Cel Damage is a video game for the Xbox

Xbox

The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...

, PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

 and Nintendo GameCube

Nintendo GameCube

The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...

. It was developed by Pseudo Interactive

Pseudo Interactive

Pseudo Interactive was a video game developer based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and started in 1995 by David Wu, Rich Hilmer, and Daniel Posner. In 2006, the company had over fifty employees....

 and published by Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...

. It was released as Cel Damage Overdrive for the PlayStation 2.

Cel Damage is a cartoony take on vehicular combat games like Twisted Metal. The story focuses on six cartoon characters from a fictional cartoon show called "Cel Damage". The characters annihilate each other to the delight of TV audiences and, since they are cartoons, instantly regenerate. The player battles through thirteen different levels and three game modes. Weaponry for Cel Damage includes cartoon staples like vacuum nozzles and portable holes, mundane weaponry like chainsaws and baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 bats, and items like freeze rays, giant springs, and portable nuclear devices.

Gameplay

Cel Damage is a vehicle shooter in which players compete against one another using weapons to either gain smack points or stop other players from achieving their goal, depending on the game mode. Weapons include black holes, boxing gloves, grenades, chainsaws, baseball bats, chain guns, axes, and freeze rays. The three game modes are Smack Attack, in which players attack other players and/or computer players to gain a certain number of points first; Gate Relay, in which players race to checkpoints; and Flag Rally, in which players race to collect flags. Smack Attack is the only mode not initially locked. Additional characters and areas are also unlockable in the game.

Cel Damage features ten characters, six automatically given at the beginning of the game and four unlockable "guest star" characters. These include a gangster duck named Fowl Mouth and a mischievous devil named Sinder. Each character has a large number of taunts, which players can use during the game.

Characters

• Violet

Violet is a teen demon girl from Asia. She has a taste for fast living and outrageous mischief. She is 100% attitude and 110% delivery! Her personal weapon is a mortar. She drives a gothic jeep.

• Sinder

Sinder's behavior is so chaotic, that he got himself thrown out of hell itself for not following
the Boss's orders. The main reason he joined Cel Damage is because he gets pleasure out of
destruction. His personal weapon is a wood chipper. He drives a six wheeled vehicle.

• B.T. Bruno

Bruno is a former construction worker. He drives a bulldozer and cannot get enough of smashing other cars to pieces with his weapon; a giant sledgehammer.

• Fowl Mouth

A gangster duck straight out of a 1930's B-movie. He comes with a no-nonsense attitude and a Tommy gun. He drives an old fashioned car.

• Dominique Trix

A cruel, heartless toon with nerves of steel. Dominique is a high-class toon who revels in the
exquisite torment delivered by her dynamite crossbow. She sees the Cel Damage experience as
an enjoyable recreation. She drives a fancy pink vehicle.

• Flemming

The 'Nerd of Nerds'. Flemming has skill when it comes to inventing powerful vehicles and weapons
such as his hovercraft and laser cannons.

• Whack Angus

An unlockable bull. Angus uses meat cleavers as his own personal weapon. His vehicle of choice is a motorised wooden cart. You will find him on the desert themed arenas.

• T-Rex

A green, merciless predator who will stop at nothing to claim victory. He comes equipped with a shrink ray. He drives a jeep styled vehicle. You will find him on the jungle themed arenas.

• Earl Count

A mysterious vampire that hungers for destruction. He drives a batmobile styled vehicle. You will find him on the horror themed arenas.

• Brian

An alien with a jar containing a brain for a head. He drives a futuristic styled vehicle. You will find him on the space themed arenas.

Plot

In the game, Cel Damage is a popular animated demolition derby

Demolition derby

Demolition derby is a motorsport usually presented at county fairs and festivals. While rules vary from event to event, the typical demolition derby event consists of five or more drivers competing by deliberately ramming their vehicles into one another...

 series that airs weekly on the fictional network "'Toon T.V." The characters in Cel Damage are a select few of cartoon characters who battle every week to achieve fame and glory. The characters use their own vehicles and battle using a variety of deadly weapons. Because the characters in Cel Damage are cartoons, they cannot be killed and can continuously come back to fight again.

Development

Because of its focus on cartoons, Cel Damage was created to look like a cartoon. The Cel Damage graphics engine uses a rendering technique called cel-shading to produce this cartoon-like appearance. Furthermore, the physics engine in Cel Damage is unique. Rather than aiming to simulate realistic real-world physics, it emulates complex cartoon physics; the physics engine calculates the relevant parts of physical interaction as they would in reality, and then distorts the physical laws to produce a cartoon-like interaction. This can be seen, for example, when a car turns and the entire shape of the car deforms and flexes into the turning direction. Cars and game objects can realistically be sliced into pieces, flattened, frozen, shattered, shredded, impaled, lit on fire (and subsequently burn to a crisp and fall into ashes), and more. Editor of Game Developer Magazine Chris Hecker, described Cel Damage's cartoon-style graphics as "state-of-the-art for computer-game physics".

Cel Damage was released as Cel Damage: Overdrive, a Europe-only title for the PlayStation 2. Play It released the game on December 12, 2002

Reception

Cel Damage was generally praised for its cartoon graphics, but received mixed reviews from critics. GameSpot called the game’s visuals "impressive," and that the player "can easily think that [he or she is] playing a real-time cartoon". However, GameSpot said that some weapons in the game were far more useful than others, making the game a repetitive race to get the best weapon. IGN said the cel shading in Cel Damage "was one of the best examples of the effect on the market," but that the game play is too difficult due to both the computer players and the small arenas. GameSpy praised Cel Damage for its characters and maintaining its cartoon feel, but found that the game play was too short.