Carmageddon now free in the Google Play Store, but...

The classic splatter-tastic racer Carmageddon has just dropped its price tag in the Google Play Store from $1.99 to the low, low price of Free. However, this change hasn’t really thrilled a swath of gamers.

Sure, it’s nice that you can now take your jaded psyche and blood lust on a stress-killing rumble without having to pay so much as a cup of coffee, but the reason that the developer has done this is because they’re looking for a new way to monetize the game. Previously, there was a paid version of the app and a free version that would periodically appear for one-day-only promotions. Now only the free version remains, complete with ads and in-app purchases.

That’s right. This situation is especially dismal for gamers who already forked over cash for the ad-free version, but are now experiencing them full force. Backlash on Carmageddon’s Google Play page has been immediate and visceral, with many players giving it a single star rating after the update.

What’s worse still is that the update seems to have introduced an entire bucketload of bugs to the app, and some players can’t even get past the starting menu. So far, response from the developer has been limited. The changelog notes, “”If you’re having an issue with sound not playing or the application crashing on launch please make sure your OS is up-to-date,” but that doesn’t seem to be helping the users who already are up to date and are experiencing the bugs anyway.

Still, if you’re a Carmageddon fan unswayed by these recent caveats, click the button below to give it a whirl for free. It seems likely that the devs will work out these recent kinks if they’re willing to respond to the backlash from their users, so this could just be a brief hiccup.

Since it’s free, you might as well give it a try, and then let us know if you’re experiencing any of these bugs or issues in the comments below.