Carmageddon for Game Grrls (and Women)

Weekend Carmageddon marathons are some of my favourite ways to spend couple time. Not so much on the romantic side but it was pure pleasure. Hunting down my husband, determined to find his hideout spot and smash his car into bits of wreckage on the pavement - with him in it! Could you find a better way to spend a weekend together?

Carmageddon is a video game. You race a car around a track (several tracks with different themes) and you choose how you want to win the game.

1. Demolition - Wreck and disable all the other players.
2. Race - Be the first to get to the finish line - not as easy as it sounds.
3. Carnage - Kill every last pedestrian, cow, dog, etc.

No, it's not a game for everyone. I'd rate it for the over 16 crowd but I know younger people are playing. I don't think they really have the maturity to appreciate the dark humour of the game. It should be taken as dark humour. If you look at it too closely you will just be horrified and never have any fun at all.

I've read posts from people who say they learned to drive, partially, from playing Carmageddon. You do get put into the driver's seat on a real tough course. You learn to control your vehicle in skids, wipe outs and over very rolling and bumpy terrain. Over time you develop a feel for how sharp or slow you need to take the turns without having your car spin out. I don't know if this experience will translate into the real world of driving a real car, but I've always thought it did (for me).

Mostly I play the game just for fun, some stress release and a chance to let out my dark humour in a way that harms none (husbands don't count when they're in the game).

Follow the Carmageddon team (for the next version) on Twitter.

We hooked up our computers over a network so we could both play on the game, at the time same. This was drastically fun. If you have some technical know-how and the hard ware to do it, I highly recommend playing Carmageddon as a LAN game with someone who won't get too angry once you turn their car into scrap metal.

Run Carmageddon 1 on a LAN. - YouTube Video Instructions.

Play alone and enjoy driving recklessly.

Target the computer players, track and hunt them down or get as many points as you can from power ups (some are hidden or take skill to access) and finish the race while leaving everyone else spinning around.

So far, winning the race has been kind of ignored when it comes to the computer generated players. You can always out race them on the regular game tracks. But, Carmageddon has not ignored the need for speed. There are games which you can only win by finishing before the timer runs out. But, you have a few obstacles... things like boats, nuclear reactors, treacherous roads, livestock, pedestrians, monster trucks with road rage and so on.

Carmageddon 1 had cows on a track of the game. I know it sounds pretty bad to say I loved getting them, but I did and they are just digital cows. There was no cruelty to any real animals.

Carmageddon 2 (Carpocalypse) has dogs. I don't mind admitting I have very little affection for dogs. So, based on past personal experience, being able to run dogs down in the street did give me personal satisfaction. (You try being attacked by dogs and pulling a mouthful of teeth off your four-year-old sister and see how friendly you feel about dogs).

So, I know the dog killing spree won't be for everyone. You can still get the pedestrians and get points for extra skill in splattering them around. We all have some of our fellow man and woman we have no sentimental feelings for. Admit it, you'd secretly like to run down at least one person. Carmageddon is just a game, but it gives you that chance. Peer pressure be damned.

Run Carmageddon on Windows 7 64 bit.

Carmegeddon 2 Glide on Wine (Guide of sort).