6. Carmageddon
With news of a new addition to the series - called Reincarnation - coming to download markets around February 2013 thanks in part to a kickstarter campaign, as well as an iOS and Android port of the original game, life is good for fans of the controversial vehicular combat series. As one of the original destructive driving/combat games, it would be unthinkable to ignore Carmageddon here, and it certainly made an impact when first released back in 1997. Initially based on Death Race 2000, the game charged players with racing against a host of AI competitors and against the clock through various environments, including city, mine and industrial areas. With time limited, players could boost how much they had left by collecting bonuses, damaging the opponent cars, or most controversially by running down pedestrians. Not the greatest way to endear yourself to the censors, that's for certain, but indicative of the developer's unusually unlimited scope to do whatever they wished with the game's content. All races could be completed either by finishing the race in the traditional fashion, or, more colourfully by destroying the other cars, or by killing all available pedestrians. To be honest, how you chose to approach completion probably says a lot about your mental state. Carmageddon is also notable for being one of the most obvious early reference points for the later installments of Grand Theft Auto - whose first title was released in the same year. So, '97 was a good year for vehicular violence, then.