Tires flying. Metal grinding. Petrol stations exploding. FlatOut Ultimate Carnage is exactly that. Carnage on the race track. The many race types, rewards, action upgrades and mini games have been superbly squashed into a game that the competition simply doesn't match meaning this title certainly stands out from the rest.
The first thing that looks out of place is the console style buttons for selecting and cancelling options. More copies of Ultimate Carnage will probably be sold on the XBox360 than the PC, but taking the time to clear these things up is not too much of a hassle, its just laziness.
The initial options are: FlatOut, Carnage, and Online, FlatOut is the main game. You are introduced to the car shop where you purchase your first vehicle. It will turn out to be the first of many. At first you only have enough cash to afford a beat up derby car. Win enough races and you'll be upgrading to some nifty looking metal in Race and Street classes, and then be able to race in those events. The three unlocked Derby cars are Chili, a small hatchback; Malice, a run down but tough looking muscle car and Romer, and old style pickup truck.
The next screen brings you to the race section, your garage, the car shop, and the upgrade shop. As no cash is on hand, a race is the only option. The three race classes are Derby, Race and Street. Essentially they are all the same, just with better cars and harder tracks. The Derby race starts fairly easy, after about 1 or 2 laps with the muscle car you can comfortably handle the corners, winning the race is not too hard to accomplish. You'll instantly notice the difference between the usual race genre with tyres and rubble all over the track. No need to dodge anything, you'll do quite the opposite in fact.
Crash into the opponents to earn nitro. The harder the crash, the more nitro you get. Force them into a building or large tree and earn points as they fly through the windscreen or incinerate in their car. If you crash and come to a stop, just hit the reset button (R) and you'll be back on the track rolling with a bit of nitro to speed you up again. At the end of the race you'll be rewarded with cash for your position as well as extra reward points for best wrecker, blast master, fastest car, and bulldozer. Win enough races in the one event to earn more cash. After a few events you'll notice your car is not as quick as the others, but you will unlock new cars, levels and rewards such as time trials and destruction derby's.
In the garage you can sell your old cars or hop into the others you have bought. The Car Shop allows you to buy a new car. Select upgrade to buy various car parts and upgrades for your engine, gearbox, exhaust, suspension, tires & brakes and body work. The different parts you upgrade effect acceleration, top end speed, handling, strength the vehicles weight and nitro power.
There are quite a few tracks to race around. Some tracks are the same in different events, but in a different atmosphere (like at night) or in reverse. The different classes are become harder, with more debris scattered over the track, tougher corners, tougher opponents and better cars.
Carnage mode is single races with specific tasks, earning points for winning or destroying an enemy. Unlock these as you progress.
Online and LAN modes are basically the same as the standard game. Races, stunts and destruction derby mean you'll have a ton of fun, with the extended playability.
The graphics are excellent. To look at the road when moving fast the dirt ground can be a brown blur. Stopping the car for a closer look shows great detail including tire marks and clumps of mud. There is so much background to explore you can find little details really impressive. According to Bugbear, each car is modelled twice. "First in pristine condition and a second time as completely and utterly wrecked condition. These two different car meshes create the ends of the spectrum for the car deformation system." Parts slowly start to fall of when you damage that part of the vehicle. Realistic is the goal here and it’s achieved quite well. "Effectively this means that when the player hits a telephone pole head on, that pole creates a wedge in the front of your car, but hit a large building head on the whole forward section of your car deforms." The sound consists of Heavy Metal/Rock background music from the same few bands you don’t hear much ambience other than the many different roars from the cars engine, grinding metal, explosions, and other clashing of objects around you hitting your and your opponents’ cars. The music can be a tad annoying, but is certainly liveable at a modest level.
What we are left with is a huge game that doesn't compare to the other recent releases. Even if you’re not a fan of the Racing genre, you'll have a blast with this one. Very addictive and destructive fun. You should defiantly add this one to your collection.
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