CarnEvil

Template:Short description Template:Good article Template:Main other{{#invoke:infobox|infoboxTemplate | child = | subbox = | bodyclass = ib-video-game hproduct {{#ifeq:|yes|collapsible {{#if:|{{{state}}}|autocollapse}}}} | templatestyles = Infobox video game/styles.css | aboveclass = fn | italic title =

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| caption = {{#if:Carnevil arcade flyer.jpg|Arcade flyer|Arcade flyer}}

| label2 = DeveloperTemplate:Pluralize from text | data2 = Midway Games

| label3 = PublisherTemplate:Pluralize from text | data3 = Midway Games

| label4 = DirectorTemplate:Pluralize from text | data4 = Template:If first display both

| label5 = ProducerTemplate:Pluralize from text | data5 = Template:Ubl

| label6 = DesignerTemplate:Pluralize from text | data6 = Jack Haeger

| label7 = ProgrammerTemplate:Pluralize from text | data7 = Samuel Christian Zehr

| label8 = ArtistTemplate:Pluralize from text | data8 = Template:Ubl

| label9 = WriterTemplate:Pluralize from text | data9 = Template:If first display both

| label10 = ComposerTemplate:Pluralize from text | data10 = Kevin Quinn

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| label13 = PlatformTemplate:Pluralize from text | data13 = Arcade

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| label15 = GenreTemplate:Pluralize from text | data15 = Light-gun shooter

| label16 = ModeTemplate:Pluralize from text | data16 = Single-player, multiplayer

| label17 = Arcade system | data17 = Midway Seattle hardware

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}}Template:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|ignoreblank=1|preview=Page using Template:Infobox video game with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"| alt | arcade system | artist | caption | border | child | collapsible | commons | composer | designer | developer | director | embedded | engine | fetchwikidata | genre | image | image_size | image_upright | italic title | modes | noicon | onlysourced | platform | platforms | producer | programmer | publisher | qid | refs | release | released | series | state | subbox | suppressfields | title | writer }}Template:Main other{{#if:Carnevil arcade flyer.jpg|}} CarnEvil is a 1998 arcade light-gun shooter game developed and published by Midway Games. The premise follows a teenager who summons the titular haunted carnival, forcing him to fight through waves of gruesome creatures. The game is divided into four levels, and players use pump action shotguns to fight enemies, with temporary gun upgrades scattered throughout the levels.

CarnEvil was conceived by Jack Haeger, who was inspired by classic horror themes and films, and the concept was approved by Midway after recent successes in the light-gun shooter genre. Initially lighter in tone, the game was later revamped to accommodate darker humor and gore. Upon release, critics praised the game's visuals, gun design, and gory detail. The game was never ported to home consoles despite its commercial success and that of other light-gun shooters in the home market, though it served as inspiration for spiritual successors.

Gameplay and premise

File:CarnEvil Gameplay.png

In this example of gameplay in CarnEvil, the player is attacked by an elf in the Rickety Town level.

CarnEvil is a light-gun shooter game in which the player, as an unnamed teenage everyman,<ref name="Story">Template:Cite web</ref> must clear four levels by eliminating waves of various gruesome creatures such as evil clowns, sideshow freaks and Krampus's elves.<ref name="OpManual">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="GamePro">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The game's premise involves a teenager in the town of Greely Valley, Iowa fulfilling a local legend and becoming trapped in a nightmarish carnival ruled by ringmaster Professor Ludwig von Tökkentäkker.<ref name="Story"/> The first three levels can be played in any order with no effect on the gameplay,<ref name="TipsTricks">Template:Cite magazine</ref> with the fourth level being accessed upon their completion.<ref name="Story"/><ref name="OpManual"/> Each level opens with a sardonic greeting from Umlaut, a floating jester skull who serves as the game's host.<ref name="Story"/><ref name="OpManual"/>

The cabinet comes with two pump action shotguns that can be reloaded by either physically cocking the gun or pulling the trigger off-screen.<ref name="OpManual"/><ref name="GamePro"/><ref name="EGMPreview">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The gun fires single shots much like a pistol,<ref name="OpManual"/> and most of the enemy characters are dispatched in four shots.<ref name="TipsTricks"/> The player can temporarily upgrade their gun by shooting bullet-shaped symbols, granting it the quality of a shotgun, machine gun, flamethrower, or acid rounds.<ref name="OpManual"/><ref name="GamePro"/><ref name="TipsTricks"/> Enemy attacks drain the player's health, which can be replenished by shooting heart-shaped symbols.<ref name="OpManual"/>

The player's score is displayed on the upper side of the screen and is constantly updated.<ref name="OpManual"/> Extra points can be earned by eliminating enemies attempting to victimize the non-player character Betty.<ref name="OpManual"/><ref name="TipsTricks"/> However, if Betty is shot instead, the player incurs a health penalty.<ref name="OpManual"/> When a level is cleared, shooting accuracy percentages are displayed for the players.<ref name="OpManual"/> Upon a playthrough's conclusion, top scorers can use the shotgun to write their initials or name, which will be displayed in a high score table.<ref name="OpManual"/><ref name="TipsTricks"/>

