From hilly plains to islands, deserts, and icy/snowy mountains--even the moon--"wreak" havoc in the limitless world of do-anything across various game modes. The only rule being to reach fir... Read allFrom hilly plains to islands, deserts, and icy/snowy mountains--even the moon--"wreak" havoc in the limitless world of do-anything across various game modes. The only rule being to reach first place.From hilly plains to islands, deserts, and icy/snowy mountains--even the moon--"wreak" havoc in the limitless world of do-anything across various game modes. The only rule being to reach first place.
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- ConnectionsFeatured in Troldspejlet: Episode #24.9 (2001)
Featured review
74% - Visually insipid, but insanely addictive
Every fan of racing games is aware of what flavors they come in: traditional motorsports, futuristic, kart, arcade, simulation, etc. Whatever their themes and the settings they take place in, chances are that car damage in games that featured it was usually either taken for granted or something right-minded players sought to avoid, but a studio in Debrecen sought to make it and end in itself. Enter Invictus Games with its Insane, an off-road racer that blends some realities of the sport of off-roading with an emphasis on both how vehicles interact with undulating terrain and savage collisions causing the vehicles to get flattened and deformed, with wheels sometimes popping out. The mere act of rutting the earth is gratifying, but deliberately smashing one's own car and watching how it drives next is inexplicably amusing.
All right, that description of car gore is a little overkill, and you will probably flip over more than you want to, but there is truth to it. Insane, the spiritual successor to an older Hungarian game with the English title "Deformers" by the same creator, pits up to eight players driving in one of 22 vehicles across one of 30 locations in one of eight different game modes. The locations of the races are mostly named after countries or regions around the world. While fictional, they are characterized by familiar geographies suitable for their names. For example, Colorado is mountainous, Ethiopia is dry, France is snowy, Niger is sandy, and Hawaii is island-themed. The vehicles - all unlicensed - range from 4x4s such as buggies and Blazers to sports cars, pickups, trucks such as the "Behemoth", and an "extreme" class of lightweight hill-climbing cars, which live up to purpose. In fact, all the vehicles are good at climbing hills, some better than others, and it is a good thing, too, because all the maps have some degree of rugged terrain that threaten to upend them. Besides those vehicles and locations, there are others unlocked in campaign mode, including a low-gravity map, a vehicle that I assume could have been used in most famous galactic races of the game's time, and even a map generator, where one can select one of five terrain types and climates each and set roads and road signs and the amount of water and vegetation. While the generator adds to the game's longevity, I admit, I would have liked to see more variation and overall work put into it, and the 30 maps have more scenery to look at, but since Invictus had replayability in mind in ways I will explain, it does not matter.
True to its tagline, Insane stresses "no limits, no rules, no roads", making it a true off-road racer. The maps are decent in size, but, importantly, they are wrapped around so that players driving off the north side will appear on the south, off the west side on the east, and vice versa. Players expecting to bump into walls should keep that in mind, but it makes the world feel infinite, and also allows for more paths and more strategies to exploit. Though prioritizing "fun", the game also blends in a degree of realism, where the vehicles feel weighty, respond to the terrain and ever-changing elevation it traverses, and allow for controls for gear-shifting and differentials. There is also a setup where the player can tune their vehicle's steer lock, suspension, tire pressure, brake and handbrake power, and gear ratios. Above all, there is a damage modeling system where the vehicles undergo deformations, with gradual to drastic effects on their performance. A button exists any time that automatically fully repairs the vehicle after three seconds. It is this semi-realism that works in a game like Insane. It is unfortunate the tuning is absent in multiplayer, and, despite my efforts, I could not get it to work in most single-player modes as I am supposedly able to, only in campaign - a programming error - not that the tuning produces drastically affects performance anyway. One may do without it, and, as with the maps situation, there is something far better.
With the said amount of content, 66 events in campaign, and a Quick Race mode where the player can select the location, time of day, vehicle and which class thereof is allowed, one of eight game modes, the goal length, and opponent number and difficulty level, along with separate options for toggling trees, water, rain, and even animals like bison that are sturdy enough to stop a truck and will amusingly unexpectedly get launched in the air from time to time, Insane superficially packs a bang for the buck, and considering its flaws, its $30 price tag at launch is fair. There is the traditional off-road racing, but also Jamboree, Gate Hunt, Pathfinder, Capture The Flag, Return The Flag, and Destruction Zone. Jamboree has a set of gates, one of which is active at any given time, and the player must drive through it before the others for a point, turning on the next gate in a cycle. In Gate Hunt, players drive through as many green gates as possible, and since claiming one turns it red, the green gates vanish quickly, making for hasty strategy. Pathfinder has players vying to speed through all the gates the first, stressing the part of finding the shortest paths, and so is less frenetic. In Capture The Flag, the player must pick up the flag, holding onto it for as long as possible for points and carrying it through the green gate for a 20-point bonus until they meet the objective. In Return The Flag, the goal is to carry the flag, here randomly dropped, to the starting base. Destruction Zone is about bashing into other vehicles, occupying the green "X" and defending it from opponents, and rolling them over, all for points. Some of these game modes, particularly Jamboree and Capture The Flag, the best ones, are original. Blazing through the earth in Jamboree for the green gate and waiting for the next in the cycle to turn green is thrilling, and Insane sports one of the best renditions of Capture The Flag I have seen in a racing game. When playing solo, there is also a Free Roam mode (also available in multiplayer), where the player drives aimlessly for as long as they desire. This is actually my favorite mode, and I cannot tell you how many hours I have sunk into it. The other modes are fun, too, though some can grow tedious.
