Thanks to great German multiplatform mobile gaming site PocketGaming.de, which were first to report on the latest “made in Russia” game Death Drive, I've also given a try to the brand new, great Carmageddon / Destruction Derby / Twisted Metal / Death Rally clone, which has just been released for the Pocket PC. That is, unlike what the title suggests, it's not a "plain" Carmageddon clone - it's just that the title length is limited and had only place for one title. That is, it's pretty much like Handy Entertainment’s Dreamway and Garga Games’ Ganxta Race on the Pocket PC - but all in 3D, unlike these 2D games.

The game uses the same Voxel technology used in, for example, the Comanche series, which, at its time (in 1992), was a real breakthrough on PC gaming with its (compared to alternative technologies) excellent speed and visuals. The speed advantage is present on the Pocket PC too - the game is pretty playable on, with today's standards, low-end Pocket PC's and has no problems on VGA devices either.





The homepage of Gajon Entertainment’s new game is here (BabelFish “translation” here).

The company mostly develops for other platforms (most importantly, the PC and the PowerTV set-top box) and this is their first Pocket PC conversion. Despite this (and the fact that it’s free), it is a VERY mature product - actually, it's even better than MANY commercial Pocket PC games. This also applies to the English of the game – it’s all in English with no, say, Russian leftovers.

Availability

The direct download is here (original Gajon Entertainment page; may be slow to download) and here (very fast PocketGaming.de back-end).

Installation

Un-RAR (with, for example, WinRAR or the free (!) and highly recommended (its proprietary 7-zip compression is about 15% better than even the compression rate of RAR!) 7-zip) and copy the deathdrive_hires directory to your PDA. Execute DeathDrivePPC2003.exe inside to start the game.

Compatibility

It had no problems with my following Pocket PC’s:

WM5 VGA Dell Axim x51v (A12)
WM5 VGA HP iPAQ hx4700. Unfortunately, the D-Pad-based controls in the game can’t be redefined and the movement can’t be controlled by the stylus; therefore, on the hx4700, you’ll want to use an external Bluetooth gaming pad
WM2003SE VGA Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 720
WM2003 QVGA HP iPAQ h2210 (it was clearly slower on it than on the first three devices)

On my non-overclocked HTC Wizard, it was pretty slow. If you don’t plan to overclock, just disable the mirror, the engine sounds and the minimap in the Setup menu – then, it becomes pretty usable. With overclocking to 240 MHz, you don't need to do this - then, the game becomes pretty playable.

While the game is advertised as PPC2k2-compatible, it isn’t (there’s no PPC2k2-compliant executable). This is certainly bad news for PPC2k2 users.

Note that, up to now, I've received two reports of it not working on Samsung CPU-based models (HP iPAQ rx1950 , HTC TyTN etc) and haven't received any success stories on these CPU's. That is, you may too have problems with the game if you have a Samsung-based model.

Gameplay

Please read the above-linked Wiki pages to read all about it. It's a combination of the listed games

My personal remarks: Much as the game, at first, seems to be rather boring for non-Carmageddon / Desctruction Derby etc.-fans (including me), taken into account all the game / tournament options, weapon upgrades and so on, it becomes pretty fun.

Control

Unfortunately, it can only be controlled with the D-Pad and, if present, a dedicated jog dial. Unfortunately, it doesn't support SmartSKey, the great "make your volume slider of previous-generation WM5-based HTC phones to a jog dial" hack either, which is bad news for example for HTC Universal / Wizard users.

If you don't have a (dedicated) jog dial, you'll welcome the fact that the weapon key (the Action button, which can't be reassigned) is "sticky" and you'll end up having to re-press it few times.

Note that while some state it can also be controlled with stylus (just like GeorallyEX or Handy Entertainment’s Dreamway and Garga Games’ Ganxta Race, this is definitely not the case.

Visuals

For a free game, I’d say it’s excellent. OK, there’s no 2700G support or VGA hi-resolution, but you can’t expect much of a FREE game, can you? (Note that many state it's hi-res on VGA devices. This is not the case.)

The game uses (right-handed) landscape orientation; this can’t be changed (bad news for users of devices with bad landscape polarization or left-handedness).

Sounds & music

As far as in-game sounds are concerned: for a free game, they’re excellent. Probably the biggest problem is the engine sound: there are only two engine sounds for “slow” and “fast” speed; this can be pretty misleading when you don’t pay attention to the speedometer. Fortunately, it can be disabled in the Options menu.

Unfortunately, there’s no in-game / menu music.

Verdict

This game has set a new standard for freeware Pocket PC games and is a must. Go get it!

UPDATE (11/06/2006): some updates to the article; a link to the PocketPlayers.de review published in the meantime.

Microsoft MVP - Mobile Devices, 2006, 2007. See my PPC & SP blog HERE.

    

carmageddon rawked
i'll try this one out.

anyone remember the movie 'death race 2000' ?

and i kinda got angry myself and he kinda, he knocked the front wheel off into outer space , and i said 'waho, got a lot of guts' ,i like salad, i just ate a nice salad. baked potatoe, chreamed cheese *laughs* and chives. yeah i like to eat a nice salad, when i got something on my mind, eheha aaahhhahhahahhhahaahaaaaa

Ill try it on my qvga x50, and hope it works good...

EDIT: Great game, runs with no lag on my x50 qvga with proc set at 520mhz.

I wish u could switch it from left handed to right handed.

 

Cool game, but not exactly a carmageddon clone. Carmageddon was about running down pedestrians and racing. This is about blasting other cars and racing!

       

Thanks, I'll fix this in the next iteration

Microsoft MVP - Mobile Devices, 2006, 2007. See my PPC & SP blog HERE.

    

Real nice! I'm still wondering where the walking frame grannies went to though...

(Guess who's back...)

 

Hey, I'm not the only one who played carmageddon!

Frannyman, do a power-slide through a 4-way stoplight!

       

http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm

Which file do I need to un-RAR this file? do I down load RAR to my PC or Ax ?and can I load it to my CF card to use it?

thanks for the heads up on this game

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Why I have a negitive trader rating
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/itrader.php?u=112897

You can do either. Load the rar file onto a card, and then unzip it to that card, then delete the rar to free up space.

Or, you can unzip it while on a desktop pc and put all the files onto a card using a card reader, or activesync and cradle.

Dell Axim X50
Windows Mobile 2003SE
Think Outside IR Keyboard
8GB CF Card (Apps, Movies)
2GB SD Card (Music)

Best Pocket PC Freeware Sites:
FreewarePPC
Pocket PC Freewares
PdaGold Freeware

"If it aint broke, don't fix it..."

 

That is a cool avatar spunker hehehhe...!!! Wow for a free game, i played and LOVED it!!! I'll try it some more later.

Thanks for the help, do i copy all three files titles config, dat, and DeathdrivePPc2 to my CF card or just the Dat file?

Sorry i'm just a bit of a newb when do these things, but i would rather ask first then to goof things up which i have been known to do.

On the plus side maybe another newb will see this and learn from it as well

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Why I have a negitive trader rating
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/itrader.php?u=112897

I figured it out, I copied all three files and it works great, thanks for the tip.cool game.

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Why I have a negitive trader rating
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/itrader.php?u=112897

7-zip is for free http://www.7-zip.org/

1. Be Kind.
2. Have fun.

We were all newbs at one point. Copy all the files in the rar file, it sounds like u got it.

 

Updated version posted

Microsoft MVP - Mobile Devices, 2006, 2007. See my PPC & SP blog HERE.