Recent reviews by cloudk1ll

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWpaVT5ygr4

What is Stories: The Path of Destinies? It's kind of an ambiguous title until you get into the game. It's a choose your own adventure style action rpg that brings us back to the nostalgia of classic tales on PC and Playstation 4. Hacking and slashing our way through to the very end. Fighting, Making Bad Choices, Dying, and Repeating. It's like Edge of Tomorrow, but with a fox instead of Tom Cruise. So is this game any good? Let's find out. Also this game was provided by the publisher for review.

Story
In Stories you play as Reynardo, a fox who is caught in the middle of a rebellion. The game is a series of choices. What's interesting about all these different choices is that they aren't predictable. The setup makes you think with your emotions. Do you choose to help your friend or save the rebels? You think you know the right answer, but the consequences are sometimes completely different.

There's very few cutscenes in the game and the ones that are there come much later in the story. Instead, the narrative is told by pages from a book with images described by the narrator. It's kind of a creative way of avoiding cutscenes, but the voice acting is really good and the situations that Reynardo finds himself in are interesting. You have to use your imagination which is something that we completely forget about in the age of digital games.

There's also a few interesting motifs in the game. You play as a fox who is often known in stories for being a sly creature, but you'll notice that the negative consequences make you seem the opposite of a sly decision maker. There's also heavy moral themes. Betrayal, trust, leadership, heroism. You'll have to play it yourself if you want to know how these themes are revealed.

There's also elements of fiction because you are an anthropormohic fox who is trained in sword fu. What the hell is sword fu? But it's handled with eloquence and the writers didn't create a caricature as you would expect. The story and the characters are mature enough to be taken seriously.

Gameplay
On first impression stories can be bland. You get into your first fight and immediately think “Batman Arkham Combat”. Because it does have the unreal engine blow for blow counter and back to more pummeling type of gameplay. Then you run around from point A to point B in a linear fashion.

The game is a slow starter, but after you pass the first few stories things get interesting. Combat gains more depth through the upgrade system. You get access to four different swords of fire, void, ice, and the basic hero sword. Each one has a special powerup. Then you get a few combo abilities, stamina boost, and other cool stuff. They clearly took a page out of Shadow of Mordor which is a game that really perfected this type of combat with a new level of complexity. In most games combat gets easier as powerups get more plentiful, however in stories it gets much tougher because the enemies scale faster than your upgrades which is a good thing because it gives you a progressive challenge.

However, enemy types are mostly the same throughout the game and there are no boss battles, so it becomes pretty routine going from fight to fight.

Each quote unquote story is like a level of the game and it gives you information on how to reach the final resolution. There's fourth “truths” that help you reach the conclusion. At the end of each section you are presented with a split of choices and the game tags the paths that you haven't crossed yet to guide you along the way. The idea is that you keep repeating the story, making different educated choices based on what you learned from your last play through.

The middle of the game is probably the most interesting part because you get a sense of discovery. Exploring new areas that open up thanks to your new swords and choosing new paths based on information. This is where things get interesting. You also start to learn that health is not plentiful. You don't get a health refill after each fight or even after each section. You need to conserve your health and energy otherwise you'll just run out. You also start to open up those colorful doors and get a sense of loot hunting as you pick up these gems that give you different perks. The RPG aspects start to reveal themselves. Ironically the game crushes the loot aspect in some ways by providing you with vases to break that rarely have anything in them. Maybe 20% of the time you can get some health pickups, but it kind of feels like a waste of time destroying property.

The story mode can be completed in about maybe 6 hours, but there are remaining scenarios to discover if you want to be a completionist. Most of your character upgrades will be filled out by the time you get to the end.


Graphics
Stories has a really warm color tone that suits it's atmosphere. Everything about the game strikes you as friendly, but fierce. It's not a kiddie game, nor are the graphics cartoony, yet it's still approachable for gamers of all ages.

The game has a really attractive art style and this shines through more than any effects or textures. Because the effects and textures are good, but not really a standout feature.

