Customer Reviews

Carmageddon 3 TDR 2000

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The graphics: Good. Better than the older games by far. The Sound: Again, much better than the older versions of the game. The gameplay: The same as in the other versions but with one exception: THE TIMER. You run out of time too quickly. Since I never actually play to win the race by racing (That's what other racing games are for) I was disappointed to find out that you get almost nothing for knocking down pedestrians or bowling over other drivers. What a rip-off! But once I downloaded a timer cheat the game became fun again.

or at least, I wish there weren't. I'm sorry, but with the loss of Interplay and Stainless from the label, it would seem that the "true" Carmaggedon series of games has died. Anyone who's seen the movie or played the first two games will know what I'm talking about when I say that this game has lost the whole point of what TDR is all about. The joy that my friends and I have always gotten from these games has come from the pure unadulterated bliss of just instinctively plowing through masses of unassuming peds and heaping opponents cars into piles that make that 21 car rush-hour wreck on I-5 look like a shiny happy car dealership. Unfortunately, the games new creators apparently had a different idea in mind, as they have turned the third installment of Carmaggedon into a "quest" resembling more of a Tomb Raider on wheels. In the few actual races, aside from the fact that the timer is still there and now it's even harder to get any real time added to it (an effort by Xicat to get you to actually try to race?), they do still at least maintain a semblance of the originals. But the problem is that those races are so few and far between. For every 1 race, there are about 3 or 4 "intellectually challanging" missions that, especially towards the end of the game, just tend to become annoying. To say the least, the fun-factor of what was my favorite series of games has now been removed, and, even with the ped splattering intact, this game has basically been nuetered as a result. And speaking of the end, what was the deal with that?! Throughout the whole game, your given the impression that once you manage to bust out of the lower levels, you'll be allowed to break into those "high society" cities and wreak havoc on them. Sounds like fun, eh? Well guess again, once you break out of copland, apparently Mr. Max Damage grows a set of morals and a conscience, settles down with a wife and a kid, and becomes an advertising exec... or some other equally mundane fate. To say the least, I was "slightly dissapointed" when I very unexpectedly found myself reading credits as I was just getting geared up to smash suburbia!! ... Anyways, if you're looking to challenge your intelect with a series of overly complicated missions with the goal of completing your quest to become an upstanding member of the good citizens brigade, then by all means, have at it. But if you are like myself, and looking to Carmaggedon 3 to satisfy your craving for fast-paced instinctually driven carnage.... keep looking guys (and gals). Keep looking.

As a longtime fan of the Carmageddon series, I have been and remain quite disappointed with this third incarnation, no matter how hard I try to like it. Carmageddon has always been about running amuck on city streets, in construction zones, and through mountain communities, running over cows and men and grannies with stretchers, and pulverizing your opponents. Carmageddon is all about racing, "challenging" missions, and frustration. If you try to play the game as it is apparently designed to be played, you cannot possibly have any fun. You start out with a limited time and have to struggle to add any bonus time before your experience is aborted way too early. The map feature, which was quite good in Carmageddon 2, is cartoonish and aggravating. The powerups and surprise bonuses along the way aren't very impressive or extensive (although the designers unfortunately felt compelled to leave the silly Bouncy Bouncy feature in the game). The racing environments are nowhere near as extensive as I was used to, which is a further criticism I have of this game. The only new touch I really liked is the tendency of pedestrians to jump around on one leg after you put the other one out of commission; overall, though, running over pedestrians here is just not as much fun as it should be.

The fatal flaw here is the emphasis on objective missions. It takes so long to figure out the challenge race and somehow miraculously complete it that your disgust with the whole business overweighs any excitement you may have about finally getting a chance to race on a new track. It is hard enough to figure out what you are supposed to do, let alone do it in the minimal time allotted. Once you think you have it, another extra requirement pops up to dash your hopes; if you could save a race or challenge during the action, it would do much to help alleviate the problem. This game really betrays the wonderfully fun Carmageddon tradition and makes this a game quite unable to offer enough positives to outweigh the many negatives. The result is the death of a great gaming series.

OK, to start with, I have owned every carmageddon game, and the first is still the best. However, it just doesn't run on any of my computers any more, and it's two successors have each had flaws.

TDR2000 comes close to the feel of the original in terms of random time wasting and frustration, but several things detract from the fun. First, you must actually race (ick) to complete the levels, as peds are annoyingly hard to kill. Yes, it's more realistic, but that isn't really the point. Is it? No, I don't think so. All of the _really_ fun stuff has been removed, presumably for political correctness (Where's the Turbo Nutter B*****d Nitrous? Why no points style or artistry?)

