FlatOut 4: Total Insanity

« FlatOut 4 is a well-made and well-presented racing game that does a lot to escape the level of 'mediocre' that falls among other racers. With modes like beer pong, survival and time trail to choose from, FlatOut 4 is a great experience from start to finish. »

« For fans of FlatOut your patience has been rewarded; the series has reached its zenith at a time when nobody expected it to resurge, let alone do so with such brutal conviction. For the rest of you, FlatOut 4 is the perfect antithesis of all those sensible racers out there; a real, rough around the edges prospect that demands your attention. »

« As its name implies this is an insane arcade racer that offers a kind of gameplay not so common these days. Flatout 4 is fun, crazy and enjoyable, albeit a bit repetitive in areas. »

« Look past the scruffy visuals, because Flatout 4's penchant for vehicular violence means it passes its madcap MDT. [May 2017, p.92] »

« Flatout 4 is back on track. It takes a while to get into, but once you’re hooked to this arcade racer, you’ll look past its loose controls and the AI flaws. »

« Worth a look if you enjoy the idea of racing but find it can be a bit boring… throw in some explosions and falling buildings and it may just keep you going. »

« Once you do get racing against other players of similar skills then any sense of fair play goes out of the window and you use every dirty trick and underhand tactic to get in to first place. With eight racers the crashes can be spectacular pile ups with cars, logs, and half a house smashing across the race track in front of you, and, as previously mentioned a lot of swearing, but a lot of laughs as well. Silly fun, and well worth your cash. »

« FlatOut 4 is a surprise - after a weak part 3 here comes a game that is OK. But beware - it's not aimed at FlatOut fans. Its borderline "arcadeness" can discourage fans of F1 and F2. But if you like Burnout or even MotorStorm, give it a chance and don't let the wonky physics scare you away. »

« This is an overall good racing game and quite fan as well. It's not perfect by any means, the design and overall graphics are not particularly great but are okay at least. The physics are allright and driving feels satisfying. The game is fairly challenging and most importantly it can be really fun. It's biggest weakness is the mediocre Visuals, a rather small roster of cars and it's somewhat repetitive when it comes to its tracks. Overall though a truly fun game for sure »

« Best Part »

« I was a big fan of Flatout: Ultimate Carnage on the XBox 360 which was a breath of fresh air compared to the ocean of soulless, terminally anal Gran Turismo clones out there, thanks to its concentration on fun rather than "realism". This is another smash and basher in the demolition derby mould that's not quite as good as its predecessor, but is still good fun if you like the Burnout and Motorstorm games. »

« Terrible unfinished not polished Flatout game. The physics and damage effects are bad. There is no satisfaction from destruction at all. This is a big minus for the demolition racing game like Flatout. Graphics are cheap: they took some rendering model from previous gen and added soap on top of it. Driving feels sluggish. Progression is **** Avoid. »

« Probably the worst racing game of ever played it's just a mess. I've just thrown racing in with demolition in with stunts and it's just all over the place you can hardly stay on the track with the horrible physics and the amount of crap going on. And if you do manage to get on the track you get pump straight off by some a whole driver anyway. Absolutely mess only good thing I can say is the musics pretty good. »

« Its fun and makes you keep playing but it can't be compared with Flatout 2 and Ultimate Carnage... It needs better physics,more cars,tracks and better OST... But if you compare it to Flatout 3 its a lot better. Let's hope Bugbear sometime will make a proper FO game in the future.. »

« This is the game that made me appreciate even more one of my most beloved racing games, Flatout 2. So, kudos to the developers... I guess. But anyway, it would have been great if the developers would at least hide the fact that they spend all the time on their rally games, while "developing" this mess. How is this even possible. Flaout 2 was made more than a decade before this installment. Maybe, it wasn't the first game in its genre, but it gave a clear template to future developers, on how to make a great follow-up. This game feels lifeless and it took me a while to figure it out, because it's so obvious, in plain sight that I wasn't expecting developers to be so lazy. Sound: Right at the start of the game, when you hit the gas pedal, you'll notice something is missing. The car has only engine sound effects, there is no noise from tires when you're turning. Hitting other cars sound effects is much quieter than hitting random wooden boxes on the tracks. When you hit the wall and ragdoll-driver falls out of the front window all you hear is the quick smash sound with nothing else. If you're a fan of Flaout1-2 you know that the driver screams when he/she flies through the window and then screams again when he/she hits the wall or falls on the floor. It's such a memorable element of the series that it's embarrassing that developers "forgot" it. The game also missing sound effects for smashed glass/windows as well. Gameplay: Vibration, you would think that developers have figured out how it works, so why do I have to mention it? Vibration works only when you hit another opponent, random objects on the tracks and when you hit nitro, especially the last part. Anything else is missing, fell off the main road, so you're riding offroad? Nothing. You're drifting or sliding? Nada. How about frickin' hitting the ground after flying a few seconds? Oh, come on! The same can be said about driving itself. There is no difference if you're driving off road, speed is only affected if you hit something or someone. It looks as if the car is just floating on the road. It feels like you're controlling a car-shaped rubber. When the stunt mode rounds start you can see how the car textures/object fall for a short millisecond on the track. And that's happening every damn time. It's annoying and could be easily fixed, but I guess they have another rally game to make in time. Career mode is a nice throwback to Flatout2. The only thing is added is the mode with "weapons", it's something new. But unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy it. I found it to be rather frustrating than entertaining. Upgrading the car has not changed much, except for the visual exhaustion animation and horn upgrades. I guess it's cool, but I got to ask... what am I supposed to do with switching horn sound? It feels so unnecessary and it's definitely useless for players. Graphics: Graphics is not something I care about much, but I would argue that the Ultimate Carnage had much better graphics. Color palette is lifeless and the graphics are muddy. It's 2017 and I thought people already figured out that motion blur does not make graphics prettier, and in the case with this game, it doesn't make any favor either. Design/Art direction: This is something that I can see clearly, that people cared about the work they're putting in. Some levels borrow elements from Flatout2 and newer ones can be a memorable and nice welcome. The game has a nice variety of cars, so you won't have any problems to find a favorite or a few. When it comes to music, it is subjective, obviously. It was either hit or miss, but there were plenty of songs fitting the racing. Conclusion: Some people point out how this game is better than Flaout3. Why stop there? How about comparing it to Big Rigs, then call it a masterpiece and call it a day. Yeah, that cheap comparison doesn't make it any better. Make yourself a favor, either buy Flaout1/2 if you did not play them or try out Wreckfest. As for the Kylotonn Games, good luck with your annual rally game releases. »

« Not devoloped by the Famous bugbear! the Previous best Flatout games are: FlatOut, FlatOut2, FlatOut Ultimate Carnage and Flatout Head On for the PSP, Flatout 3 and Flatout 4 are ones of worst. no Longer is Real the engine physics are worse, the damage effects are weak. it's i rubbish. »