One issue with the graphics is that the special effects are used sparingly, but when they are used it's so bright it's blinding. Even with the basic hero sword, every swing is so white and so bright that you can't actually focus on the hits. You have to look around to your periphery rather than focus on who you are actually fighting.

And further more, an action rpg shouldn't be afraid to bring the camera in more often. You don't exactly need cinematic dramatic cutscenes, but I'd like to get a closer detail in the graphics. Sort of like how XCOM shows you the finishing blow or the introduction of a new enemy. Many action RPGs are guilty not using enough close ups. And running on Unreal Engine 4 there should be some level of fidelity so there's no excuse not to.

The game has nothing but low, medium, and high settings on the PC so there aren't many options for detail, anti aliasing, or vsync. The game runs well, albeit locked at 60fps, so it's not too much of an issue, but those of us with powerful PCs always want to squeeze more visuals out of the game.

Sound
The highlight of the sound design and the overall game is really the narration. This game wouldn't work without our humble narrator. It puts you in the world of a classic tale. The narrator sort of reads you the choices and consequences of your actions with enough emotion to light your imagination. The narrator also has some charming one liners throughout your adventure.

The score is filled with orchestral music that's epic when you're fighting. But it's soothing during the exposition of the story. Right from the moment you enter the title screen, you know you are in for a journey.

These two aspects of the sound really come together to help give the game a good feel. It's arguably the strongest part of the game overall.

Stories has a lot of likable and charming elements. But it takes a little bit of time to build up to it. The first hour or two has very linear gameplay, boring combat, and it's a little overwhelming to find out how the stories or repeating the narrative works. But once the game clicks, it all makes sense and begins to become a lot more fun. I wish they could have brought more of that into the introduction by ramping up the upgrades faster.

The endgame kind of has you chasing after the concluding story to find out the real resolution of our main protagonist. In other words, pacing could be better. It doesn't kill the game by any means, but it's something that may stop an ADD player from getting started.
Stories is an interesting game. It's old school in some ways and makes you remember that a game's narrative can be told in more than one way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuX98H9zeuE
It's the fast paced, dungeon crawling, crazy bullet hell that you might just grow to love. It's published by Devolver Digital known for independent style games that some how find a way to make every theme and setting seem like a bad ass action movie. Let's take a look at Enter The Gungeon and see if it's any good.

Story
Enter The Gungeon is a dungeon crawler where you choose from a band of misfits to fight your way to the Gungeon's Ultimate treasure. That treasure is a gun that can kill the past. The game isn't heavy on a narrative. It's about killing, looting, dying, and repeating. There are some mysterious characters you'll meet along the way. Despite not being story driven, these characters will make you curious about their role in the gungeon.

Gameplay
Enter The Gungeon is a roguelike meaning procedurally generated levels, loot, and enemies. This creates a mix of challenge and repetition that go hand in hand. Know this going in, the game is tough as nails. And that's a good thing. The controls and the enemy arrangement is really tight. If you die or get hit, chances are it's your fault and you've learned a good lesson for the next time you choose to enter the gungeon.

The game's difficulty kind of jumps from 1 to 10 in an instant. The tutorial holds your hand and breaks down the mechanics into the simplest way possible. But once you start playing you'll still get stomped quite a bit if you're new to a roguelike. But if you get the itch to keep replaying the first chamber you'll eventually get really good and build a strategy to finding the right items and conserving what you need.

There's a reason why they put the word gun in the title. Dodge Roll games seems to love everything about guns in its art style and setting. There's more guns than you can count in this game. There's normal guns like shotguns, pistols, and submachine, guns but then you get everything your imagination can make. There's guns that pay homage to movies and other games. Like the gun that looks just like an NES Zapper and shoots birds from duck hunt. There's bizarre guns like the T-Shirt Cannon that cover your enemies in purple shirts. It's ridiculous and fun. Some guns are better than others and the only way to find out which ones work best for you is to repeat the dungeon crawling over and over. The hunt to discover more guns is one of the main proverbial carrots on a stick in this game.

