Flat Out

by Empire Interactive

Product Features

• 16 different cars to race, customize and upgrade
• Realistic, full car damage modeling that also affects the performance of the car
• 45 tracks to master over 5 different environments including the challenge of snow-covered terrain
• Well-tuned car physics to give a truly realistic feel to each car
• Don't lose control of your car -- you'll feel the weight of it as it collides with barns, cars and walls

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007KTBD0
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches ; 4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: June 15, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,290 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: Xbox

From the Manufacturer

It's mayhem with muscle cars! FlatOut delivers a thrilling combination of high-octane racing, smash-em-up demolition derby action, and death defying stunts propelling the driver through the windshield!

Features:

• Wreak havoc as you race on 36 tracks in fully destructible environments.
• Supe it up! Choose among 16 different customizable and upgradeable cars that take realistic damage, affecting their appearance and drivability.
• Take on your rivals! Race online with up to eight players--or in two-player split-screen mode--as you battle for the championship.

Product Description

Flat Out is fast racing with more danger than you'd face on typical tracks. Race your car around a track where every bit of damage stays on the track. Free-rolling tires, broken fences, mangled car parts increase the potential for mayhem on every pass. Take every shortcut, jump and by-road you can find to get past these obstacles, cross the finish line first and show the world your driving skills are supreme. Extensive championship gaming with a huge variety of races, mini-games and the most outrageous arenas of destruction you can imagine Fun enhancing mini-games including 'Figure of 8' and 'Demolition Bowl' Two-player split screen mode for a AAA racing experience with friends

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A different "spin" on racing, July 29, 2005

By 

DarkDan "DarkDan" (Norman, OK United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Flat Out (Video Game)

While I am not a racing purist, I enjoy the playing most racing games on the Xbox and PS2 and, as of just over a week after this product launched, I am 56% of the way through this game.

FlatOut incorporates an interesting combination of arcade and simulator racing. Nitro boost and comical crashes combined with the over-the-top map designs will make this a hit with arcade racing enthusiasts. However, the vehicle dynamics and car performance might attract the true racing simulator fans. These racing purists may be put off by the fact that the "vehicle tuning" area is limited to only add-on parts rather than actual performance tuning of each individual part, but this does make it easier for the novice to play. On the other hand, purchasing lower class cars will provide a unique challenge as a horsepower underdog in any race can often be lapped. The single-player game is shorter than most and experienced racers can finish this game in a long weekend.

Elements that are unique to the FlatOut game include:
- The "rag doll physics" of your driver flying out of the vehicle upon high-speed impacts.
- Bonus games where you compete in demolition derbies, or measure how far/high you can throw your driver in the air after a crash. (NOTE: Some of these games are more "luck" than skill, since there's no way to accurately aim your driver.)
- Crashed into objects become debris on the road that can affect your vehicle path and gates that are "slammed open" by other cars can bounce back closed and hit your vehicle on certain tracks.
- The aforementioned drebis will stay on the track where you crashed into it and cause a hazzard for other vehicles and even you, as you return in subsequent laps.
- Secret shortcuts on some maps that will provide a strategic shortcut, or a deadly distraction.

With the many exciting features of this game, there also come some negatives. There's only one camera angle (3rd person, just above vehicle) which might frustrate players that prefer the in-car view or a higher angle to see over hills. Also, when you stray off track (either by poor driving or the "nudge" of another player), you must return near the point where you exited. This is often extremely frustrating since a high-speed crash, a ride on the wrong side of the guard rail or a hard hit from another vehicle can put you considerably off the path. In addition the "vehicle reset" feature not only brings you back at a dead stop, but also often resets your vehicle a considerable distance back on the track, even around corners you have already successfully navigated. Moreover, your car almost always returns behind "the pack" even if you were in first.

Finally, the unforgivable sin is that -although the game supports online multiplayer on Xbox Live- none of the bonus competitions (throwing your driver for distance, bowling, darts, etc.) are multiplayer. This, in my opinion, is a rediculous oversight on their part since the PS2 version includes this feature, and Xbox Live is a much more "multiplayer oriented" service. Plus, since the game is so short, the developers should have provided more online entertainment. And, since the bonus games are a refreshing change from your standard racing game, it would have been nice to have something more than "just another online racing game" on Xbox Live.

But, for the incredible amount of unique features in this game and the crazy antics of your lifeless body begin flung out and contorting as it hits various objects on the track make this game enjoyable and fun. This game is perfect when you have friends over and want to sit back and laugh than having a fierce Halo 2 competition.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What The Hell ! !, December 21, 2005

By 

Massacre "Weird Al" (Dracut) - See all my reviews

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Flat Out (Video Game)

This Game is stupid. They really need to tighten up the graphic a bet. I mean who the hell gets stuck in a fence after being launch 89 feet! of crach too an ivsible wall after being launch 100 feet. the races are frustrating. you have too get a really fast car. there's not that much cars. only one is the fastest. all the good stuff have to be unlocked. And the Bonus games are a total Agrrevasion. Except the High Launch Bonus. If you want this game. I suggest You Rent It! Or Save Your Money!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Physics but Poor Graphics and Sound, July 2, 2006

By 

Lisa Shea "medieval swordfighting enthusiast" - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

= Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Flat Out (Video Game)

Flat Out is a racing game that rewards you for smashing into other cars. You're expected to run dirty. Minigames involve things like flinging your driver the longest distance.

You can be a guy or a girl, and you can choose from a variety of car options. Once you get into the races, what you usually notice first is the rag doll physics of the drivers - as they get flung from their cars. Most racing games focus on the cars - but in this one, you can achieve gory death for yourself or others by the lack-of-seatbelt ejection.

I appreciated the different worlds you run in - on regular race tracks, on off-road dirt through forests, on snowy trails, and so on. However, everything seemed very "muddy" to me - and often it was hard to see on the screen what was road and what was brown near-road-but-not-driveable. Maybe their aim was to have all obstacles camoflagued, but in practice it made it not fun to drive towards an open spot and smash into something there.

So in general I wasn't keen on the graphics. Normally I love deformable objects, including cars. However, these cars didn't look like they were "dented" realistically. It seemed more like a plasic object had melted strangely.

The sounds were even worse. I was quite not-fond of most of the songs played in the soundtrack, and the RRRRR RRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRR of the cars must've been generated on a sound machine.

I didn't find the driving part to be that bad, and I do enjoy racing games in general. However, since I do own several other racing games, I'm not sure why I would put one of those down to play this instead. I really don't think the "flying humans out of the car" aspect makes up for the many other problems inherent in this game. Maybe if they come out with a sequel that has the same physics but better graphics and sound, it will start to come up to speed.

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