Fast Lane Carnage

No technological glitch could lure people from what is the heart of video games: a good gameplay.

...as the Fast Lane Carnage manual says. Mais oui, Comrade Millet.

From this, you may conclude the developer's English is not so good--and also, to be sure, that the aesthetic of the game is one that Manifestoites will find wholly sympathetic. But for all that--this is a very French game.

Not French as in the France of the Guide Michelin, the Rive Gauche, or Jacques Chirac. Rather, the France of Mobius, Metal Hurlant and the bandes dessinee, the gritty, adult French comics that are as alien to the American form as Japanese manga; of the bizarre Franco-Algerian slang of the French underworld; of the polar noir, movies even bleaker and more brutal than their American counterparts.

Fast Lane Carnage can be described as a collision between Car Wars, Quake, and Bladerunner. In a bleak future where the rich live in fortified compounds and the vast bulk of society is left to rot in polluted slums, one of the few routes out of poverty to participate in car races where the vehicles are heavily armed, and the race's winner is as likely to be the best shot as the best driver. As in most driving games, success unlocks new tracks--but in addition, surviving (or better yet winning) a race earns you cash, which you can use to upgrade your car and your living quarters.

In short, this is a game in which you drive armed and armored cars and blow crap out of others while speeding around a race track. In addition to a soloplay campaign, it supports online play (via LAN or Internet)--and indeed, the multiplayer game is where it shines.

The Developer Says:
Fast Lane Carnage is a non-stop action game, an improbable cross-over between Micromachines and Quake in a Mad Max world. When you have enough of the tough single player experience, get the old-school Quake action feeling going with your friends (or enemies).

"2021. Fast Lane Carnage takes place in the shallows of the metropolis, where wealth is out of reach, where police don'’t come anymore. Even the cleaners don'’t dare coming. Most of the people, excluded from the corporate system, live off the wastes and robbery of the society. Drugs rule the streets, and all the solutions are imagined for one purpose: gaining money."

Genre : Quake Rally

Multiplayer : LAN / Internet - 4 players

It's better to experience a few hours of non-stop action with a tough ending and be motivated to start the whole thing again than to be bored to death by an intricate 60-hours gaming experience.

Reviews

"Viel Gas, viel Spaß. Die Entwickler versprechen einfache und effiziente Spiele, die von Anfang an Spaß machen und ich denke, das ist auch gelungen."
   - DLH.net

"Unbeschwertes Gameplay für zwischendurch, Soundtrack von Aggro Berlin, im Multiplayer durchaus lustig."
   - Gamezone.de