POD Gold

Catchy gameplay, nice dark sci-fi atmosphere, but unable to change resolution by default, game is unstable (Win10), sound is buggy

best race fun ever made. Pure gameplay, incredible sensations. Thanks a lot. Gog for ever. ..and you that don't know that awesome game, rush at it poor mortal and enjoy alone, with a friend, for hours and hours of pure fun... more than a classic, as Fallout 1&2, POD is like a Charlie Chaplin or a Homer of the video game!

Dear GOG-Team. Thanks for this gem. I remember my youth with this game, as I downloaded the additional content with a 11k modem which took hours. Though from nowadays point of view the game is not a good looking, I really will enjoy it while tied with my memories. crawX

POD: Planet Of Death is a very intriguing title which has gone down as a classic and deserves your attention if you have a soft spot for sci-fi post-apocalyptic settings and are not allergic to racing games. The game always struck me the way a spunky chick might do: appealing in an almost irresistible way, even while I frankly didn't know much about it besides the synopsis and a bunch of screenshots. Damn, did it seem cool when I was a kid checking out the page dedicated to it inside a Ubisoft brochure which came with that Rayman game box! Yet it was only much later - when the title became available on GOG - that I was finally able to get my hands on it and boy did it feel good! POD's character shines through its combination of outlandish visuals, level design, furious vehicles and progressive electronic music. The game is 20 years old but it still looks good and sounds good and yes, it still plays well! The gameplay is mechanically simple, but the AI is suitably aggressive and - at least on the Normal difficulty setting, and moreso above - you WILL initially struggle to finish any track in a good position, and I found that despite having numerous vehicles with various characteristics on offer, I had to modify a chosen vehicle's attributes (logically within limitations) to my liking in order to have any reasonable chance of beating the AI in the campaign mode. You will also need to familiarise yourself with the tracks - and in some extreme cases foreknowledge is really indispensable, as a racing circuit may be completely maze-like (taking place inside a metropolis for example). Some tracks are absolutely fantastic - from the level design to the skybox, those are the ones you will be coming back to again and again. The game also features a well-implemented vehicle damage system, which will not only change your vehicle's appearance but will also make your vehicle heavier and slower as you take hits and crash into walls etc. (and thankfully, you can find various spots around the circuit which will allow you to undergo some repairs - at the cost of spending precious seconds outside of the race!). Honestly, from the vehicles and environments to the soundscape and cinematics, it is this game's artistic touch and compelling atmosphere that makes it special and hence still worth a try these days. At its best, it will look somewhere between good and very good, its vibes can be hypnotising and when (if?) you finally make it off the planet, you will be left with a shiver down your spine followed by a warm, fuzzy feeling. I also recommend to check out the legacy webpages for this title, such as the Jupiter State Museum... which illustrate how the game's setting has fired the imagination of those lucky enough to know it. The others? Well...

When I bought a computer magazine came a CD with applications, stories about the digital technological world, and a complete game. I do not remember exactly the year, but I remember the reason: I wanted to know more about that new universe of information that few talked about, and that given my curiosity so much still were those who could clarify to me certain doubts. Not knowing very well how it worked, I installed the game following the step-by-step instructions contained in the magazine. I know that for a few months I played POD like it was the only game at my disposal xD