Game Classification

Clutch is a post-apocalyptic racing game that borrows many elements from the Carmageddon series. In September 2006 a collider (similar to the real Large Hadron Collider of the same time) at the International Research Institute of Atom City causes an anomaly dubbed White Ring to develop. Hardly more than five percent of the inhabitants manages to escape, the others die or are exposed to radiation. A special commission of the UN declares the city a restricted zone, isolated through military force. It soon becomes a haven for smugglers, escapees and bounty hunters. The player controls a man who is contracted to infiltrate the city. He soon discovers most of the inhabitants have been turned into zombies, while there are many outlaws who outfit their cars to race and kill the zombies along the way.

It is an arcade racing game where the player is free to drive around in the city and pick up missions at hotspots, similar to Need for Speed: Most Wanted or Burnout Paradise. These include regular races, demolition derbies, protection, survivor or hunting missions or tasks where a specific number of zombies, crawling the streets, needs to be killed. Unrelated to the missions, there are also other cars racing the streets and some of them can be taken down by crashing into them to unlock their car skin. There are various power-ups, shaped as spheres, to be found. They repair the car, provide triple damage or money, or restore energy. Energy is used to provide short boosts while racing. By killing zombies or winning events, money and different options are unlocked. Players can buy new cars and outfit them with skins, boosters, front guards (to catch and demolish zombies using the front of the car) and body kits (sharp weapons from the sides of the car). Opponents can be taken out by crashing into them. On some parts of the map anomalies occur, causing the car to speed up or jump. Almost everything in the environment can also be destroyed or pushed around.

An important difference with similar games is the stress on the background story. The main campaign is divided into three episodes and after each won event the player can read a page in the diary of the protagonist. He tries to win the favours of other racers, gets involved in religious groups and questions the ethics in the city, telling the small stories he experiences on the side, although none of those are shown in the series of races quickly following each other.

The game supports the RUCAP UM-5 device. Using the WideGlance technology, the game can detect the player's position and based on the player's head turn direction it can be used to control the in-game camera and the one in the garage. The game also supports custom music that can be used in-game by putting it in a specific folder. [source:mobygames]

Distribution : Retail - Commercial
Platform(s) : PC (Windows)

Links

• http://www.mobygames.com/game/clutch/