FlatOut

"...and they're off! The road, that is"

Right, I've read a few different reviews for this game now and they all conclude by saying the same thing - try before you buy. What on earth is the point of spending all that time playing the game and writing the review if you're just going to say at the end, "Well, I don't know if this is any good or not. You should really play it for yourself." The point of a review is that the reader shouldn't HAVE to play it for themselves. They should read a review that contains enough critical analysis of the game for them to make up their own minds. OK, rant over. Now then, boys and girls - let me tell you all about Flat Out.

Flat Out is a racing game. You start off with a little bit of money, so your first stop is the car dealer. You initially have a choice of about 6 cars, all of which can be upgraded via the tuning shop (or whatever the correct term is). I bought the cheapest car and had plenty of cash left over for some extra parts, so I had a bit of fun pretending to be a mechanic for a few seconds before getting on with the actual racing.

To begin with, you can take part in 3 races. Each time you place 1st, 2nd or 3rd, you unlock another race. You also win money for finishing a race, unless you are unlucky enough to finish last. Which you will. Quite a lot. You are also awarded money for damaging various parts of the scenery on each course - scaffolding can be knocked over, fences can be demolished, piles of logs can be scattered, that sort of thing. There are 36 courses, except there aren't really - the tracks are of the Ridge Racer variety, whereby you get three or four basic tracks and the rest are made up by opening and closing various different routes through them. This doesn't have to be a bad thing if you're a game like Burnout 3 where the variations can end up with anything from 45 second laps to 3-and-a-half minute laps, and your courses all have various distinctive landmarks on them so that you can come to learn the layout of a track without ever becoming lost or frustrated. If you're a game like Flat Out though, this becomes a major problem.

For example, there are a series of tracks that take place in a sort of quarry/building site. It is extraordinarily difficult to differentiate between them, and it won't be uncommon for you to be driving along without a clue whereabouts on the track you are (yes, there is a map, but most of the time you'll be too busy to look at it for reasons that are forthcoming). There were even a couple of points where, after starting a race, I began to think along the lines of "Wow, these laps are pretty long, I don't think I'm even on my second one yet", only to glance up at the corner of the screen to see that I was actually halfway through my third lap (of four). Needless to say, the start/finish line can look pretty anonymous as well.

Perhaps my biggest bugbear with Flat Out is the nature of the races themselves. Looking at the pictures on the box, and after loading it up and seeing the sort of cars you have to choose from, you'd be forgiven for thinking you've got some pretty madcap races ahead of you, with plenty of foul play opportunities and so on. In fact, the races are largely boring and illogical. Considering there is damagable scenery, jumps and half-wrecked cars being driven, it seems absurd that you aren't allowed to take short cuts. But it is so. If you go too far off the track, you must go back to the point - THE PRECISE POINT - that you left it and continue your race from there. Well, honestly. It also seems a little strange to have such sensitive handling cars in this kind of environment - you'll be spending far too much time trying desperately to correct skids while the opposition zooms past you. It just doesn't feel right.

Aside from these races, you've also got a load of bonus games to take part in, like the Long Jump (where you must hold down and release the B button to actually throw your driver from the car, and you must get him thrown as far as you can), the high jump (which is the same, but higher), Destruction Derby arenas and so on. These are actually more fun than the main game, but it'll still be only a day or two before you tire with them.

Conclusions? Don't bother. It's fun at first, but then you notice the similarity of all the tracks. Then you notice the horrible grunge soundtrack (and to have a driving game without a customisable soundtrack is a Crime Against Humanity). Then you get frustrated with the overly sensitive controls. This will all happen before the end of the first day. Trying the multi-player option doubles the amount of time it'll take before you're fed up with it (2 days rather than one), but it's still not worth it. So, try before you buy? I wouldn't. You're best off not even playing it for free.

Oh, and the manual is really crap as well.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/05