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FlatOut

EMAIL PRINT pc

8.2 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 44 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Empire Interactive / Vivendi Universal

Developer: Bugbear Entertainment

Genre(s): Racing, Driving, Action

Players: 8

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: July 12, 2005

Summary

Experience the drive of your life as you throw yourself around 45 challenging tracks in one of 16 fully upgradeable cars. Fences will shatter, tyre walls will explode, water tanks and barrels will fly across the track into other cars. Every time you lose control, you will truly feel the weight of the car as it collides with and destroys a barn, or smashes into the pack of cars ahead of you, and with 40 deformable pieces on every car sparks are guaranteed to fly! Anything you destroy or alter stays a part of the race, increasing the carnage to unprecedented levels! Broken fences, free rolling tyres, and even mangled parts of cars are left scattered around the track, increasing the mayhem with every lap. An extensive championship mode will keep you 'FlatOut' for months on end, as you battle through a huge variety of races, mini-games and the most outrageous arenas of destruction you could possibly imagine. Unparalleled realistic scenery and debris damage with fully destructible driving environments with 3000 + items on each track to smash. [Empire Interactive]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Boomtown Preview EuroGamer Preview IGN Preview Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Sydney Morning Herald

The handling is remarkable, and the fact the tracks are littered with obstacles that bounce and crash realistically makes it all the more fun. Throw in excellent damage modelling and it's plain to see that this game has nailed the core mechanics of an addictive racer perfectly.

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RealGamer

The AI of the other drivers is extremely good and can almost have you believing that you are racing against other humans.

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2404.org

I’d like to thank BugBear for finally spending the time to deliver a fantastic damage model in a racing game.

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BonusStage

A solid bit of destruction derby/road racing hybrid madness that’s well worth picking up. Bugbear has the tools and talent to make the next game even better and I’ll definitely be along for that ride.

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AtomicGamer

The racing's solid, but the AI needs work and the lack of internet play is inexcusable.

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Computer Gaming World

FlatOut doesn't have nearly enough variety in its tracks. Though the layouts will change (sometimes only slightly), there are only a few landscapes, and they do get repetitive. This minor complaint aside, FlatOut is a great arcade-style racer.

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Adrenaline Vault

A fun racing title with excellent graphics, good music, and a novel use of rag-doll and environmental physics that work quite well during races and bonus games. Its tracks are challenging and varied.

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Total Video Games

The ‘instant gratification’ test from Flatout is very high which is always a good marker. Flatout does not profess to be anything but an out and out ‘revving foot on the pedal and try to waste the opposition’ game.

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GameZone

I haven’t had this much fun with a driving game since the first "Driver" game was released for Playstation 1.

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Computer and Video Games

It's a shame, because the action can be hugely entertaining, but without a satisfying structure to hold it all together, FlatOut is at best a fun diversion. [PC Zone]

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GameSpot

For those who just want to race fast, wreck hard, and look good doing it, FlatOut fits the bill.

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PC Gamer

An unapologetic arcade smash-'em-up that gets the important stuff right. [Aug 2005, p.70]

PC Format

Fast, fun, and tasteless, but too many misfires to make it a winner. [Christmas 2004, p.108]

Edge Magazine

This is a game that’s as riotously entertaining as it is viciously random... It’s gleeful automobile slapstick, but not for anyone who values skill and achievement more than taking a wrecking ball to their opponents’ racing lines. [Dec 2005, p.114]

IGN

Multiplayer is the business and the bonus modes will be played for months to come. Too bad full online isn't in this PC version.

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Play Magazine

Upgrades on the variety of cars gradually up the speeds and intensity. [Aug 2005, p.50]

1UP

FlatOut basically feels like a slightly more frustrating successor to the original "Destruction Derby" series on the PlayStation 1 (well, the first two games).

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Yahoo! Games

A respectable weekend time-waster. It's got enough going on to fill a late night or two, and not so much that many gamers will pine for it when it's gone.

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G4 TV

Like a miniature fashion model: short, quite pretty, and as insubstantial as it is fun.

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Maxim Online

Unfortunately, when it comes to actual racing, FlatOut is about as interesting as a public service announcement for seatbelts.

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Cheat Code Central

FlatOut has all the makings of a great budget games, except that it's not great and that it's not budget priced.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 44 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

James J gave it a9:
Good fun, light hearted entertainment. Great bonus levels too. The damage is superb, everything can be smashed up :)

A Gamer gave it a1:
Utter rubbish - play it for about 5 minutes and you'll be bored. Avoid it like herpes. If you want a decent racing game for little $$, NFS Most Wanted, done.

Karl N. gave it a9:
Everyone has their own reasons for liking different games but this one is my favorite (though I haven't played Flatout 2 yet). I grew up on a farm driving these kinds of cars around the fields and this game takes me back there. I also love the physics in this game. I can feel each tire and the response of the suspension when a tire catches a ditch or other object. I like how there are consequences after crashes, leading to tangible changes in the suspension performance. The races are pretty crazy and fun to play multiplayer. The ragdoll mini-games are hilarious but it would be good to have the option of turning ragdoll off during races. It gets tedious. The two faults of this game are: not being able to drive multiplayer in the demolition derby and only being able to drive one car at a time. (When you switch cars, you lose the value of all the upgrades to your existing car.) I can understand, given a number of faults, why the game is rated lower but, in my opinion, it's still more fun than Burnout. That's why I gave it a 9.

Mark N. gave it a3:
This game is really bad. I mean the handling on the cars are way off. Stunt mode is cool but you will get tired of having to do it over and over just to upgrade, and about the upgrades, like someone said before me, don't really do anything because the handling is so bad. If you want a good racer pick up need for speed, it is a lot better.

Clifton M. gave it a10:
This is a very fun game to just screw around in and bust stuff up.

RJ G. gave it an8:
Excellent game! I love the physics, realistic damage, and uber graphics! Either the keyboard or a PC steering wheel are my weapons of choice and either one works well. My only gripes are the splash screen in the beginning freezes for me and the map previews are slow to load. Otherwise, Great game!

Jeppe N. gave it a9:
I love this game, one of the world best drive games, but FlatOut2 is better and can have 10!

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