Controlling and handling in Enter The Gungeon is extremely tightly woven. And the dodge roll is your best friend. The name of the developer is Dodge Roll Games and it's also the name of your most important move. Dodge rolling gives you a moment of invulnerability which means you want to roll right through enemy fire. But dodge rolling isn't a magic fix. A bad dodge roll could have you land face up right into a bullet. You need to time and plan your rolls carefully to weave through the enemy bullets. There's strategy when it comes to the movement.

There's also tables in the environment that you can knock over and use for cover. You can even push them as you move forward, but they'll get destroyed after a few shots. Funny enough, enemies can also use these same tables for cover.

Every enemy is nuanced. They have very specific ways of moving and firing at you. Then when you get 2 to 3 different enemy types in one room, stuff hits the fan and gets crazy. Patterns start to resemble a shoot 'em up with alternating medium and fast paced bullets heading towards you in a very systematic pattern. That's the part that really tests your skills. There aren't really any filler enemies, all of them provide a challenge even the basic bullet guys.

The game actually moves really fast because there's teleports to get around the map, quick restarts if you die, and you can easily skip boss cutscenes. Those are small touches but they keep you in the gameplay loop and that's how you get addicted to restarting even after you die repeatedly.

There's little bits of progression by beating bosses and attaining unlocks. Every time you kill a boss you get currency which you can use to unlock more weapons and items that you will find in the gungeon. There's also a few characters you meet that help you get around the gungeon better, but you'll have to find those for yourself.

Best of all there's local co-op, so you can take a buddy with you for the challenge and scream each other's heads off when you get killed.

The real accomplishment in the game is to find every weapon, item, and boss. There's a codex that let's you see everything you've found so far.

Graphics
Enter The Gungeon has the same pixel art style we see in the majority of Devolver Digital published titles. It's simple, but it's stylized and there's a lot of little details that make it seem like a polished title. There's a lot of destructibles in the environment that are purely cosmetic, but they let you know that some mayhem took place in the room that you just cleaned out.

There's also that cool factor that Devolver's design style has. You can tell that a lot of thought was put into the characters.

Bosses are unique both in art style and presentation. They get their own hyped up splash screens just like we've seen with characters from Broforce.

There's also a lot of gun and bullet motifs. The most basic enemies are like character sized bullets. Your health aka your heart containers are two bullets stacked together.

Sound
The sound effects remind you of just how crazy the game is. Whether it's from surprise explosions or firing a bizarre weapon, the right effects stand out. If you're firing a gun that shoots giant laser beams, it definitely sound like you are zapping the hell out of whatever is standing in your way.

Music alternates between empty and mysterious dungeon ambience to fast paced intense boss battle music. When you're in the heat of a big fight, running out of hearts the music keeps you in the zone.

There's no dialogue, but it's also not really needed in run and gun game like this.

Negatives
The challenge is the biggest draw, but also the biggest deterrent. It's hard to work towards a sense of progression if you can' get through the first couple of levels. It's not necessarily a bad feature of the game, but it's something you should know going in. Consider it the rules of engagement.

Lastly, could we ask for online co-op? It has local co-op which is awesome, but not everyone has their buddy in the same room with them. Online co-op would be a great way to dilute the challenge and extend the replayability.

Final Verdict
Keep in mind this game was made by a 4 person studio and they did their best to capture what they wanted from their most inspiring games. It's only $15 on Steam and Playstation Network so it's a good pickup if it fits your playstyle. Enter The Gungeon gets an 8 for it's stylized and challenging gameplay. If the game fits your playing style, it's highly addictive and will keep you coming back for more. Do you play roguelike games? What are your thoughts on Enter The Gungeon? Let us know in the comments and subscribe to the skilled channel for more game reviews.

Pros
Challenging
Local Co-op
Fun Weapons
Stylized

Cons
Lack Of Online Co-op
Tough Progression

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Qp734rq-Y

We've got another Indie game to checkout, Aero's Quest. As friendly as this game looks, you will die a lot. Is it a rage quit game? I've had a chance to check out for a few hours so let's find out.

