Health and safety would have a field day
ADRENALINE ON A BUDGET
With the recent release of Flatout: Ultimate Carnage on Xbox 360 and PC, it is
understandable that readers may be interested in getting themselves a slice of
the ‘carnage’. What is also understandable is the disgust that readers will
feel when they discover that yet again, publishers are charging the best part
of 25 pints of lager for their new release. Well, dear readers, fear not, for
there is a budget option at hand.
While it may not have all the knobs and whistles that Ultimate Carnage has to
offer, Flatout 2 for the PC is still a viable option for car-destroying
enthusiasts. The basic formula behind the Flatout games is a series of races,
where taking down fences, lamp-posts, old barns, diggers, telegraph poles,
piles of logs and other competitors earns nitro which can be used to help you
take the lead.
However, landing yourself, or a rival driver in the path of a solid object will
lead to ejection of the unfortunate driver, the rag doll body of which will
shoot head long into said solid object. The game designers have taken this
concept to new heights with new mini games – these include not just the high
jump, long jump and target practice of the original, but also Ring of Fire,
American Football Tackle, and Bowling, along with a few others. These work by
firing your driver from his automobile at a time of your choosing to achieve
the intended aim.
In practice, the concepts work a lot better than they sound. Races are frantic,
with intelligent and at times, violent, competitors racing against you as best
they can, while jumps, obstacles and shortcuts litter the varying tracks
invoking mass destruction along the way. Mini-games are multiplayer, and are
more about skill than speed, which contrasts nicely with the main element of
the game.
Graphics are extremely detailed, though this will depend to some extent on your
PC (Minimum spec is a 2GHz processor, with 256MB ram and a 64MB graphics card
from Nvidia/ATI). The non-presence of licensed cars allows that crashes have a
visible effect on your motor, ranging from a slight dent to two missing wheels
and a burning engine. Crashes also have an expected effect on the handling of
the cars, which is appreciated, being something that not all driving games
insist upon.
And it is not only post-crash handling which is accurate. While the cars do not
drive as realistically as those of Forza Motorsport, they are a lot more
tactile than those of, say, Grand Theft Auto, although this is somewhat
expected given the differing nature of the game.
So, given the destruction in the game, is this what our parents have been
campaigning against since the dawn of the first Grand Theft Auto? This gamer
says no – people seem not to die in this game and there is no blood. That is
not to say that the game isn’t violent – it is. Buildings, farms and airports
are trashed, drivers are left in the most excruciating positions after ejection
from their cars, and screams can be heard as you hurtle past your
disaster-struck competitors. This is still no match, however for the likes of
Carmageddon, or any modern first person shooter for that matter.
Is this a game set to go down history as one of the great driving games of the
naughties? Well, no, given the distinct lack of press it was given, and the
fact that no multiplayer racing mode has been included. Nonetheless, given the
current budget selling price of £4.99, it is well worth a look for those with a
destructive edge to their personality.
7½ out of 10
Jake Andrews
