FlatOut for Windows
- ESRB Descriptor: Violence
- ESRB Rating: T - (Teen)
- Publisher: Empire Interactive
- Genre: Racing / Driving
- Platform: Windows
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2576
Flat Out demolition racing for Windows PC
Pros
Great graphics and controls, just plain fun
Cons
Soundtrack kinda sucks
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
This puts a great twist on the tried and true racing game formula.
Flat Out is the first game I ever bought as the direct result of a commercial. When I saw that you could crash your car into walls and send the driver flying through the windshield and into some giant bowling pins, I knew I had to play it. At its core, this is a great racing game using the basic Gran Turismo type formula where you earn money to buy new cars or beef up the one you have. What makes this one different is the bonus games and the fact that each race is also a destruction derby.
You start the game with a limited amount of money and pick from several different beginning cars. This is not the kind of game where you drive pretty Italian imports and spend your money on neon lights and ground effects. If you want that kind of racing game, get Need for Speed Underground 2. It's a good one. In this game, you drive what I've always called 'bush beaters'. These are the kind of older torn up cars that you don't mind wrecking. Hell, crashing into the other drivers is encouraged!
Once you buy your car, you enter in a series of races, most of which take place on hilly dirt roads. The tracks reminded me a lot of the ones in ATV Off Road Fury 2 for the PS2. Most of the tracks are full of obstacles, as if each race takes place in some kind of construction area. These obstacles can be used to your advantage by forcing the other drivers into them, but you can also set yourself back quite a bit if you hit one. Sometimes your car will get stuck on the piles of debris and junk that accumulates in the turns, so you have to be careful or you'll lose your lead very quickly. It is never fun when you are on the fifth and final lap and in the lead, when suddenly you take a turn too fast and your car ends up stuck behind a dump truck somebody left parked on the track.
If you place high enough in the races, you will earn money and damage bonuses. If you place in the top three, you will eventually unlock other maps and bonus missions. The bonus missions are mostly silly add-ons that let you do all kinds of crazy stuff. As I mentioned before, you can bowl with the driver. Another is an all-out demolition derby where you have to be the last one standing. In another, it is sort of like pole vaulting by launching the driver up the air. I would never ever want to be in a car with whoever designed this game. They obviously have issues.
Once you earn enough money to upgrade your vehicle, your options are a lot like many other racing games. You can make various upgrades to the engine, transmission, suspension, tires, and so on. Some upgrades increase speed and performance while others enhance traction and stability. As you get to the higher maps, you must have a beefed-up car in order to compete.
I thought the graphics were excellent in this game and the environments are highly interactive. Piles of tires and barrels adorn the roads and you can smash into them and send parts flying everywhere. Lots of scaffolding is on the side of the road and you can run through it so the guy behind you has to dodge it. When the cars are cutting turns on the dirt roads, you can see a lot of dust kick up behind their tires, which looks really cool. Most of the tracks are hilly in some areas, so there are plenty of chances to get airborne.
The sound effects are great, but the music leaves something to be desired. It mostly consists of punk and pop-rock junk that I'm not much interested in, and I'd never heard of any of the bands on the soundtrack before. They are real songs, but that doesn't make them much better. I thought the soundtrack didn't fit the back-woods motif of the game.
The physics engine in this game works very well and you will have to master the art of power sliding if you want to get anywhere. I did notice what might be considered a few bugs where my car would get stuck on debris, but then again if I had not driven into that debris there wouldn't have been a problem. Whenever you crash and send the driver flying through the windshield, a rag doll effect is used and you will see him go bouncing down the road. It's hilarious when he goes "Ahhhhh!" and there is no blood when it happens.
Flat Out also supports multiplayer gaming. The single player game has plenty to offer and, like all the great racing games, you will want to play this one over and over again.
You start the game with a limited amount of money and pick from several different beginning cars. This is not the kind of game where you drive pretty Italian imports and spend your money on neon lights and ground effects. If you want that kind of racing game, get Need for Speed Underground 2. It's a good one. In this game, you drive what I've always called 'bush beaters'. These are the kind of older torn up cars that you don't mind wrecking. Hell, crashing into the other drivers is encouraged!
Once you buy your car, you enter in a series of races, most of which take place on hilly dirt roads. The tracks reminded me a lot of the ones in ATV Off Road Fury 2 for the PS2. Most of the tracks are full of obstacles, as if each race takes place in some kind of construction area. These obstacles can be used to your advantage by forcing the other drivers into them, but you can also set yourself back quite a bit if you hit one. Sometimes your car will get stuck on the piles of debris and junk that accumulates in the turns, so you have to be careful or you'll lose your lead very quickly. It is never fun when you are on the fifth and final lap and in the lead, when suddenly you take a turn too fast and your car ends up stuck behind a dump truck somebody left parked on the track.
If you place high enough in the races, you will earn money and damage bonuses. If you place in the top three, you will eventually unlock other maps and bonus missions. The bonus missions are mostly silly add-ons that let you do all kinds of crazy stuff. As I mentioned before, you can bowl with the driver. Another is an all-out demolition derby where you have to be the last one standing. In another, it is sort of like pole vaulting by launching the driver up the air. I would never ever want to be in a car with whoever designed this game. They obviously have issues.
Once you earn enough money to upgrade your vehicle, your options are a lot like many other racing games. You can make various upgrades to the engine, transmission, suspension, tires, and so on. Some upgrades increase speed and performance while others enhance traction and stability. As you get to the higher maps, you must have a beefed-up car in order to compete.
I thought the graphics were excellent in this game and the environments are highly interactive. Piles of tires and barrels adorn the roads and you can smash into them and send parts flying everywhere. Lots of scaffolding is on the side of the road and you can run through it so the guy behind you has to dodge it. When the cars are cutting turns on the dirt roads, you can see a lot of dust kick up behind their tires, which looks really cool. Most of the tracks are hilly in some areas, so there are plenty of chances to get airborne.
The sound effects are great, but the music leaves something to be desired. It mostly consists of punk and pop-rock junk that I'm not much interested in, and I'd never heard of any of the bands on the soundtrack before. They are real songs, but that doesn't make them much better. I thought the soundtrack didn't fit the back-woods motif of the game.
The physics engine in this game works very well and you will have to master the art of power sliding if you want to get anywhere. I did notice what might be considered a few bugs where my car would get stuck on debris, but then again if I had not driven into that debris there wouldn't have been a problem. Whenever you crash and send the driver flying through the windshield, a rag doll effect is used and you will see him go bouncing down the road. It's hilarious when he goes "Ahhhhh!" and there is no blood when it happens.
Flat Out also supports multiplayer gaming. The single player game has plenty to offer and, like all the great racing games, you will want to play this one over and over again.
