Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)
In a cruel twist of irony, those of us who remember the breakneck mayhem of the original Carmageddon are creeping ever closer to our senior citizen bus pass. This will allow us to ride a slow-moving passenger vehicle that gains no extra points for mulching pedestrians.
Released in 1997, this classic of vehicular combat arrived with some critical praise and instant controversy. Deliberately baiting outrage with its points-for-murder gameplay, it was banned in some countries and heavily censored in others. A huge hit regardless of backlash, it spawned many sequels, ports, and imitators over the years.
Developers 34BigThings (Redout) are bringing the franchise back from the dead for a new generation, adding a roguelite spin in the process. Carmageddon: Rogue Shift is just as fun and addictive as the original was back in the day, though it’s a little too lightweight to be truly great.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
In keeping with the setting, theme, and tone of the series, this new Carmageddon populates its tracks with zombies and mutants for competitors to mow down in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Alongside the Roger Corman-produced Death Race 2000, the series has always drawn inspiration from the Mad Max franchise (it started life as a licensed adaptation, but publisher SCI couldn’t get the rights). Rogue Shift manages to capture the blood, chrome, and chaos of those films far better than it ever could in the ’90s. Everything has a wasteland punk aesthetic, presenting a world where the need to blow each other up on a high-speed circuit is a believable way to let off steam.
A racing game in the thinnest sense, Carmageddon’s focus is firmly on high-speed destruction derby action. You shoot other cars to scrap while careening around makeshift courses, racking up credits by mowing down the irradiated denizens of this savage wasteland.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)
Tracks are bonkers obstacle gauntlets, littered with swinging wrecking balls and flailing tentacles. Hordes of shambling undead and giant mutants that explode into clouds of acid conspire to sabotage your pole position.
The handling model can be best described as ‘slip ‘n slide’. Every vehicle has a weight to it and you’ll mostly be swinging it around corners, hoping you don’t clip some scenery and spin out. It can be frustrating to force a respawn after hitting a wall at max acceleration, but a perfect lap feels exhilarating once you nail it.
Rather than the Mario Kart approach of picking up weapons mid-race, your loadout is fixed. Each car comes equipped with a starting weapon, ranging from machine guns to lasers and everything in between. Your vehicle itself is a sub-weapon, with an effective slam ability that lets you violently shunt opponents into barriers. Seeing rivals explode in slow motion as point multipliers flash up on screen never gets old.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)
As entertaining as this metal-on-metal carnage is, it is a loop that lacks lasting appeal. That is where the roguelite elements come in. You start a new game and work through a series of randomly generated events, each with their own primary and bonus goals.
Events range from straightforward races, survival, and combat-focused challenges. There are also boss fights against cars packing uniquely destructive offence. The aim is to get as far as possible without being damaged beyond repair. Death sends you back to the start, but not empty-handed. You earn a currency — amusingly called beatcoin — to spend on new cars, weapons and store stock for the next run.
Each cycle offers the chance to try a new rig with a fresh set of stats and weaponry. Upgrades and repairs are available during a run, but difficulty ramps up at a steady pace. Early deaths are almost guaranteed in the first few attempts.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
The unlock system does a good job of encouraging replay. It’s hard to walk away after a defeat when a massive truck with a shotgun bolted to it is waiting to be pulled out of the garage.
Yet even with the steady supply of new equipment, upgrades and vehicles, Rogue Shift struggles to hold attention over the long haul. Track fatigue sets in before long, and no amount of random generation can fully offset that.
It doesn’t help that the game is solo only. This style of combat racer feels tailor-made for local and online multiplayer. Quick time to kill, rapid respawns, and short tracks are designed for spectacle rather than precision. Not being able to ram a friend into an oncoming pack of exploding mutants feels like a glaring omission.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)
That absence stings because Rogue Shift has a sense of fluid speed that arguably has not been seen since Switch 2 launch title Fast Fusion, which arrived with a full multiplayer suite.
It’s also a well-optimised version. Frame rates remain stable even during visually chaotic moments, when the screen fills with flying cars and mutant hordes. Undocked play has a surprisingly sharp fidelity, with splashes of colour and blurred neon lighting recalling the impressive Night City driving of Cyberpunk 2077. The only technical hiccup of note was some occasional input lag when docked, which was infrequent and brief.
Conclusion
An explosive return from this 30-year-old franchise, Carmageddon: Rogue Shift is close to being the full package. It’s one of those rare reboots that can satisfy older fans while also appealing to newer players drawn to the roguelite loop. It’s fast, entertaining, and backed by a teeth-rattling heavy metal soundtrack.
It’s a shame, then, that there isn’t more of it. With no multiplayer and no additional content announced, Rogue Shift starts strong and shows real promise, but it ultimately runs out of gas.