Aero's Quest is the classic tale of saving the girl. Aero has to solve puzzles and platform his way to save Ariella from the evil Andraus. The game is based on hitting switches to deactivate a laser barricade. Each level gets trickier and trickier as more puzzles and platforms are introduced. The Steam page says it's like Super Meat Boy meets Megaman. But there's no shooting, so I'm not sure where the megaman comparison came from.

The highlight of the game is the challenge. It's a rage quit type of game. You will die many times trying to pass these levels. And the challenge varies between timed platforming and puzzles. There's a few dynamic elements from power ups to teleporters that will effect how you finish the puzzles. Repetitive dying can be a bit frustrating, but each level has a distinct challenge.

The controls can feel a bit floaty at times. Which is annoying because so many jumps require perfect timing. Then there's sections when there are too many random obstacles. Sometimes it's more a matter of luck than skill to pass these sections.

The art style also has good and bad points. It looks very friendly even though ironically you end up smashing into a million bloody piece when you die. The characters look cool and the environments look nice. But it doesn't really have any signature details. You're just kind of tossed into random areas like forests or volcanos.

Aero's Quest isn't a bad game, but it has a few flaws. If you want a challenging indie platformer you can give Aero's Quest a shot. If you get frustrated easily, proceed with caution. Subscribe to the skilled youtube channel for more game reviews.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyT6jySNgsc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdS-uYqo3Lw
Tile Rider is a puzzle game that seems very simple on the surface but is actually a very clever indie title. Will this be enough to keep you captivated? Let's find out in the Tile Rider review.

In Tile Rider you control a small car where you get from point A to point B avoiding any obstacles and obstructions along the way. It's easy enough at first, but the complexity quickly ramps up. The game begins introducing moving boxes, teleports, buzz saws, and turret drones. The puzzles have intelligent design as the game introduces you to a concept to get your feet wet and then begins to challenge you by significantly increasing the difficulty. The game almost never stops throwing new mechanics at you which is why I can't go in depth in to any one puzzle in this review. It requires you to actively solve problems on each level. Each level even has a few bonus collectibles for the completionists out there.

The game really begins to pick up when you get access to the magnetic grapple. Now you have to move different elements while avoiding hazards and continuing to progress. Levels are super short, you can beat each one in about a minute if you can grasp the puzzles. This tends to make the game flow very fast and that's a good thing. You start to crank out level after level without realizing just how much time has gone by.

The graphics are simple shapes, colors, and gradients which is not exactly eye catching, but the game uses it well. And it's refreshing to see a new concept other than pixel art. Colors tend to act as separators, alerting you to new areas and challenges. The music is a mix for fast tempo rock and electronic beats which keep you in the fast paced flow state of mind.

Although Tile Rider is simple, it comes together very well. For a puzzle game fanatic, this can be a pretty addicting game, but it's not for everyone. If you think the game looks cool you think you can jump into this type of gameplay, you might want to give Tile Rider a shot. Subscribe to the Skilled Channel for more game reviews.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0Ud_4DtCao
Horizon Shift is a shoot em up that definitely looks different from other shooters. On first impression the game might look simple, but after fighting through a few waves you'll quickly see how this game innovates. Let's take a look at Horizon Shift in this first impression review.

It can daunting to look at so let me explain to you how Horizon Shift works. The game is based on controlling the horizontal line in the middle of the screen. You can point your ship up or down to shoot at enemies on the top and bottom. Enemies come in waves and there are boss battles periodically. Your goal is to survive long enough to pass each wave. Enemies come quickly and in high variety and they will attempt to disrupt your horizon in different ways. Some enemies will plant themselves on the horizon and make you move away. Others will literally blow it up which will mean game over for you. And of course if your ship comes in to contact with an enemy or their bullets, it's also game over.

Shooting and moving between top to bottom has a very slight delay. And this isn't a technical issue, it's a design choice. There is no room for error. If your actions aren't on point you can't fudge your way through a situation. It can be a bit of a bullet hell, even when you flip between top and bottom so memorization is key.

