FlatOut

I have driven (and raced) cars & bikes for more than 30years now. I like driving cars so much, the only thing I'm happy with driving on the road, is a coupe, due to their unique chassis/handling qualities. When it comes to driving/racing sims, I can become over-critical very easily...but there are two different kinds of these things. There are 'serious' driving/racing sims -- these are the sort of games you wish you had -real- steering-wheel/pedals/gearshift and other controls, that feel and react onscreen exactly the way they would/should in a real car..and then there are 'fun' games of this type, where the most enjoyment to be had is using a joystick or gamepad to control the car instead. This GOG release of FlatOut installs and runs great on linux using Codeweavers Crossover-Games (I believe this is true for the Mac version as well). For years I'd been a big fan of the RollCage series using analog joystick for input, and never found gamepad to be quite as much fun with those titles. FlatOut is quite the opposite -- here is a game that gives you a reason for having a gamepad. The linux/crossover-game interaction with a USB gamepad controlling FlatOut is seamless -- real plug&play material. Not many driving games lend themselves to the immediate hard-left/hard-right/quick recenter steering control input most basic gamepads provide, but FlatOut is the exception -- you will end up appreciating this kind of steering control with this game, because if you're doing it right, best laps are obtained by literally going flat-out, committing to lines you won't be able to see for 5 or 6 seconds, and then controlling huge powerslides around corners looking for that 'perfect' line. Most of the time, it's kind of like driving rally-x without a navigator beside you to help you out along the way. The physics are great fun, certainly car-control wise they're very 'close to the mark' to what will happen if you get it wrong ..and don't wear a seatbelt. If there is a strategy to winning this game, it is this -- get out infront, go hard don't look back, and don't stuff-up. The AI drivers get meaner and uglier as you progress thru the levels...and quicker. They will give you no respect, give them none in return...many a time I've pitched the thing into a corner so hard, the -only- way I'm going to get around it, is if I hit the opponent car my chosen line is deliberately part of...you really -do- have to drive gloves-off here. The only thing I found the fun could've been added to, would have been a so called 'kickdown' switch to force the auto back a gear, and being able to change the actual gear ratios themselves...but other than that, outstanding FUN!

Flatout is a rally game on closed circuits but instead of racing a BMW you’re competing against a bunch of no-name junkyard scrap with one of your own. Races are frantic and chaotic thanks to a great combination of narrow roads, physics and fast opponents. And the physics engine is not just for show. Passing through barriers or build boards will slow you down--a lot or a little--depending on your angle and speed. However impressive crashes give you a lot of nitro boost, knocking down a traffic cone a bored audience and little boost. Every bit of it counts though when you’re trying to catch up to your opponents, who don’t make as many mistakes as you’d like. Speed is an important factor when passing through the environment because hitting a wall fast enough will catapult your driver out of the windshield with a nice display of ragdoll physics. The head-through-glass technique is used in the ragdoll arena where you accelerate and dump your driver forward trying to reach height, hit bowling pins, or play darts, as well as various other mini games. Even though you’re given over thirty races in five different environments, the tracks are quite similar. It was all just left and right turns, none truly being unique or having features to remember them by. However, pacing and layout are perfect, with enough variation in structure to provide lap after lap of excitement. Each race has plenty of shortcuts, bumps and jumps to provide a constant challenge. As a tribute to Destruction Derby we’re given the very fun Demolition Arena, enclosed circular tracks of destruction. To complete the tribute BugBear has decided to give us the same depth of customization that Destruction Derby offered – none. Track parameters such as laps or time of day cannot be changed. You can’t personalize your driver. Worst of all, though, Flatout has horrible instant-replay controls: Flatout features fun to watch car crashes and yet they cannot be saved or rewound and the camera cannot be moved.

Solid racer with good physics (still better than a lot of current racers) which paved the way for Wreakfest, which feels closer to Wreakfest than Flatout 2, but only overall bettered by Wreakfest and in someways Faltout 2. It's still somewhat decent looking and plays very smoothly, it features a rock and funk soundtrack from around the time (although I cannot confirm it still has the original soundtrack as I am only playing it now) the game came out. The only issue I have is they did not add proper widescreen support so it will be streached if you use a widescreen resolution, there are widescreen fixes out there if you can find non malware version, I couldn't so I just went with a 4:3 resolution. Got for free but it's worth the asking price, only bettered by Flatout 2 and Wreakfest and in someways the races are better than Flatout 2.

This is one of the game I used to play as a kid, and I remember having a lot of fun. After years of not touching the game, I see that I can buy it on gog, so I gave it a try, and oh boy, now that I had more experience with racing games, it was even more fun than ever. I recomend this game to anyone who wants to to play a fun racing game, just try demolition derby, thats when I really started to like it as a kid. Just as a side note, my dad used to have installed this game on our home computer (this is how I ended up playing it), and the name of the folder that the game was installed was named "The Most Realistic racing game". For that time, it was accuarate, for me, because that was the most realistic game I knew as a kid.

I never played this back in the day, but I wish I had. It feels like Wreckfest's Grandpa. Good physics for the time and fun gameplay makes it timeless. Even better if you appreciate old school graphics too.