Carnage Heart is a turn-based tactics video game developed by Artdink for the PlayStation. Sony Computer Entertainment released the game outside Japan in 1997.

The Story Behind Carnage Heart

Some OKE designs require the lines to be upgraded in order to produce the advanced technology that the OKE employs. The mecha, called Overkill Engines (OKEs), cannot be directly controlled in battle; their actions must be planned beforehand with effective tactical planning, programming and resource management, making it unique from other mecha games for its more strategic approach. Carnage Heart has had four sequels to date, all of which, aside from EXA, have only been released in Japan:

Most of the player's time in the game is spent creating a program and testing it through virtual battle. The game received average reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. The mission is always to simply capture each enemy base on the map, and it becomes increasingly difficult as the game progresses.

How Carnage Heart Plays

The OKEs will only be ready to produce once they have a complete hardware and software profile. The player need not have any skill in programming, however, as the game requires no programming in the traditional sense. Some OKE designs require the lines to be upgraded in order to produce the advanced technology that the OKE employs.

Once a player has created OKEs and formed them into units (with a maximum of three OKEs per unit), they may then assign a task to each unit; these include defending or capturing a base, patrolling, or moving to a specific location. To aid the player in learning the gameplay, Carnage Heart was packaged with an unusually large amount of materials for a console game of the time: in addition to the game disc and above-average length manual, the jewel case contained a 58-page strategy guide and a tutorial disc with a 30-minute, fully voice-guided overview of most aspects of the game due to its complexity. Once a hardware profile has been created the player must create a software profile.

Why Players Still Load It Up

Some OKE designs require the lines to be upgraded in order to produce the advanced technology that the OKE employs. These chips must be placed so as to form a flow chart, with control starting from the top-left of the board, following a path through the chips, and looping back to the top left upon leaving the board. Before a software profile can be created for a card, there must be a hardware profile.

The playing board itself varies in size depending on the mission. There are four styles of OKE bodies and three designs in each style to choose from. Most of the player's time in the game is spent creating a program and testing it through virtual battle.

Carnage Heart — Frequently Asked Questions