This game introduces new elements and it does it right. The levels, the enemy design, and the art style were very carefully crafted. It's fun, addicting, and challenging. At no point will you feel like you had a cheap death. You death is caused by you making the wrong move at the wrong time. Levels go by quickly and even when you die, you jump right back in to the action. So you find yourself addicted to passing levels one by one. Every attempt is a learning experience and if you are persistent, you will beat those hard levels. The most challenging levels will require you to memorize enemy patterns especially in the beginning of the wave so you don't get overwhelmed.

The art style is very basic, but attractive and it ties in to the gameplay. Color and shape are important motifs because they determined how enemies will disrupt your horizon. Green enemies will bounce off your horizon making them less lethal. Red enemies will mount themselves on your horizon and move back and forth. The blue enemies will blow holes in your horizon. And the swarm will annihilate your horizon. This effects the priority of who you will shoot first and which hits you can afford to take. It's not game over if red and green enemies attack your horizon. You can still survive until the end of the wave. You also have a bomb meter on the bottom that fills up from killing enemies. The bomb is kind of like a panic button, because it will clear all enemies on the screen temporarily. So you have to strategically save it for the right moment when you can't possible kill all of the enemies.

Boss battles are bullet hell moments that remind me of Ikaruga or Jamestown. Bosses have distinct patterns that you have to weave yourself through. I actually found most of the early boss battles to be fairly easy, but fun.

Horizon Shift has a ton of options for variety and replay ability. There's four different modes to choose from and three unlockable modes. They all have the same levels, but it effects how you play through them. You get to restart from the last wave you played from,k which is great for making progress even if your skills aren't top notch. There's also high challenge options like survival where you get no lives and no checkpoints. You can also crank up the game speed to twice as fast. The high variety of modes make it customizable and also easy to pickup but hard to master. The game also has many options for how you want the music to play out. And the music is rockin. It's a perfect soundtrack for a shoot em up like this.

Horizon Shift is the perfect blend of classic shmup but with innovative features. There's plenty of options for replayability. And the game is only $5 on Steam. This is a game that you definitely want to play. Subscribe to the Skilled channel for more game reviews.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4TXlRaJMfU
Crash Drive 2 is a port of a mobile game to Steam and it's got a lot of ridiculous driving, crashing, spinning, and flipping. But is it worth your time? Let's find out in this review on Crash Drive 2.

Crash Drive 2 is a pretty simple game. You pick your car, get out on a multiplayer course with other drivers, and complete objective based events. The different events include setting a high score, tagging various objects, and being the first to reach a certain ring. The game is pure mayhem and silly fun as you bump into other players and there's no consequence. Cars take no damage and most of the time you will land on your wheels. Even if you don't land upright, chances are you'll easily flip over. There are five different levels and you must complete a few tasks in order to advance. You'll have to set a high score, drive through all of the rings one time, and complete a number of events to unlock the next level.

So multiplayer is crucial and it's the point of the game. Whenever you join a level you're instantly matchmade with other players so you never know who you'll end up with. Am I really playing with PewDiePie? Probably not, but that's funny.

There's also a ton of different cars to unlock. There's lightweight and fast sports cars, then there are big monster trucks and fire trucks. The trucks are fun for crashing into your opponents, but the sports cars will let you get tons of air. Oh Yeah!

There's also a crazy tank battle mode that you get to unlock later. The tanks can shoot and you can blow your opponents away. Tank battle mode is probably the craziest because you are on a floating platform and you get points by knocking other people off. It's total mayhem. Tank battle mode is like a different game, but it's also fun to play.

The graphics are probably the weakest part of the game. Since it's a mobile port, it doesn't take advantage of PC power and there are no advanced graphics settings. Some of the texture are pretty bad, especially in the first level. The barriers that surround the level are just like warped end points. They could have done a better job with this. The plus side is that it does run very well, I maxed out at 144 frames per second and didn't really experience any lag.

