Carmageddon: TDR 2000

Carmageddon: TDR 2000 is a game developed by Torus Games. This company is known for games such as Shrek: Smash and crash racing(PSP,PS2, NGC, NDS,GBA), Planet of the Apes(GBC, GBA) and various handheld games based on movies and series. The game was published in europe by SCI and in north america by Xicat Interactive. SCI is known for series such as the Conflict and Carmadeddon series, aside from those series it has also released other games such as Total Overdose and The Italian Job. Xicat Interactive is known for games such as Gothic, Coaster Works and Ballistics. Carmageddon: TDR 2000 was released in 2000 and was the sequel to Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now.

In Carmageddon: TDR 2000 there isn't much of a storyline, the intro explains that the rich have build tightly secured police cities which are sealed off from the rest of the world, in which they have gathered people in beginning of the New Millenium. The rich took everyone except for the poor and filthy in the city(as perceived by the rich), after that they nuke the former cities, killing millions. But the people outside Paradise(the places ruled by the cops and the rich) weren't defeated yet and were growing in numbers each day, even though they were no longer classed as humans due to mutations. In this rubble you'll attempt to make it into Paradise, something that no-one was able to do before. Throughout the game you'll visit various cities that still inhabit people and your task is to get out of those cities seeing as they're tightly sealed of as well, to keep the murderers and pillagers out. Throughout the missions you complete you'll realise that the cops still meddle with the cities outside of Paradise, because they smuggle and sell various goods and also offer services to local gangs that have filled the absence of the government.

Carmageddon: TDR 2000 is a racing game in which you have three ways of winning, either by taking out the opponents, winning the race or killing all pedestrians. All across the map are powerups that can both help but disadvantage you as well. There are two basic icons for powerups, I'll define them by color since that's the easiest. Red will grant you weapons and turbo's, yellow changes something in the environment, which can be positive but negative as well. Green gives you money(or credits), with which you can buy other cars or upgrade your motor in the shop, which makes the game a lot easier. In some levels you'll be able to pick up nuclear bombs, even when there isn't a mission that requires you to blow something up. There are also powerups that appear as red triangles, but the powerups you get from them are selected at random, as far as I can tell. As you progress through the game you'll unlock more cars(which still need to be bought, using credits) and tracks, most tracks give the player six missions, usually they involve blowing things up,a standard race or collecting things, the last one always requires the player to escape the town. The only exception to this format is the track called The Bridge, which is the level before the last level, this level requires the player to cross a bridge whilst evading mines and opponents. Pretty much everything thing you do within a race or a mission grants you money, from killing pedestrians to blowing up opponents. The opponents also have AI in this game, which means that they assign tasks to themselves, such as finding money, killing pedestrians, killing you and driving through check-points. So if you happen to get an opponent aggravated, it's quite possible that he's going to have a fight to death with you. There are also non-opponent enemies in the game, such as gang-vehicles and cops, who will often attack you on sight. Gang members that walk around on foot will also harass any racing cars that come by, by throwing Molotov cocktails and trashing cars using iron bars.

The graphics of this game are great compared to other games released in 2000. Other games released in the year 2000 tend to be quite blocky and grayish, whilst in Carmageddon: TDR 2000 this is kept to a minimum. It's not realistic in anyway but the most objects and terrains are quite detailed. The special effects like blood and explosions are nice as well, if you hit a pedestrian full on whilst driving extremely fast, you see the blood and intestines flying everywhere, and of course his limbs. Every city has it's own feeling to it, some feel more post-apocalyptic, others more deserted an so on.

The sound in Carmageddon: TDR 2000 is pretty good as well, although most sound effects sound like they've been taken from movies, for example the explosion sound very standard, just like most other sound effects. The tracks in this game are great, the upbeat rock-songs really fit the game like a glove. Sadly, there are only a few songs or the other songs in the game simply aren't memorable, but the few that are there are really fun to listen to.

So, to conclude this review, this game is great and you should really play it, when you have the chance. Beware though, most newer operating systems have trouble running this video game, but if you're still running XP you'll be fine. The game's definitely worth checking out, even after all these years, the fun it provides is timeless.