Although tonally different, there are telling signs in this ‘90s franchise revival that the developers were responsible for the futuristic racer Redout. The fluorescent blue exhaust and nitro trails are the biggest giveaways, along with the neon green smears the zombie-like streetwalkers leave behind on the tarmac. We can’t ignore the ability to defy gravity by riding along walls either. It certainly has more in common with Redout (and its sequel) than expected, making it clear that this isn’t 34BigThings’ first rodeo. It is, however, their first death race – and we’ll see evidence of that too.
1997’s original Carmageddon, and its even more celebrated sequel, made a name for themselves not just by shocking UK politicians with their pedestrian squishing antics but also due to their open-ended nature. Races took place on large open maps and could be completed in one of three ways: hurtling through checkpoints, destroying all rivals via a combo of bullets and brute force, or by killing every zombie/pedestrian. For the time, this open-ended structure was innovative, even forming the backbone of 2016’s Carmageddon: Max Damage.
Intended as a grittier franchise reboot, Rogue Shift makes the bold decision to ditch most of the foundations the franchise was built on, right down to its open-ended maps and crass humour. What we have here is an edgier (or at least, darker) racer with rogue-like elements, featuring races set on typical urban racetracks. After leaving the starting grid in last place, it’s a case of grabbing ammo to restock weapons, using boosts to speed ahead and slam into rivals, and generally forcing your way into the top three positions. Or into first place, if you happen to choose a high stakes ‘Elite’ race, in which failure will cost you an entire run.
The rogue-like elements are the main attraction, featuring both temporary and permanent upgrades (ergo two currencies) and a randomised branching path flowchart of events to pick and play through. Temporary upgrades are gained by visiting a weapon or perk dealer, spread a few races apart, and include more powerful shunts, reinforced armour, new tiered weapons (a mix of punchy shotguns, searing lasers, and meaty machine guns), and such abilities as leaching health. The pool of available upgrades gradually increases, along with adding free restocks and wider selections. Permanent upgrades are intended to help you survive for longer, unlocked using credits gained at the end of a run. To give a taster, the side-bash (mapped to LB/RB) is unlocked just a couple of runs in. Failed runs, no doubt – as this is intended to be a slow burner.
Generally, 2-3 permanent upgrades can be purchased after returning to the main menu, extending to new vehicles. A single vehicle (a newfangled take on Carmaggedon’s iconic red cover star) is available from the outset, with speedier, heavier, and more resistant types eventually unlocking. There’s a good all-rounder too, unlocking around halfway in. While speed is important, with so many hazards on the track, it is vital to consider resistance too. Each has a single default weapon, although this can be swapped out and upgraded. The laser became a favourite due to its long reach, lashing around like the Ghostbusters’ proton beam.
Most races feature three laps but can be as few as one and as many as six – with one of the shorter tracks set in a circular drainage system where it’s possible to ride along the walls, dodging pipework to maintain top speed. There’s also a figure of eight track with a physics-enabled wrecking ball in the centre, a disused mall with narrow staircases, a wide dustbowl with plenty of opportunities to overtake, partly submerged dockland with tight bends, and a few tracks that see you making you a U-turn and going against oncoming rivals. In addition to plague zombies, which charge your boost gauge when killed and include explosive types that can be shot from afar, tracks can feature police enforcer vehicles. While they’re more than cannon fodder, occasionally getting between you and rivals, they don’t really add a great deal to the experience. It is however neat that their sirens are blended into the otherwise forgettable metal soundtrack. Another noteworthy thing here is that music becomes more raucous when racing side-by-side with one of the named bosses.
On that note, bosses appear periodically and have super-sized health bars to whittle down over the course of 5-6 minutes. These heavily armoured foes are equipped with a mixture of flamethrowers, mine launchers, and missiles that hit marked parts of the track. If you haven’t invested in new weaponry, you may find yourself too weak to take them down in the allotted time. This will end your run – one try is all you get. Incidentally, a full complete run involves a handful of boss fights and takes around two hours. It’s more or less vital to acquire a Gold Ticket, which can either be used to skip an event or revive mid-race. There’s the ‘one last chance’ perk to consider too, which gives ten seconds to find a health pick-up and get back into the action. As health restores cost money outside of races, it’s important to collect the “free” pick-ups while racing. Entering a race with next to no armour can be fatal, especially later, which also makes it essential to check the event flowchart and plan accordingly.
A typical run, then, will commence with a handful of easier races against five rivals and the chance to start upgrading armour, boost damage and weapons using the two slots available. Once the first boss is defeated, the number of rivals increases to nine then twelve, while more perk slots unlock. Scavenger quests appear later too, involving opening shipping containers at random to find rewards and, hopefully, not a gaggle of infected. I was surprised by how often new tracks became available, with fresh race locations appearing as late as six hours in. Track design is generally masterful, although the overuse of blue neon does make for a lot of noise and clutter. Sometimes it isn’t clear if an obstacle can be smashed through or is immoveable either, resulting in a crash. The same also goes for side-bashes, which can see rivals put your vehicle in a spin if they collide. Every hefty whack and enemy elimination is accompanied by a split second of slow-mo, helping amplify their impact – while recalling EA’s sorely missed Burnout franchise.
While I’d hesitate to say that “no two runs are the same” Rogue Shift does feel very well balanced for a rogue-like that’s launching without time in early access, with the permanent upgrades appropriately increasing the chance of success, and the unlockable vehicles feeling just as important. It does a good job of tracking progress too, spreading upgrades across ten pages and featuring a wall of stats. Conversely, I wouldn’t say that Rogue Shift “gets better the more you play it” either, as like a typical racer, learning track layouts and experimenting with vehicles will help more than something like an additional upgrade reroll. The £39.99 asking price (on Xbox Series, at least) is a little steep for something with no online components, however, and you’re probably only looking at around 10-12 hours to unlock all 30+ upgrades and vehicles.
Whether it’s a better experience for omitting pedestrians and comical power-ups such as the “Pedestrian Electro-Bastard Ray” is up to you to decide. It’s a more tactful experience thanks to adopting a rogue-like structure, higher stakes, and a gradually rising difficulty level, but not without losing some of its trademark features along the way. If you always felt that Carmageddon’s weakness was within its crassness, you’ll almost certainly find this more civilised approach a change for the better. As a first attempt at delivering a racing rogue-like, it’s delivered surprisingly confidently.
34BigThings’ Carmageddon: Rogue Shift is out 6th Feb on PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2 and PC.