Vehicular combat game

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Vehicular combat (also known as car combat) games are typically video or computer games where the primary focus of play concerns automobiles or other motor vehicles, normally armed with guns or other weaponry, attempting to destroy vehicles controlled by the CPU or by opposing players. The genre normally features a variety of different vehicles available for play, each with its own strengths, weaknesses, and special attack abilities. Players may also unlock hidden vehicles by completing certain in-game tasks. Traditionally, vehicular combat games focus on fast-paced action inside the vehicle, rarely, if ever, concerning themselves with role-playing or other elements. Games may include racing themes, but they are generally secondary to the action.

[edit] Gameplay

Vehicular combat games normally follow a simple play pattern; the player must defeat increasing numbers of increasingly skilled enemies, often in increasingly complex battlefields, before facing off against a final, super-powerful, boss character. Vehicular combat games differ from traditional racing games both in the combat aspect and in the general lack of any set path for players to follow, instead allowing them to explore each level at their leisure. The complexity and strategy required to complete games vary, from the careful resource maintenance and intense story-driven plotlines of the Interstate '76 series to straight-forward smashups like World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Crush Hour. Often the primary plot will involve a contest or competition of some sort, encouraging the various characters to fight and destroy one another to obtain a reward. The Twisted Metal series is especially well known for the black humor found in its ending sequences.

[edit] Partial list of vehicular combat games

• Battle modes in Go-karts based around Mario Kart spinoffs
  • Mario Kart
  • Mario Kart 64
  • Wacky Races
  • Wacky Wheels
  • Crash Team Racing
• The Carmageddon series
• Interstate '76, its sequels and spinoffs
• Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012
• Cel Damage
• Star Wars: Demolition
• Streets of SimCity
• Vigilante 8, and its sequel
• The Twisted Metal series
• World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Crush Hour
• Grand Theft Auto series (Though not dedicated to vehicular combat, it is part of the gameplay.)
• Command & Conquer: Renegade (Note same as above.)
• Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven
• Autoduel
• Death Rally
• Death Race
• Quarantine
• Red Dog
• Car Combat
• Full Auto
• Critical Depth
• Battle Tanx
• The Destruction Derby series
• The Mashed series
• The Burnout series
• The Flatout series
• Auto Assault
• Jak X: Combat Racing
• Motor Mayhem
• Blood Wake
• Dead In The water
• 187 Ride or Die
• Hard Truck: Apocalypse

Spy Hunter, RoadBlasters, Rock 'N' Roll Racing and Deathtrack could be considered early forms of the genre, as they involve the player operating an armed vehicle, but lack the ability to deviate from a pre-set course.

The Car Wars series could be considered a table-top vehicular combat game, and a spiritual predecessor to the genre.