The real challenge of the game is speeding and keeping one's vehicle upright against relentlessly craggy slopes. This may turn off players expecting to not roll over a ton, but it feels as if I am inside the game, pounding the rock. A vehicle can only be deformed and lose tires and not be destroyed, but watching the wreckage and watching how it still drives is zany. There is also a replay feature where races are automatically recorded for viewing, which the player can then save. It is helped further by the fact that there are 12 camera angles, from the driver's view to the four that look like watching a televised racing event, and with so many angles to view from in a replay, one can sit back and watch a whole group of cars cascade down a cliff. The best part - the replayability - is that players can create their own cars and locations and play them over a network with up to seven others, provided they have the same files, extending the game's longevity well beyond its shelf life. Based on critic anecdotes, the short-lived Codemasters Multiplayer Network, for which the game is the debut title, was popular.
While the game's content has held up, its graphics, admittedly, never have. Rather, their quality can be described as being not terrible, but cheapish. It is not offensive, and each vehicle has at least one paint job to choose from that I like, but the graphics will not impress either. Nor will the landscapes, again cheapish. There are landmarks to keep everything from going totally bland, but the game reads everything as 2D from the top down, and the maps are all plains and hills with no arches or tunnels, which limits what sorts of maps can be created. To Invictus's credit, structures such as bridges can be added as work-arounds. Lastly, it is best to consider Insane as a multiplayer game. The computer drivers have proven themselves gallant fighters, but they are not brightest, and even on the "Insane" difficulty level, I have seen them occasionally make questionable choices, like stealing a flag and immediately driving away from the goal that is close to them. The paths they make are not ideal, just satisfactory.
VERDICT: Visually, Insane is at most modest. It will neither impress nor disgust. The programming is a little bumpy, figuratively, and the locations more so, both that and literally. Nevertheless, the concept of an off-road racing game emphasizing freedom and user-made creations could not have been better. My own score suggests the game is only good, but that is just for the visuals and programming, and the rest has to do with the fact that the game is addictive, offers many dozens of hours of gameplay, and long after my last session has brought me back to play more. I do not know how the Hungarians did it, but I think they created one of the best video games from their country with Insane. As long as you focus more on the gameplay and less on the visuals, and really you should, this game is a must.
All right, that description of car gore is a little overkill, and you will probably flip over more than you want to, but there is truth to it. Insane, the spiritual successor to an older Hungarian game with the English title "Deformers" by the same creator, pits up to eight players driving in one of 22 vehicles across one of 30 locations in one of eight different game modes. The locations of the races are mostly named after countries or regions around the world. While fictional, they are characterized by familiar geographies suitable for their names. For example, Colorado is mountainous, Ethiopia is dry, France is snowy, Niger is sandy, and Hawaii is island-themed. The vehicles - all unlicensed - range from 4x4s such as buggies and Blazers to sports cars, pickups, trucks such as the "Behemoth", and an "extreme" class of lightweight hill-climbing cars, which live up to purpose. In fact, all the vehicles are good at climbing hills, some better than others, and it is a good thing, too, because all the maps have some degree of rugged terrain that threaten to upend them. Besides those vehicles and locations, there are others unlocked in campaign mode, including a low-gravity map, a vehicle that I assume could have been used in most famous galactic races of the game's time, and even a map generator, where one can select one of five terrain types and climates each and set roads and road signs and the amount of water and vegetation. While the generator adds to the game's longevity, I admit, I would have liked to see more variation and overall work put into it, and the 30 maps have more scenery to look at, but since Invictus had replayability in mind in ways I will explain, it does not matter.
