And, after playing C2 for a while, something odd happened: I was having fun.

I liked bashing the other cars over cliffs and off highway overpasses. I got a thrill from squealing around corners through crowded city streets. Squashing the pedestrians didn’t affect me either way -- hey, ya gotta have quick cash for repairs, and they provide that and minor time bonuses, too.

Here’s the plot, just in case you weren’t paying attention -- oh, wait, there isn’t one. At least not in this sequel. It’s the near future, and race vehicles have been modified with all sorts of sharp pointy bits. That’s so they can compete in races that involve either killing off all the other racers or doing it the normal way, speeding through a number of checkpoints for a number of laps. The player starts as Max Damage, a bald road warrior whose Eagle car provides a nice balance of handling, speed and armor.

Neither is as easy as it sounds, naturally. Even the city streets feature drop-offs and rivers that cause lots of damage to cars falling off of ‘em. And the manual promises that the physics are realistic, meaning drivers can’t expect to speed around turns without sliding a little and fighting to recover.

Each level features a series of three minor races. After winning all three, the player can move on to a Mission race, with a certain goal or two like completing the course under a certain time limit.

No great strategy, just mindless fun. Even killing pedestrians has little emotional impact -- the gore is too pixelated to be gruesome, and the people themselves act more like ducks in a shooting parlor than actual residents of whatever map the race is using.

The physics do indeed seem real, if touchy. You simply can’t expect to speed around a turn in this game without sliding and often ramming walls, buildings, whatever. Frankly, this adds to the fun, since it’s so nice to finally adjust to the touchy handling of most of these cars and complete really neat stunt moves (many of which are awarded with cash).

Also nice: After each race, you can try and buy every opponent you’ve killed during that race. Don’t be sad -- even if you did kill someone, they’ll be back if you don’t buy that car. (And sometime if you do -- keep reading.) Each other car has a specialty, whether it’s speed or handling or weaponry. I found myself going back to the original Eagle, though, because it’s so balanced it can handle just about everything.

There are some problems, naturally. Lots of issues simply aren’t covered in the manual. For example, in later races I noticed features like the automap were missing. I assume that was intentional, since I could find no way to toggle it on and off.

One thing the manual does get right is that the other racers are dumb as rocks. I once missed a jump and found a veritable auto graveyard under a river of my opponents -- they’d also missed the jump and landed on their backs, leaving them helpless. (Naturally, I bashed ‘em out of their misery.)

As mentioned above, the player can buy cars killed during each race, provided the cash is there. At first, I thought it a great strategy; buy up the opponents’ cars, and there will be fewer baddies in future races. Not so. I noticed at least one of my own cars competing against me down the road. (Ha! I’m punny, too.)

Bloodthirsty fans of the original will need no prompting to get into the game; neophytes should give it a race or two. Trust us, Carmageddon 2 will grow on you.