of running over the people? Will people respond in anyway and have advanced AI?

Jason Garber: We never used Gore without Humour. This will be the case now as well. We always felt that Carmageddon was a game full of humour, gore and gameplay. We want to give the player this feeling again. High velocity impacts with a good laugh thrown in. We are in the business of Killing Time, and we want you to have fun while we steal your time. Yes, you will run over people or cows. Yes, you will get hit by other cars and be smashed into small gory pieces. But we will make sure that happens with a smile.

Sound effects are tremendously important to this – we are working on getting a set of the squelchiest, grossest squishes, and meaty thuds that have ever been heard which will make the experience more hilariously over the top than ever.

There will be an excellent AI that will facilitate this feeling. What else would you expect from us? 😉

Pramath Parijat: What is next for you, after Carmageddon Reincarnation?

Jason Garber: Frankly, I just want more Carmageddon. Now that we have the brand back, we are at the dawn of a new beginning. We see many, many more possibilities to expand the universe of Carmageddon stretching out towards us, an endless vista of crushed metal and giblets glistening in the early dawn light. But first, we focus on the one that’s right here and soon to be the one we’re all playing; Carmageddon: Reincarnation!

Carmageddon: Reincarnation, the “points-for-pedestrians” driving game, which was successfully funded via a Kickstarted effort last year will be making its way to Steam Early Access in Q1 of 2014,

After reaching their initial goal of $400,000, Stainless Games received an additional almost $250,00 via Kickstarter alone. Once the goal was reach, the project received an additional $3.5 million in funding, courtesy Les Edgar, who is the co-founder of Bullfrog. Edgaer is a shareholder in Stainless Games.

“We are delighted to have fully funded Carmageddon: Reincarnation without having to go outside of the collective of our own company, shareholders and fans.” said Stainless CEO Patrick Buckland. “It allows us to maintain a true independence and creative control whilst not having to compromise quality or content by budgetary constraints.”

While the Q1 release for the PC version of Carmageddon: Reincarnation has been released, there’s still no word on the promised Mac and Linux version release dates. Additionally, the game will see release across next-gen consoles PlayStation 4 and Xbox One early next year.

Patrick Buckland, CEO and co-founder of Stainless Games stated that, “We are delighted to have fully funded Carmageddon: Reincarnation without having to go outside of the collective of our own company, shareholders and fans. It allows us to maintain a true independence and creative control whilst not having to compromise quality or content by budgetary constraints.”

“For an independent, privately owned company to achieve this, is a testament to our strength and to the loyalty of our fans.”

Carmageddon is one of the more infamous games that kickstarted the violence in gaming debate, since it involves running over pedestrians and garnering extra points based on how messy the kills are. Carmageddon: Reincarnation hopes to recreate that mayhem.

Stainless Games has revealed that the upcoming Carmageddon: Reincarnation will support mega-texturing, which was also supported in 2011’s RAGE, and deferred lighting.

The game will also be running on an engine that has been built from the ground up.

Stainless has revealed a couple of screenshots for the game. Remember, the screenshots may not look very impressive to you because they’re from a very early build of the game. They’re given below.

Carmageddon: Reincarnation releases for the PC this year, but no exact release date has yet been given. The game was kicked off thanks to Kickstarter funding of $400,000 last year in May.

Other details include that the game will have online play, will include cops, unlike the original Carmageddon (which has to be one of the most awesome games ever) and a few other minor ones.

Stay tuned for more info.

[Source]