Games for Lunch: FlatOut

In a nutshell: Destruction Derby + Motorstorm with a twist of Burnout and GripShift. Have I wowed you with my racing game knowledge yet?
7/16/2008 6:51 PM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 3

0:19 Another spin-out sends my guy flying. The camera has trouble keeping up as he flies through a fencepost. Then we're good as new in a few seconds. I'm in eighth place now? I didn't even know there was an eighth place.

0:20 I actually get run over this time after flying through the windshield during a particularly brutal crash. I was back in the pack but now I'm waaay back. Oh, and my engine is on fire. That's bad, right?

0:22 I somehow work my way up to second by the end of the race, mainly because the other cars bump each other halfway to death. Hey, I'll take it. I unlocked "Brad's Super Dustup" and got $500 to plow into my car.

0:24 On to said Super Dustup, a muddy construction site. I like the way the cars kick up dirt and mud as they drive. Everything feels very raw, in a good way.

0:26 I somehow end up going accidentally backwards after a particularly nasty spin-out. Nuts to this, time to restart.

0:27 So destroying stuff on the track is good because it gets me money, but bad because it slows me down, earning me less money for my finish. The game seems confused as to whether it's a straight racer or a Burnout-style destruction game.

0:29 Whoo! There's nothing quite like power sliding right into three other cars, sending them off the track as you sail through a turn. Adios, competitors!

0:31 Turnabout's fair play, I guess, as one of my competitors knocks me about on the next turn. The artificial intelligence is very aggressive. I like it!

0:32 Whoops. I see what I think is a shortcut to the left, only to realize it was actually a right turn. Now I'm back in eighth with no hope of catching up. Enough of this jazz -- back to the main menu.

0:35 This is going to sound stupid, but I JUST realized that the big, flashing red meter next to my odometer is a nitro meter that I can use for a quick burst of acceleration and speed. I get more nitro as I crash into objects and cars. It's like a whole new game!

0:38 I'm doing great with the nitro, until it speeds me through a corkscrew flip that sends my driver flying through the windscreen yet again. Poor guy. He looks so helpless flying through the air like a rag doll.

0:39 It's really hard to tell which road detritus merely slows you down and which other stuff stops you dead in your tracks. Ugh.

0:40 I was getting a bit tired of this game, but the nitro has opened up a whole new world of strategy! Balancing the need to smash stuff for nitro with the need to avoid smashing stuff for speed is pretty engaging, at least initially.

0:41 Enough racing, on to the Bonus cup to launch my driver on purpose! The long jump is up first. Hoo, baby.

0:43 I mess up all three of my first long jump attempts, either by releasing my driver too early or accidentally driving off the course. Driving off a straight course. It's confusing, OK?

0:45 Watching my rag-doll driver fly for 40 yards in super slow-mo is pretty fun. I can't seem to get the real big distances, though. It's hard to tell what the optimum angle/point of release is.