There were also a few bugs, I got stuck on a tree once or twice but I was able to reset my position by hitting start even though the game doesn't indicate this. I also had some disconnects during multiplayer sessions.

Crash Drive 2 is only $5 on Steam so it may be fun to mess around and drive like a maniac for a bit. If you like silly games and want to relax from a grueling shooter session, Crash Drive 2 can be a fun distraction. Subscribe to the skilled channel for more game reviews on Indies and triple A games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joX243eIbqE
Flame over is a heroic, yet very bright and colorful roguelike game. It definitely has a unique premise, but is the gameplay compelling enough? I've had a chance to play it for a few hours so let's find out in this first impression.

In Flame Over you play as a firefighter named Blazer Carruthers and quite simply you put out the fires. It's a roguelike, which means levels are procedural generated and death is permanent. In Flame Over there are four different game zones that are very similar in design, but have different looks. You start off in the fire station and make your way through the levels, putting out as much of the fire as you can. Using the right trigger you shoot water from your hose and the left trigger uses the extinguisher. You need to use the water kfor big fires and the extinguisher to eliminate electrical fires. It's interesting how you need more than one tool to get the job done. Your supplies run out, but there are refills at the base and throughout the level. What's also interesting is that you can find an emergency shut off for electricity which will end electrical fires.

Along your way you'll run into people who need help escaping. When you bring them back you gain additional time to complete your objective. There's also the stereotypical firefighter saving a cat motif when you randomly find cats to save. Some people will ask you to find their personal belongings, but you are too damn busy saving everyone in the building! Put out all the fires, head to exit, and you'll get your reward. When you put out fires you'll receive money that you can use for special items and different types of buffs.

The art style of Flame Over is very suitable. It softens the theme of saving people from a burning building and keeps the game fun instead of dramatic. The flame effect looks nice and is very easy to spot when you enter the room. For an isometric roguelike, this game looks very attractive. Textures look detailed and the flame effects are perfect for the setting.

You may think this game is a cakewalk, but it's not. There is definitely high challenge as fires spread and reform rapidly if you don't extinguish the entire room. You'll be surprised how fast the game moves once you are in the inferno. There's plenty of resource management between saving civilians and rationing your supplies. You'll never find yourself with downtime during rounds. The action is perfectly balanced.

Flame Over is a surprisingly fun and charming game. You get to be a real hero for once and save lives, but the game doesn't take itself to seriously. It's only $12 on Steam and although the amount of zones are small, the game does have re-playability since it's a roguelike. If this game looks like it fits your style, you may want to check it out. I recommend it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhZTkG7hQZk
Star Horizon is a new rails shooter releasing on Steam that's actually a port of a mobile iOS game. But is the port any good and does it stand on it's own playing the PC version on Steam? I've had a chance to test it for a few hours, so let's find out in this first impression of Star Horizon.

Many would immediately compare Star Horizon to the old school Starfox Nintendo games mainly because there's not a lot of rail shooters these days. Star Horizon is not a Starfox clone, it's a sci fi shooter. There is a struggle between the Inter Galactic Corporation known as the Federation and the Rebel Alliance. You play as John a private pilot of the federation and your companion is Ellie the AI on your ship. Your role is to find out what's really happening in this war.

There's simple cutscenes that take place over voice communication and there is plenty of banter between John and Ellie. The voice acting fits and helps the game flow a little better, but the story is not incredibly deep.

Although the game was originally designed for touch screens, the PC version supports Xbox controllers. Your ship is outfitted with your primary weapon the laser. But you have to be lined up directly behind enemies in order to hit which is different from typical rails shooters and a little difficult to aim, but you get used to it. Then you have homing missiles and torpedos which have unlimited ammo, but are on a cooldown. Both your weapons and armor can be upgraded in the hanger in between missions. There's also a dodge mechanic which comes in handy.

Combat is fast and keeps you busy but there are moments when the difficulty increases significantly for certain sections. Even on easy certain sections seem difficult to pass without upgrades due to the amount of enemies. I wish the difficulty scaled a little better in these sections.

