Carnage Cross

I just took a spin with the Early Access release of Carnage Cross, and I'm fairly impressed. As of the time of this review, the game consists of a sampling of a handful of vehicles and maps, but there doesn't appear to be a complete, cohesive campaign. The game wears its influences on its sleeve boldly and proudly: this is as pure a Twisted Metal 2 homage as you're going to find. As someone who's intimately familiar with TM2, I'm always on the lookout for another quality vehicular combat game, and now I've got fairly high hopes for Carnage Cross. The essentials are there: the vehicle movement feels good, with nice variations for each vehicle type (I love the addition of drifting - very satisfying), the essential weapon types and special attacks are all there (some of them are even direct references to TM2), characters all have the bizarre, strange backstories made familiar in TM2, and here they're even showcased with similar voice acting and comic book-styled portraits. Additionally, the levels feature the wacky touches you've come to love from TM2: the Statue of Liberty shoots lazers from its eyes, a rogue 747 gets disappeared by a bolt of lightning, monolithic snowballs careen across your path. The developer has hit a lot of the essentials for a game like this and it's fantastic to see. That said, there are definitely some things that need smoothed out: - Camera angles need work for some of the vehicles - I couldn't see over a few of them, making shooting and tracking targets quite a chore - Level design needs more variation and character. Right now, all levels are generally some variant of a large, flat plane with a smattering of obstacles littered about - I'd love to see buildings, vertical elements, ramps and gaps, etc. - Audio needs some adjusting - the actual sound design of the levels, vehicles, and weapons is grossly overpowered by the music, even with the music turned WAY down - Overall polish and refinement - menus are a bit ugly, performance could use a bit of help, and the usual EA bugs and glitches are fairly easy to find - Of course, completed campaigns and a cohesive story mode, at the very least There's a lot of promise here. If enough character can be injected into the game, the levels can be infused with more intrigue and variation, and the game can be finely polished, this will be one to watch. For now, it's an enjoyable, brief demo, but don't expect too much more as of the time of this review. Find more reviews and recommendations on my Steam Curator page, Indie Infinitesimal: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41769714/

Too many glaring issues to recommend this. -Even though the game listing says "Partial Controller" support, it's more like non-existent or broken. You can't use the controller for anything else except while driving the cars around. However, even that will become borked if you pause the game one too many times, it seems. This ended up having the car steer to the right when I pushed the analog stick to the left. And, pushing the stick to the right did nothing. I had to restart the game just to get it to work. You can pause the game with the controller, but you cannot unpause it with the controller. What the hell? Also, to unpause the game, you can't even hit the Escape key, like other games allow you to do. No, you have to use the mouse to click on "Back" or "Continue". If you're primarily a keyboard and mouse user with driving games (really, I don't see how that can be fun when a controller is a much better choice), then have at it. Honestly, I don't know why the developer thought putting a combat-racing game out for Early Access that only favors keyboard and mouse was a good idea. -The audio needs work. You'll hear the music play nice and loud but you cannot hear the sound effects at all. Even adjusting the music level in the audio settings down to 50% doesn't do anything. -The camera angle sits too low behind the cars to allow you to see everything in front of you that well. -When you check out the characters and their bios and vehicles, all except one (Joe) will display. Joe will just be a black background. -The cars have no weight to them. They all feel like they're sliding around on ice. I know Twisted Metal kinda had the same feeling but it wasn't as bad as this game. Only positive reviews for this game I've seen so far, but I think that's because some people were just dying for a resemblance of Twisted Metal and wanted to forego everything else. For me, at least, all the issues I listed above were game breaking and I simply could not continue to play it. I'm hoping, as time goes on, that these issues will be fixed and this game will become a great replacement for Twisted Metal, but right now, I simply could not enjoy it.

If you're a fan of Twisted Metal, this is the game you've been waiting for. Carnage Cross is not perfect, but it's extremely fun and really brings me back to the good days of car combat games. There's singleplayer and multiplayer modes, a nice selection of different feeling characters/vehicles, plus some varied & interesting maps to battle through (which have their own unique destructibles and environmental hazards). Soundtrack fits the game very well. Not only is it very cheap (price should at least double honestly), this game is made by a solo dev who listens to feedback and is very passionate. That's impressive by itself! If you're a fan of combat racing games, and especially if you're a fan of Twisted Metal, it's a no brainer: buy Carnage Cross for you and all your friends. [b] Note: [/b] CC does work on Steam Deck, but you have to use the keyboard to launch the game by clicking on the folders and pressing 'enter' until you can launch the exe (Binaries/Win64/CarnageCross.exe). Hopefully this is patched soon!

I appreciate the sentiment to try and make a twisted metal like game but I feel like the developer has bitten more than he could chew here.It's simply not fun to play in that state but I decided to not refund it because I am f*cking starving for a modern twisted game that I could play on Steam.

This game is a must for any Twisted Metal fan! It does a good job of paying homage to a twisted metal style gameplay while also still feeling like its own game. For an early access game it's still very fun and will keep you entertained! I do have one suggestion. It would be cool to see a health pickup. Not sure if there already is one, but in my half hour of playing I've yet to see it, but i think it would be cool to have a pickup that restores a bit of health. I'm very excited to see new content and what this game evolves into. Great work!

Great start...a must for any twisted metal fan!!

This game is Awesome! Scratches the Twisted Metal itch I have had for years! Very impressive for what it is and the price! Lots of variety with different vehicles and environments. I recommend it to anyone who is a car combat fan.

A spiritual successor to Twisted Metal. Too bad it was abandoned by dev...

Really good so far!! I cant wait for more!!

Fun and creative vehicle combat game. Lots of weapons, interesting perks obtained after being last car standing after a battle. Gameplay is frantic, don't stop moving. Great to pick up and play for a quick 10 minute session. I spent about 10 minutes fiddling with the graphic settings. Pay attention to the tips in the graphics options! Recommended, you get a decent game for only $5.