Flat
Out is a racing game that tries to offer a little bit more than the average
racing game. The race car market has become flooded with games, especially for
the Xbox. Some games are great while others are rock bottom bargain basement
pricing games. Flat Out tries to offer players a different take on racing games
by including a unique physics engine.
Physics have become a big
part of gaming over the past 6 months to a year. It seems almost every
publisher is trying out do each other with their physics engines. One publisher
uses XYZ engine, while another publisher develops their own proprietary engine.
Flat Out includes a physics engine that will give players more interaction with
the race track.
The type of racing, from
the demo, appears to be old style stock car racing. But the racing included a
wide variety of cars. There will be a total of 16 cars that can be upgraded in
the game. The demo presented at E3 didn’t show the upgrades that will be
available in the final version.
The physics engine was
really the star of the show (or the game for this preview). The developers
drove a car around the track and would randomly run into several different
options placed around the track. Once hit, the items would react realistically
depending on how they were hit. Cones and barrels would scatter across the
track, with each cone and barrel acting independent of each other. The
developers mentioned that over 90% of the track would be destructible.
Another example of the
physics engine on display showed off the drivers of the cars being ejected from
the cars. Depending on how you wreck your car could determine if your driver
will be ejected. One example had a driver being ejected from the car after the
car ran into a section of the track. After being ejected from the car, the
driver was then run over by the car since it was still rolling from the momentum
of the crash. This might sound gruesome but it was actually very comedic. So
comedic that the developers decided to include some mini games based on the
drivers being ejected. One mini game on display was a long jump/bowling
competition where the objective was to eject the driver the farthest while still
hitting some bowling pins.
Flat Out was a very nice
surprise at E3. The graphics were excellent with all of the car models being
very detailed and the game running at a rock steady frame rate. The physics
engine added to the realism of the game while also adding to the fun aspect of
the game. The game will support online racing via Xbox Live while the PS2
version will support split screen racing. Look for Flat Out later this year.