True to its tagline, Insane stresses "no limits, no rules, no roads", making it a true off-road racer. The maps are decent in size, but, importantly, they are wrapped around so that players driving off the north side will appear on the south, off the west side on the east, and vice versa. Players expecting to bump into walls should keep that in mind, but it makes the world feel infinite, and also allows for more paths and more strategies to exploit. Though prioritizing "fun", the game also blends in a degree of realism, where the vehicles feel weighty, respond to the terrain and ever-changing elevation it traverses, and allow for controls for gear-shifting and differentials. There is also a setup where the player can tune their vehicle's steer lock, suspension, tire pressure, brake and handbrake power, and gear ratios. Above all, there is a damage modeling system where the vehicles undergo deformations, with gradual to drastic effects on their performance. A button exists any time that automatically fully repairs the vehicle after three seconds. It is this semi-realism that works in a game like Insane. It is unfortunate the tuning is absent in multiplayer, and, despite my efforts, I could not get it to work in most single-player modes as I am supposedly able to, only in campaign - a programming error - not that the tuning produces drastically affects performance anyway. One may do without it, and, as with the maps situation, there is something far better.
With the said amount of content, 66 events in campaign, and a Quick Race mode where the player can select the location, time of day, vehicle and which class thereof is allowed, one of eight game modes, the goal length, and opponent number and difficulty level, along with separate options for toggling trees, water, rain, and even animals like bison that are sturdy enough to stop a truck and will amusingly unexpectedly get launched in the air from time to time, Insane superficially packs a bang for the buck, and considering its flaws, its $30 price tag at launch is fair. There is the traditional off-road racing, but also Jamboree, Gate Hunt, Pathfinder, Capture The Flag, Return The Flag, and Destruction Zone. Jamboree has a set of gates, one of which is active at any given time, and the player must drive through it before the others for a point, turning on the next gate in a cycle. In Gate Hunt, players drive through as many green gates as possible, and since claiming one turns it red, the green gates vanish quickly, making for hasty strategy. Pathfinder has players vying to speed through all the gates the first, stressing the part of finding the shortest paths, and so is less frenetic. In Capture The Flag, the player must pick up the flag, holding onto it for as long as possible for points and carrying it through the green gate for a 20-point bonus until they meet the objective. In Return The Flag, the goal is to carry the flag, here randomly dropped, to the starting base. Destruction Zone is about bashing into other vehicles, occupying the green "X" and defending it from opponents, and rolling them over, all for points. Some of these game modes, particularly Jamboree and Capture The Flag, the best ones, are original. Blazing through the earth in Jamboree for the green gate and waiting for the next in the cycle to turn green is thrilling, and Insane sports one of the best renditions of Capture The Flag I have seen in a racing game. When playing solo, there is also a Free Roam mode (also available in multiplayer), where the player drives aimlessly for as long as they desire. This is actually my favorite mode, and I cannot tell you how many hours I have sunk into it. The other modes are fun, too, though some can grow tedious.
The real challenge of the game is speeding and keeping one's vehicle upright against relentlessly craggy slopes. This may turn off players expecting to not roll over a ton, but it feels as if I am inside the game, pounding the rock. A vehicle can only be deformed and lose tires and not be destroyed, but watching the wreckage and watching how it still drives is zany. There is also a replay feature where races are automatically recorded for viewing, which the player can then save. It is helped further by the fact that there are 12 camera angles, from the driver's view to the four that look like watching a televised racing event, and with so many angles to view from in a replay, one can sit back and watch a whole group of cars cascade down a cliff. The best part - the replayability - is that players can create their own cars and locations and play them over a network with up to seven others, provided they have the same files, extending the game's longevity well beyond its shelf life. Based on critic anecdotes, the short-lived Codemasters Multiplayer Network, for which the game is the debut title, was popular.
While the game's content has held up, its graphics, admittedly, never have. Rather, their quality can be described as being not terrible, but cheapish. It is not offensive, and each vehicle has at least one paint job to choose from that I like, but the graphics will not impress either. Nor will the landscapes, again cheapish. There are landmarks to keep everything from going totally bland, but the game reads everything as 2D from the top down, and the maps are all plains and hills with no arches or tunnels, which limits what sorts of maps can be created. To Invictus's credit, structures such as bridges can be added as work-arounds. Lastly, it is best to consider Insane as a multiplayer game. The computer drivers have proven themselves gallant fighters, but they are not brightest, and even on the "Insane" difficulty level, I have seen them occasionally make questionable choices, like stealing a flag and immediately driving away from the goal that is close to them. The paths they make are not ideal, just satisfactory.
VERDICT: Visually, Insane is at most modest. It will neither impress nor disgust. The programming is a little bumpy, figuratively, and the locations more so, both that and literally. Nevertheless, the concept of an off-road racing game emphasizing freedom and user-made creations could not have been better. My own score suggests the game is only good, but that is just for the visuals and programming, and the rest has to do with the fact that the game is addictive, offers many dozens of hours of gameplay, and long after my last session has brought me back to play more. I do not know how the Hungarians did it, but I think they created one of the best video games from their country with Insane. As long as you focus more on the gameplay and less on the visuals, and really you should, this game is a must.
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- Mar 31, 2024
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