Question:
Carmageddon: great stress reducer ?
Answer:
The game I am about to describe will be found highly offensive to many of
you, so read on at your own risk.
Something that has proven helpful to me during this time of high stress
and low happiness has been a nasty little computer game called
Carmageddon. Nasty it is indeed, and for a long time, I was not interested
in it because I found it somewhat objectionable.
The premise borrows liberally from the film "Death Race 2000," and
involves six souped up monster race cars tearing around different
settings, running over pedestrians and smashing each other up. You
actually have to run over the pedestrians to score enough points to keep
from running out of time, though the primary goal is to eliminate your
opponents. There is also liberal cursing from the "driver" of your car.
The idea of running people over (even in a computer game) is highly
distasteful to me, but a friend recommended the game, and I gave it a try.
Before long, I overcame my aversion to running down the pedestrians
(though I don't think this will carry over into my real-life driving), and
I found the game to be a great catharsis. Battering your opponents' cars
with your own is a real rush, and a great way to take out your pent-up
aggressions. Smash! Smash! Grrrrr!
I find myself playing it at least an hour or two a day, and I really do
feel better afterwards.
Now I wouldn't ever let anyone under 18 see this. It really is horrible.
But darnitall, it works for me.
You should also be warned that it needs a fairly powerful computer. I have
a PowerMac 132, and it's barely acceptable. You probably need either a
PowerMac or a Pentium with at least a 200 mhz processor for best results.
while I haven't played this game, there are RPGs (role-
playing games) that relieve the stress for me. Killing a couple
of hundred orcs or ogres or flailing wildly at an ancient dragon
or a Death in a Box makes me feel LOTS better.
Actually, I'd rather be killing orcs and ogres. But this game is so
incredibly visceral (in more ways than one), I put up with its nastiness.
When my car goes flying over a hill, I've actually felt a moment of
vertigo.
Of course, it doesn't require much in the way of imagination, like RPGs do.