But it's not all bad. Unlike Carma II, it doesn't have completely impossible missions, and like the original you have to drive like a demon to keep the timer from running out.

Diverting but disappointing. It should get 3.5 stars because it doesn't have the completely impossible missions of Carma II, and it does relieve your road rage (in the absence of an original Carmageddon-capable computer). I'm rounding down because I know my judgement is skewed--I hated the missions in Carma II so very much. :)

Pros:It is back, the gore the blood and its so so amusing! New cars,old cars, new races to fun to describe Cons:still has that timer I never Liked thats basiclly It! I loved It.

As a huge fan of parts # 1 & 2, I had high expectations. Granted, game play is with much the same physics model & powerups. There are plenty of new cars available, with a smattering of the good, old cars, too. Curiously absent is `Die Anna' and her car. You MUST play as the character Max Damage.

But the sticking point for me is the peds in part # 3, they're hostile. No bikini girls & grandmas here. More like crazed green mutants wielding lengths of pipe who'll attack en masse and pound you on the fender until you're toast...just try stopping your vehicle in the midst of a group of crazed lead-pipe hooligans, you'll see!

TDR was coded in Australia, and there's an "ozzie" level where you can run down 'roos in "Mad" Max Rakatanski's MVP interceptor or Humongous's custom ride from Road Warrior. There's a Thunderdome of sorts, and a Bartertown, as well. Z.Z.Top seem to be driving one monster truck. These little touches are nice, but the lack of innocent peds screaming & pleading in terror, as in parts # 1 & 2, is too great to overcome. The peds in TDR hurl epithets about your mama's sexual history along with their molotovs. Bring back the grannies with walkers !

People whine too much about this game. To me, the only major problem is the restrictive timelimit. I'm not ashamed to admit that I cheat and turn it off.

The graphics are good, better than Carmageddon 2. The vehicle control is also smoother. Everything goes A LOT faster. You'll be speeding and spinning like crazy. However, it really only takes a few minutes to get the feel of the breakneck pace of the game. Control is as tight as can be, though handling of course changes depending on what car you have.

The levels are immense and designed nicely. The final map gets to be a bit much, though, because of its size and the power of the oppenents and the number of cops, it can take a good deal of time to clear a race if you're just trashing everyone rather than racing. I don't know anyone who just races on Carmageddon, so this could be a bit of problem.

The missions aren't that hard, really. If you have problems with the time limit, just turn it off. One level doesn't let you do that, though, but the time isn't so horrible that you can't get by without turning off the timer.

Carma II was GREAT! I loved it! A great way to take out my aggressiveness at the end of a hard day! And nobody gets hurt! Carma 3 SUCKED! I'm not even going to be kind on this one. I was VERY disappointed with the entire game and trashed it within a half hour after installing it.

The third installment of the "Carmageddon" series, is here, and is re-built from the ground up. Not only for the graphics but also for Internet play.

The two previous versions were only LAN playable, TDR, is now Internet playable.

The graphics are just incredible, the "peds" (pedestrians), this time around are 'Zombies' (need to read the story on the official Carmageddon site). And also the "peds" do not run away in fear, they are armed with "cocktails" which they throw at your car!

Gore,its even more then in the previous versions, body parts fly, and even peds run away with missing body parts (well hop away if you take out one of their legs).

Make sure to obtain "The Nose-Bleed Pack" from the official Carmageddon site. This will give you added power ups, and give you the choice of using 'Zombies' or 'Humanas' as "Peds", also patches some bugs. Also make sure to obtain the network play patch (US Mini Patch) from the same site.

TDR also supports force feedback MUCH better then "2", in fact the Wingman Formula Force GP (from Logitech), works 100% with TDR. This addition of a steering wheel with brake and gas pedals, is a TRUE addition for any Carma Fan! With the force feedback wheel, you feel the change of surfaces, hitting obsticals, etc.

And last but not least, I would strongly recommend joining "GameSpy". That is the premiere gaming network, and the only network, (thus far), that supports a multitude of TDR players.

The only problem with TDR, is the 'TIMER', very short timer, but can be disabled using the many 'cheat codes' available from the official Carmageddon site.

See you on Gamespy!..... - Astrotrain

I won't address all the details, as they've been covered previously. But Carmageddon Two was the dissapointment of the series for me. Three is back to old form. While I still prefer the original to TDR, this one is still a wonderful game. True, it's harder to get actual time in a race. Hence the "Free Driving" mode, where you can take the timer out all together. The missions on the second were random and at times pointless. Not the case here, each mission is interesting at least, and with the 3 race/ 3 mission setup on each level it isn't too frustrating. If you liked the first one, this is definently worth trying. Skip #2, not #3.