DethKarz is yet another futuristic 3D racing game, another one to add to the sudden slew of them coming out in the past year. Most seem to have the same concept, but few like Powerslide are different from the rest. DeathKarz is unique in it's own way but is this racing genre getting old?

Interface
The menu's of DethKarz are some of the best I've seen yet. Beautiful graphics and animations compliment the large amount of modifiable settings available in this game. When you are racing the interface graphics are not only good looking but very easy to read. The quality of this games interface is really top notch. This is one menu system that you will not get lost in.

Gameplay
The game takes place in the 25th century and you get to race 12 very different cars. The cars look pretty sleek and cool but when trying to control them on some of DethKarz tracks you'll learn that some of them just don't handle well enough. In most of DethKarz' tracks you can easily fall off the edge in many places. You magically get brought back on to the track but you just fall off too damn much! Particularly the the "Red Planet" track where it is all fenceless ramps with lava below. There are only 4 tracks (even though the game is marketed as having 12). Each of the 4 tracks has Short, Medium, and Long versions. You get to race in Metro City, the Grand Keys, The Pole, and The Red Planet. The tracks are all significantly different and offer different types of gameplay. Not only that, but they look really good. DethKarz' tracks are probably the best racing environment's I have ever seen in a game.

There are several types of gameplay modes which include Championship, Arcade, Time Trial and Multiplayer. In time trial you can save your best times with "Ghost Cars" and upload them to the net where other people can try and beat your time. When your out racing there are a lot of cars on the track compared to other racing games when there are usually only about 8 at a time. This makes for a lot more competition and the opportunity to use your weapon a lot. Each car has a weapon on board which only slows down the opponent a notch each hit. It takes quite a few repeated hits to blow up a car, let alone disable it. It's good that they added this feature in because just plain racing like this may get boring after a while. On the track you can also pick up torpedoes, heat-seeking and homing missiles, and cluster bombs. For defense you can pick up anti-matter shields, stealth protection, and quick repair fixes.

People with larger monitors (17" or more) will get quite an exhilaration ride out of this game. Aside from a few gameplay flaws, I found that once I got used to controlling the cars the game was quite fun and you get a very nice sense of speed. Not only to you have to be wary of the track and how your going to keep your vehicle on the road but you have to watch for powerups and you also have to shot the enemies whenever possible. With so much to do, there is rarely a dull moment in the game.

Graphics
This game takes advantage of basically every feature of the 3Dfx chipsets. In DethKarz you will never see chunky, 2D sprites. Everything is 3D and has almost every 3D effect applied to it. This is one of the most beautiful and colorful games around right now. The lighting effects, animations, and explosions are among some of the best I've seen along with the smoke, skids, sparks, and weapon trails.

The backgrounds and environments of the tracks are equally impressive to the other parts of the game as well. Parts of the track never pop up out of no where and the entire racing environment has a real 3D feel to it. On a decent system this game plays incredibly smooth as well which adds to the sense of speed you can experience in this game. You can also watch replay's of your races which are very well done because you get to watch it from countless different camera angles. Even the SLI'ers will be happy as DethKarz supports 1024x768 resolution as well. Overall, the graphics are very impressive and virtually flawless.

Sound
Sadly the only decent sound effect in this game are the engine sounds. The rest seem to scarce or muted at times. The game claims to have 3D audio support but with my MonsterSound MX300 I could not notice any noticeable difference even with headphones on. The game does not use A3D, DirectSound 3D, or EAX but a built in 3D audio engine which sadly was not very well done. They should of stuck with the standard.

The musical score did not please me at all. That's not to say it wasn't good quality, but I despise "techno" music. However, if this is your type of music I think you will really enjoy this games music aspect. The best racing sound track of all time in my opinion is that of Destruction Derby 2. Some options for different types of music would be nice because not everyone is motivated by techno dance stuff.

Conclusion
Decent arcade-like gameplay, and superb graphics make this game very attractive to some but it's gameplay and sound quality flaws along with the lack of tracks may repel others. Overall a slightly above-average arcade racer. Here is how it rates:

Interface: 90%
Gameplay: 70%
Graphics: 95%
Sound: 60%

Overall: 78%

Reviewed by: Adam "kami" Koebel
Date: January 25, 1999