"Refreshing game with a surprising amount of replay value"

Pseudo Interactive’s first title, Cel Damage, has quickly made its way to GameCube. Many players will be reminded of games like twisted metal when playing this game, but it has a greatly different feel to it. It is really a game of fast paced action and reflexes, set in a zany cartoon world. It takes it’s humour seriously, and comes out with funny results.

Cel Damage is a car battle game, in which you can use 36 different weapons, such as axes, vacuums, and rockets to do battle, there are six characters, along with four additional secret characters to unlock. The game has three modes of play, and twelve stages within four themes. The first mode is smack attack, which is the basic smack ‘till you drop game. You use the weapons to attack your enemies, and depending on which weapon you use, you get a certain number of points. First player to 500 wins. Gate rally, which is the second game type, has the players racing through a pair of gate in each level. Since it doesn’t matter which way you go around the path, nothing is stopping you from going backwards to have more chances to destroy or stall the enemy. Flag rally, the last mode, is also the most challenging. To win, you have to collect four flags and return them to a rally zone. Easier said than done. The stage starts with around six flags, and whenever you die, the flags go flying. More flags are dropped onto the stage all the time, so it gets easier as the game progresses. The real kicker though, is that the flags will RUN AWAY from you. That’s right, the flags have legs and can run relatively fast too.

There is no story in this game, but it still seems to have an immense replay value. The only way to “beat” the game is to beat every stage on every mode with every character, unlocking alternate graphics modes and weapons on the way. The problem with that though, is that taking into consideration the amount of characters, modes and stages, there are a total of 1200 combinations to beat. In all likelihood, the game will have lost it’s charm before you complete it. Not to say that it wears out fast, I’ve been playing it for months and it still has all the fun it used to. I quite simply cannot put this game down. There are just so many ways to play that you never get tired.

Even though the full screen single player action is great, this game really shines in its multiplayer aspect. There’s nothing quite like chasing down your enemies/friends as a black and white gangster duck, swinging wildly with a baseball bat (the bat is held with a robotic arm that comes out of the front of your car). When you get tired of single player play, just invite some friends over and have a blast.

The characters in this game are wildly vibrant and interesting. They consist of Sinder, B.T. Bruno, Fowl Mouth, Dominique Trix, Flemming, and Violet. Each character has his or her own distinct personality, as well as a personal weapon that only they can use. Sinder is a bed-wetting infernal spawn who shreds his enemies with his wood chipper. B.T. Bruno is an ex-construction worker who drives around in a bulldozer, wielding a giant sledge hammer. Fowl Mouth, one of my two favorites, is a black and white gangster duck from the 30's, never afraid to pull the trigger on his tommy gun. Dominique Trix is a self centered character who uses a crossbow to fire dynamite-laden bolts. Flemming, my other favorite, is a hovercraft-riding nerd, who takes pleasure in firing lasers at others, burning them to a crisp. Last but not least, is Violet, an “anime demon girl” tomboy who has an affinity for military hardware, such as her personal weapon, mortar.

The graphics in Cel Damage are the most amazing thing about it. It uses cel shading (thus the name Cel Damage), a graphical mode first inspired by the game Jet Set Radio (as far as I know), which imitates a hand-drawn look. These graphics fit in perfectly with the game, and make it seem even more astounding than it already is. Every part of the world is cartoony, even the cars bend back and forth, seeming full of springs, like is often seen in cartoons. The stages are perfectly displayed, and there is little room for improvement.

Cel Damage, though is has received mixed reviews from players, I find it to be quite a refreshing game which is great to let out stress. Not everyone feels the same way, some feel that the gameplay is too repetitive, so I would suggest renting this game before you buy it.

Graphics: 10
Sound: 7
Game Play: 10
Replay: 10
Story: N/A

Final Rating (not an average): 8

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/03/03