Flatout: Ultimate Carnage Xbox 360

Flatout: Ultimate Carnage Product Details

Released on 22/06/2007

• FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage Review

  Jonny's flung through FlatOut's windscreen...

  FlatOut has long been seen as a poor-man's rival to that other high-thrills racing franchise with "Out" in the title. And now, maybe its about time that changed.

  The thing is, after the genius of Burnout 2, and then the sublime Burnout 3: Takedown, which I genuinely place in my top 10 games of all time (having never experienced any game that comes close to the adrenaline rush that one provided) we’re not quite sure what happened to that series. Both Dominator and Revenge ruined the perfect balance by making it too complex, by removing the emphasis on racing and making it more about the violence and the crashes. And of course, by doing the usual EA trick of filling the disc up with the kind of bland, kiddy-punk, MTV-friendly trash which seems to pass for music these days. Sigh.

  Smashed

  Anyway. Ahem. FlatOut. The main point of difference when compared to its fiery rival is the destructibility of environments, and the physics engine that flings everything around. Most of the trackside scenery can be smashed into, destroyed, knocked over, and so forth, meaning that the tracks, pristine on the first lap, soon become completely unrecognisable due to the detritus that litters them on subsequent laps.

  The more dastardly among you will soon discover numerous ways of preparing pile-up set-pieces as you knock out strategically-placed struts and supports, sending structures tumbling onto the hapless racers behind you. Featuring such an impressive true-to-life physics system in a racing environment like this of course means that all manner of once-in-a-lifetime events are possible as you see the true randomness of chaos theory unfold before your goggling eyes.

  Pile-up set-pieces... sending structures tumbling onto the hapless racers behind you.

  Progressing through FlatOut's standard mode (including Derbies, Races and Time Challenges) will unlock further cars, while a basic level of tinkering is made available in the garage between levels where you can spend money you've won upgrading your current car or simply buying a better one.

  FlatOut's unique "rag doll" drivers once again star in a series of hilarious mini games. It's possible to fling your hapless driver through the windscreen and into the heavens, and thus you'll spend a while figuring out the best lines of approach and angles of launch to get your driver through a series of massive flaming hoops, to score an American Football-style field goal, or to whack the poor fella into a gargantuan dartboard. These are at once one of the most horrifying and hilarious sights gaming has to offer - the accidents from You've Been Framed on steroids. It's not quite Burnout's legendary Crash Mode, but by 'eck it's a lot of fun and a perfect post-pub laugh.

  Hi-Definition remix

  Technically FlatOut is quite impressive, with a greater number of cars on the track than before, a hugely increased number of destructible objects per track, and all manner of lovely effects, zipping along at a smooth and constant frame rate with not even a hint of slowdown.

  Of course, after moaning about the soundtrack to Burnout, I'll level the same criticism at FlatOut, which attempts a pale imitation of the "exciting" sounds offered by its main rival. But unlike Burnout titles, there doesn't appear to be an option (that we could find) to use your own tracks ripped to the hard-drive. D'oh!

  At the end of the day FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage is like a hi-definition remix of the best bits of the previous two games, and since we enjoyed them so much there's little to moan about here - FlatOut is the best example to date of arcade racing for the Xbox 360.

  GAME's Verdict

  

  • Loads to destroy, and a randomness to events that many games can't provide.
  • Technically impressive with no slowdown.
  • Hilarious mini-games which make you laugh and cry at the same time.

  

  • No ability to change the overly emo [Are the kids still digging this? What, really!?] soundtrack.
  • It feels like a remix of the last games rather than a true, new instalment.
  • Doesn't have the greatest presentation values around.

  Review by: Jonny Austin
  Version Tested: Xbox 360
  Review Published: 11.07.07

  Published: 11/07/2007

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