Kickstarting: Carmageddon: Reincarnation

Carmageddon is my favourite racing game of all time. This can be attributed to several factors: It's based on the film Death Race 2000, destroying your opponents is an approved race-winning strategy, you can run over pedestrians and spectators, it was ludicrously over-the-top and it isn't half bad as a racing game either.

So when Stainless Games decided they were going to kickstart a new version, I was thrilled. All the same sort of action, but bigger, better and high definition. So I was quick to back this one, and things have been looking pretty good so far.

To get myself in the mood for the new version, I've been playing the original on my Nexus 7. All things considered, it's a rather impressive port. The controls are easy to use, and the game is just as enjoyable as I remember.

The three methods of winning a race are what separates this game from any other racer (well, that and the ludicrous amounts of gore and the crazy looking cars and power-ups). You can win by either being the fastest around the track, destroying all your opponents cars or killing all the pedestrians (and cows!).

These three methods give the game great replayability, and there are many secret nooks and crannies that you'll find on repeated attempts at the various levels. Another great feature is the ability to steal other cars. If you destroy one of your opponents cars during a race, there's a small chance that you'll be able to steal it for future races. While all the cars can be upgraded somewhat, getting a car that suits your play style is always appreciated.

The game was successfully kickstarted with over $600k raised (well over budget). I'm hoping they can recreate what was so special about the original, and I don't think I'll have to worry about that. Now that they own the property outright, they've already shown good faith by making the older games available on a wide variety of platforms and working very well too.