As far as the port from Mobile to PC, there's a lot of benefits but a few disadvantages. The graphics are nice and it even supports anti aliasing and ultra settings. Your ship and your the effects of your attacks look very detailed and the space atmosphere is immersive. I still feel like the primary weapon shooting needs to have a reticle with a bit of lead time like in Starfox. Then in the hanger upgrades section the scaling seems off. Running 1080p, the menu options are fair sized, but the text on the ship upgrades is so small it's illegible.

There's not a lot of space rail shooters on Steam and this game is pretty fun for a short ride. Check it out on Steam if you want a fun space shooter. Subscribe to the skilled channel for more game reviews.


Positives:
Fast Rail Shooter
Ship Upgrades


Negatives:
Difficulty Balancing
Mobile Interface issues

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9EexkMgiKE
Carmageddon Reincarnation is the sequel to the original Carmageddon game from 20 years ago. It was first Kickstarted back in 2012, then landed on Steam Early Access, and is now available for the official final release. But was it worth the long wait and is this reboot better than the original? Let's take a look at Carmageddon Reincarnation in this First Impression review.

Carmageddon is known for car combat and unrelenting violence. It was one of the original games that gave you points for arbitrarily running over pedestrians and crashing into your opponents. Reincarnation has several different modes but they are all basically variations on racing to checkpoints while simultaneously running over pedestrians and bashing your opponents. Doing these two tasks plus running overall barrels provides you with credits that you use to purchase weapons and repair your vehicle. There's three ways to win: finish the race first, wreck your opponents vehicles, or kill all the peds.

The game is basically just mayhem and twisted fun. If you're expecting a straight racer, you're in the wrong place. You'll find enemies driving in the wrong direction just to run you over. Racing freely around the map without feeling like you have to play seriously can be a lot of fun. I find myself getting lost in demolition derby type moments with other cars. And then straying off course when I want to mow down a big batch of pedestrians.

The weapons are ridiculous. Some of them will make pedestrians fly into the air or start dancing arbitrarily. Then you have weapons that will launch your opponents or leave mines on the course for them. Another cool feature is the damage model. It's incredibly detailed and it's amazing to watch your car start fraying and fall apart and then come back together again as you hit repair. The soundtrack is also pounding heavy metal that's 100 percent suitable for this action.

Those are the fun parts of Carmageddon, but let's talk about the negatives. The performance of the game is really bad. Initially I thought it was possibly the settings or too much multitasking on my computer, but it wasn't. A lot of other people are complaining that they cannot hit 60 frames per second even after reducing the graphics settings. I can run Dying Light and Shadows Of Mordor on Ultra at 60fps, but my computer struggles to hit 60 fps on medium quality in this game. And I had some serious stuttering issues where the entire game would just pause for a second or two. The devs have stated that the poor performance is due to the high amount of physics rendering and they are working on improvements, but this doesn't seem playable for people who are on mid range or budget gaming computers.

As far as the gameplay, it honestly seems outdated. I want to like Carmageddon Reincarnation, but it doesn't bring anything new. The gameplay and the levels feel like they are held too closely to the original without modernizing the action. Racing and combat can have dull points where it seems like you just can't make the car perform the way you want it to. Cars have a floaty feel where you will miss hitting peds and cars due to the fact that the steering lacks proper handling. These flaws kill the fun in this otherwise cool game. While the graphics of the car models look excellent, the models of the Peds and of the environment are lacking.

My opinion on Carmageddon is mixed. As much as I like the idea of classic 90s style vehicle violence, I don't think it was executed well. Actually playing the game lacks the intensity I saw in the trailers and that I anticipated for this reboot. If you don't have a high end gaming rig, you may want to hold off until the performance issues are fixed. Save this game for the die hard Carmageddon fans.

Positives:
Classic Car Combat And Killing
Rockin Heavy Metal Soundtrack
Great Destruction Model

Negatives:
Performance Issues
Outdated graphics
Floaty Physics
Outdated Gameplay