Mashed Details

Mashed

Before the era of 3D gaming, the racing genre largely consisted of travelling from A to B in the quickest time. And that was it. However, the most memorable exception to this trend was 1993's Super Mario Kart, which incorporated weapons into its races. And it was this game along with a handful of others like it that opened developers' eyes to the potential of combat-based racing. This was eventually fully realised with 3D games such as Twisted Metal and Destruction Derby. But it didn't stop there, and as we steam into the new millennium, Empire bring us the aptly named 2004 title Mashed for Xbox.

Rather than spend all your time racing, gameplay in Mashed is spent trying to beat the opposition to a pulp. There are some 13 tracks to choose from that span various locations and present players with a multitude of differing terrain. Players will be armed with vehicles to suit the conditions, and gameplay is viewed from a top-down perspective.

Vehicle-based combat is extensive, and though players can use their own racer as a battering ram for pleasure, they would be wiser to make use of the game's nine hi-tech weapons instead. In an all-against-all game, machine guns, mortars, shotguns, flame-throwers, mines and barrel bombs can make all the difference.

But a game of this type is really all about multi-player gaming, and it's here that the Xbox hardware does a great job. Making use of the same weapons, vehicles and tracks, up to four players can partake in last-man-standing tournaments to decide who will be crowned champion. But players eliminated early on aren't left out of the action. On the contrary, defeated opponents are free to wreak havoc of their own by unleashing unfriendly air strikes on the remaining players in an attempt to influence the outcome of the match.

Mashed is undoubtedly a game that is great fun to play, with solid visuals, good handling and a superb multi-player game.

Certificate
Developers	SUPERSONIC SOFTWARE
Publisher	EMPIRE INTERACTIVE
Genres	Racing
Released	Production year: 2004 Xbox: 18 Jun 2004 PS2: 18 Jun 2004
Number of players	1