In one race, I accidentally clipped a log. The log spun 90 degrees at high speed, and hit a pile of other logs it was next to. Those logs started to roll off their pile, across the road, down a hill, and hit one of the A.I. racers below, who subsequently got caught in a spin - right into a petrol station, which proceeded to explode and take out three other racers driving past it at the time! Passing the area on the second lap was like driving through a minefield as I tried to maneuver my car through the debris of logs, tires, and car parts strewn across the course. Fun things like this are commonplace in this game.
The destructible objects aren’t just for show though, as destroying them (or hitting enemy cars, or lifting your car off the ground) builds up your Nitro meter, allowing you to hit the juice and get a big boost of speed. And the physics aren’t just limited to the cars and the tracks. Even the drivers have ragdoll physics, meaning that if you hit an object hard enough, your driver will fly out of the windscreen and splatter hilariously into whatever you just smacked into.
The driver’s ragdoll physics also lead into the mini-games included. There are 12 Stunt Events that you can participate in. These all basically consist of driving your car down a hill, and catapulting your driver to complete various activities like bowling, baseball, “stone” skipping, and Human Darts. These mini-games are a fantastic little distraction from the main game type, and can be played alone, or with up to eight players in party mode.
The second game mode is rather lovingly named Carnage. Totally new and exclusive to Flatout: Ultimate Carnage, Carnage Mode is arcade based mayhem. Coming first in this game mode just makes you a bigger target for the opposition. This is all about tearing your competitors a new one through various games such as Deathmatch Derby, Beat the Bomb, races, and stunt games. The main difference between Carnage and Flatout modes is that in Carnage you are not only racing the other players, but against the clock too. Luckily, power ups are on hand to make completing a race or obliterating anything else on the track easier.
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