Video games as a form of entertainment can be looked upon as disposable media, with many series coming and going from generation to generation. However, sometimes games thought dead can be resurrected, giving fans a reason to hold onto hope for beloved series of the past. In just the past few years, franchises that were long thought dead have been brought back. Beyond Good and Evil, MediEvil, and most recently Dead Space have all shocked fans by making a comeback, proving that what’s dead in the world of video games may truly never die.
Further proof of this comes in the recent announcement that destruction-based racing game Wreckfest would be bringing back another long-dormant series with its newest online tournament, bringing the gory racing series Carmageddon back to modern screens with a crossover. This series combined a dystopian world with a mashup of racing and combat to produce something as unique as it was fun. Now is the perfect time to bring back this series and reintroduce its unique brand of driving action back into the hands of players.
Carmageddon was a series that spawned from the idea of players being bored with racing games and turning around to try and crash fellow racers. This idea, paired with a grindhouse aesthetic and inspiration from films like Mad Max and Death Race, helped create a dystopia where maniacs took to the streets in deadly machines to compete. The series felt at home alongside other car combat games like Twisted Metal, but Carmageddon differentiated itself from other competitors with its gameplay. On the surface, the game seemed to be a traditional racing game, albeit with characters who were murderous in their intent.
However, completing each track was only one way that players could win. Players were given a set amount of time to complete each track but could earn more by damaging other racers, collecting bonuses or running over pedestrians that could be found milling about the tracks. Furthermore, players could abandon the racing entirely and win alternatively by destroying or “wasting” the other racers or running over all of the aforementioned pedestrians. This emphasis on freedom and mayhem is still a unique idea and could be a refreshing alternative to the more traditional racing games that are popular today.
Unlike Twisted Metal, the cars of Carmageddon were formidable but possessed no weapons, so it was up to players’ driving skills to get the job done through one of the three possible win conditions. A modern iteration that created a massive open world full of pedestrians and dangerous courses could provide players with a truly unique and bloody affair to rip through at high speed. Games like Forza Horizon proved that an open-world racing game could not only be thrilling but full of unique exploration opportunities, and fans of Carmageddon‘s dystopia would love to see it brought to life on a huge scale.
Additionally, modern games like Wreckfest have shown fans of the series that today’s technology regarding physics and car deformation could prove to be the perfect tech needed for a modern iteration of the car battling racer. Wreckfest‘s cars crunch and flip with impressive physics, and the thrill of limping a totaled car across the finish line or smashing the competition into oblivion before the player car’s engine fails is a blast. Bringing this kind of technology to a modern Carmageddon would be the true realization of the property, as the original series’ technical limitations were one of the main things holding it back.
Another reason why now is the perfect time to bring back the series is that the license is now fully in the hands of massive publisher THQ Nordic, who not only bought Wreckfest developer Bugbear last November but acquired the Carmageddon series as a whole one month after. Wreckfest is already as close to a modern Carmageddon as players can get right now, and the crossover tournament only serves to illustrate just how easily the developer could pivot and use its great physics tools to create a proper modern iteration of the series.
For now, fans of the long-dead series can enjoy the Wreckfest crossover with two Carmageddon-inspired tracks complete with pixelated zombies to run over and a modern recreation of the iconic bladed Eagle-R car that can be unlocked by completing tournament events. Time will tell if THQ Nordic are planning a resurrection of this unique series, but for now, it seems fans will still have to wait to return to Carmageddon.
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