FlatOut

"Flatout falls... Flat"

Intro
Race around tracks, courses and events with crash-style physics that have the drivers crashing through windscreens and taking all kinds of pains for our gaming entertainment.

Visuals
Graphically its blurry for some reason, I thought it was the camera view at first but nope, it is definitely blurry, it brings back memories of the days of N64 blurryness of textures and the detail of the cars (crash particles etc) aren't that detailed at all compared to Burnout 3.

The speed of the game runs at 30fps or less -- this is noticeable as I've been playing lots of Outrun 2 and Burnout 3 and playing Flatout just confirms it.

Audio
The music suits the game rather appropriately, with the likes of rock, grunge and punk. After a while the music does start to grate a bit. There is no custom soundtrack option in this version I'm shocked to say, there is no excuse now days for a game to not to have custom soundtracks unless it was necessary (I.E non-racing/driving genre) - so, regarding this, it just shows the lack of input from the developers.

Gameplay
Flatout is slightly different to other crashing race games, what makes this title take it a little further is the fact that the drivers of the vehicles will also be affected, pedal to the metal at 100mph and hit head-on a tree or a particularly hard object and your driver will be slung head first outta the windscreen and beyond, watch in awe or delight even, as your driver absorbs the virtual pains of their outcome (rag-doll style).

There are various modes to choose from, such as Career mode, Quick race and Time Trials. Funnily enough you can start a Bonus mode within career mode straight away, this mode does not need to be unlocked.

Career mode has you competing with others, the ability to tune-up your car and such. Quick race, well is a just quick race. Time trial speaks for itself and what we have left is Bonus, this is what Flatout is really about, this is where you partake in mini-crash events, high jump, long jump ect - it is like the Olympics but like no other, you crash, your driver flies out of the car screaming through the air, you time your ejection from vehicle and watch in delight to see how far they can go before coming down (or hitting an obstacle in the process), this is the real meat of the game, it can be immensely fun for a while but the action/speed of it is just too slow, in quick race mode i clipped a rock and somersaulted, the speed of the flip was so painstakingly slow that i thought i was in a slow-mo takedown from BO3, it wasn't intentional either, it's simply because the pace of the game runs at a low framerate... This isn't acceptable now days, as other games I mentioned earlier run at double the framerate and has much more level of detail.

Control and feel-wise of the cars are particularly loose, so it very easy to spin-out or overshoot on a corner/obstacle, the cars feel light, can take a while to adjust to these downfalls.

Flatout supports LIVE which you can play against your net-friends over different modes, it's fun for a limited time but is marred by the framerate to be really enjoyed.

Overall
I and probably many others, have been waiting eagerly for a title such as this, unfortunately and the sad fact is that Flatout isn't up to scratch as it's hyped up to be, after intensive play of other said titles, which had been released a months before, Flatout feels well, just flat and inferior to be honest - niggly car controls, coupled with blurry graphics and slow framerate, no custom soundtracks, no saveable replays, no utilising of Xbox's capabilities, it's a shame really.

The only saving grace for it is the rag-doll antics and mini-games, unfortunately there just isn't enough content here to sustain one's interest - try before you buy.

5/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 11/09/04