Flatout Ultimate Carnage (or Flatout 2)

[Erkki]

Man, this game is bonkers. I've been playing all the Flatout games since I got my 3D projector set up, but I hadn't tried this one before. It's totally batshit crazy. Of course, if you know Flatout, it isn't THAT different from FlatOut 2, of which it is a remake, but everything seems improved. I am ignoring the "Carnage mode" and any extras, but the races are pure fun.

 

The way the physics work in this game seems so fine tuned -- your car takes damage from crashes but it almost never slows you down to the point where you have no hope of getting to top 3. I guess it's possible to get destroyed before reaching the finish, but hasn't happened to me yet. Crashing into barriers at sharp corners still gives you a way to keep driving while slowing you down a bit. Crashing into other cars is a valid way to overtake them (e.g. by turning them around) and crashing into them in corners is sometimes a good way to keep a good speed coming out of the corner. The destructible objects are also fun (especially in 3D). In the first FlatOut games, there were still a lot of objects that were fixed to the level geometry and crashing into them would stop you, but in this one almost everything (except trees and concrete walls and metal barriers I guess) is destructible so you don't have to worry too much about what you hit.

 

The way the game or physics engine tends to keep you going after a crash means that all kinds of emergent-seeming shit is possible and sometimes you just hold nitro down, drive through 5 crashes, narrowly miss a tree, and miraculously end up in the lead. The beginning of the race almost always starts with a huge crash (and a huge dust cloud, depending on race) when the 12 cars reach the first corner and somehow it is still usually possible to pass through that retaining some momentum, while getting pushed this way and that. Usually I am 6th or so after the first crash. Sometimes a car that has been pushed (or just drove itself) off the road will try to ram you from the side and hilarious stuff will happen. I don't think the game has rubber banding, but seems well balanced so that most of the time you always have some other cars close that you can try to keep from getting past you or to ram off the road.

 

The only problem I have is that upgrading a car can totally ruin the experience -- pick the wrong upgrades and the physics go off balance and ruin the driving fun (to be honest, this was more of an issue in Flatout 1, haven't really tried if same applies here). Pick too many upgrades and you'll easily win races with possibly several laps driven without any competition.

 

Unlike Burnout Paradise (from what little I've seen), Flatout doesn't pop up UI messages all over the place to let you know what awesome combos you are doing! Ramming into your opponents is only for better position and your own satisfaction. At the end of the race it may give you extra bonus points for smashing and wrecking, but I usually just click through those score screens without reading any of it.

 

Also an improvement from Flatout 1 I think is that if you go out of track for a bit, you can still keep going and return to the track at a point further ahead -- in Flatout 1 you sometimes had to reset or drive back. Also reset doesn't lose you as much as in Flatout 1.

 

It really feels like a rather systems driven game (or maybe I'm exaggerating a bit): a race here is a very physics-driven system that lets 12 cars loose and tries to maximize interaction between the cars and the environment, by making them crash into each other as much as possible while also keeping them moving forward. The AI also seems really fine tuned to try to crash into you occasionally, and to drive just well enough that it gives you some challenge. And the nitro also works brilliantly: earn it when you take part in crashes or smash the environment, which lets you then get away faster or smash into things with even more force.

 

10/10 This game is the Far Cry 2 of Tony Hawk's Pro Skaters!

 

Man I didn't think I'd write so many words about a racing game (I could write even more though)

[Ucantalas]

I remember really liking the Flatout games back when they came out. All of the minigames centered on launching your driver out of the windshield were fantastic.

I hadn't even heard of Flatout Ultimate Carnage until this Steam sale, but wasn't quite interested enough to really look into it.

[Erkki]

It's basically a remake of Flatout 2, which is kind of like a remake of Flatout 1, but UC is the best one.

 

Also, I just discovered bugbear has early access for their next car game at http://nextcargame.com

[twmac]

You should also try out Ridge Racer: Unbounded. It is basically a remake of the Flatout games and even more fun.

[Security_Tubbs]

I, too, love Flatout UC.

 

The thing that bothers me most is the un-evenness of the opponents. Usually there's one or two opponents who actually pose a challenge, and the others are there just for show (and the wreck pile at the start). And it seems that the performance of the challenging opponents increases based on your car and its upgrades. So buying a better car and upgrading it actually makes it harder to win.

 

And what you said about upgrading and screwing up the handling of the car is also true, but eventually you learn to do it properly and stick to front wheel drive cars

[jmbossy]

I played Flatout 2 daily for about 2 years.

You're telling me there's a newer one? I'm sold.

 

Edit: Wait, how do y'all feel about the third one, which I also just realized exists.

[Erkki]

The third one is not made by bugbear. Eurogamer gave it 1 out of 10.

[Erkki]

I realized that this thread has my subjective opinion of the game, which not everyone might agree with, so I wrote an objective review.