Development and release

CarnEvil was conceived by games designer Jack Haeger in 1988 while working on the run and gun game Narc. As part of the development team's experiments with live digitized footage for video games, Haegar began working with stop motion puppets in an attempt to recreate a cinematic experience. Haegar was fond of the classic horror movie premise of a teenager daring a friend to run through a graveyard, and sketched a concept piece based on this idea titled "Horror Show". The sketch, primarily depicting a decrepit haunted house, featured a poster with the "CarnEvil" name and a prototypical version of Umlaut named "Smeek". Although Haeger was aware that technical limitations at the time made the concept impractical, he saw potential in the "dark carnival" theme.<ref name="Story"/>

Midway Games approved Haeger's concept following the successful releases of the light-gun shooters Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Revolution X (1994), which Haegar co-directed. The game originally had a tone similar to The Haunted Mansion, and featured an old caretaker character with a Punch and Judy-style puppet. After this version was harshly reviewed by Midway's management, the development team revamped the concept with characters that were more aggressive and darkly humorous. This tone was set by Haeger's conceptual character Hambone, a large brute with a goaltender mask and a gatling gun arm who would become the miniboss of the Haunted House stage. Over 40 characters were created and modeled in 3D Studio Max. Artist and 3D modeler Scott Pikulski recalled that "Many ideas for characters and level content came from us just joking around while working on the game. It always felt like the project would be cancelled at any time, so we worked on it like we had nothing to lose. Jack has a great sense of humor, and many of the great ideas came from his head".<ref name="Story"/>

The spindly, angular qualities of Haeger's concept sketches were influenced by The Nightmare Before Christmas, while the expressive and disturbing qualities of the characters' faces were inspired by a black-and-white photobook titled Fellini's Faces. The Avengers episode "Look — (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) — But There Were These Two Fellers...", which features a pair of murderous clowns, was also an influence. The fatalities in Midway's Mortal Kombat pushed the development team to increase the game's graphic violence, with Pikulski responsible for many of the game's goriest effects.<ref name="Story"/> However, in response to objections from potential distributors, the development team installed a DIP switch that would allow operators to replace the giant infant boss character Junior with a giant teddy bear character named Deaddy.<ref name="Story"/><ref name="TipsTricks"/> The opening and closing cutscenes were created by Blur Studio under the direction of Tim Miller.<ref name="Story"/> The music and sound effects were created by Kevin Quinn.<ref name="EndCredits">CarnEvil (arcade) end credits</ref> Haeger voiced the game's opening narration as well as the characters Umlaut, Tökkentäkker, Hambone and Krampus. The enemy character Muertito the Bat Boy was created and voiced by artist Martin Martinez.<ref name="Story"/>

In September 1998, CarnEvil was showcased at the Amusement & Music Operators Association Expo in Nashville, Tennessee.<ref name="GamePro"/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It was released on Halloween 1998, and it was considered a competitor to Atari Games's Area 51: Site 4 and Namco's Time Crisis II.<ref name="EGMPreview"/> In 1999, Midway confirmed that the game would not be ported to consoles.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Reception and legacy

Mark Hain of Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the game's visuals and comfortable pump action gun, but was disappointed by the lack of extra gameplay features and hidden background secrets compared to Atari Games' Area 51 and Maximum Force.<ref name="EGMPreview"/> Jason Wilson and Tyrone Rodriguez of Tips & Tricks also praised the graphics, writing that "the stunning 3D environments are portrayed in such gruesome detail, you will think you're trapped in a horror film".<ref name="TipsTricks"/> French magazine Player One gave the game a score of 69%, regarding it as a House of the Dead clone, but commending the gun's design and precision as well as the gory graphics.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Adam Bregman of LA Weekly proclaimed CarnEvil to be "undoubtedly the best of the genre" and "perhaps the most twisted video game ever created".<ref name="LAWeekly">Template:Cite web</ref>

According to Haeger, the game's sales exceeded those of Mortal Kombat 4, which encouraged Midway's arcade team to conceptualize a 4D ride adaptation that ultimately never materialized. CarnEvil was never ported to home consoles despite the success of The House of the Dead, Time Crisis and Point Blank on those platforms. Pikulski claimed that a developer had intended to create an original home console game that bore the CarnEvil title.<ref name="Story"/> Bregman observed that by July 1999, the game had disappeared from most Los Angeles County arcades, which he attributed to the game's perverse presentation.<ref name="LAWeekly"/>

In September 2015, the fansite "Greely Valley Cemetery" was created as an archive for the game's concept sketches, promotional art, music tracks and voice clips. Lucas Sullivan of GamesRadar+ considered Killing Floor and its sequel to be spiritual successors to CarnEvil, and he saw a thematic influence on the "Loony Park" level in Painkiller's Battle Out of Hell expansion pack and Until Dawn: Rush of Blood.<ref name="Story"/>

External links

• Template:Official website