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FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage - First Look Mini Preview
Jon Wilcox
30/04/2007
TVG causes carnage on the roads of BugBear's next-generation debut...
Announced back in January, FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage marks the next-generation debut for the FlatOut 'arcade destruction' franchise, along with developer BugBear Entertainment and Empire Interactive. An exclusive racer for Xbox 360 (both studio and publisher have confirmed that the title won't be on PlayStation3), Ultimate Carnage is something of an evolution from 2006's FlatOut2, which appeared on PlayStation2, Xbox, and PC. All indications are that the title is more than a simple high-definition port of the game, so TVG went along to Empire's imperial offices in North London to find out more...
Set for release on Micrsoft's next-generation console on June 22nd, FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage is described by BugBear as "rebuilt from the ground up and specifically developed to take advantage...of the Xbox 360 to produce an entirely new, breathtaking FlatOut experience." But what does that actually mean? Based on FlatOut2, Ultimate Carnage is using a veritable shopping list of technologies and features to push their presence on Xbox 360: 50% more cars on the track, a near four-fold increase in polygons, and the addition of different texture maps, help create a level of visual gloss that you'd expect from a next-generation racer. But underneath the layers of parallax mapping for "3D skid marks" and HDR lighting, Ultimate Carnage may look to some like a simple rehash: it's the same tracks, the same number of stunts, and the same Career mode. However, before this all sounds even more like the ramblings of a grumpy cynic, it's worth pointing out that in actual fact Ultimate Carnage has everything from FlatOut 2...but more, including support for the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel.
Forgoing the idea of naming the game "FlatOut [add an ever incremental number here]" with the "Ultimate Carnage" tagline, BugBear is pretty much nailing its intentions for the title: to cause chaos and carnage throughout the tracks and environments. There are two key reasons behind why this instalment will be the most mayhem-filled edition of the franchise to date. First of all are the four extra competitors in a race; twelve cars can now smash their way through the various routes of the game, cranking up the chaos like a rolling demolition derby. Secondly is the boost to the number of objects that can be scattered to through the course of a race (from 5,000 to 8,000 objects). The inevitable chaos that ensues is, well...chaotic.
Besides the Time-Trial, Career, and Stunt Challenge modes that are a legacy from the previous instalments, Ultimate Carnage will also feature a new addition in the form of the Carnage mode for offline gameplay, and several new gametypes for multiplayer racing on Xbox Live. Much more arcade-like in structure compared to the more hardcore Career mode, Carnage sees players complete up to 36 events that unlock as they accumulate points along the way. A mix of races, stunts, demolition derbies, and the checkpoint-based 'Beat the Bomb', Carnage mode is essentially an extended tournament, which will also track a player's performance with Leaderboards over Xbox Live.
During the course of the demonstration, BugBear and Empire maintained that one of the key focuses for Ultimate Carnage will be online gameplay. Besides standard races, stunts will be available to play over Xbox Live with BugBear changing the structure, allowing for faster simultaneous gameplay compared to the slower turn-based structure in FlatOut 2. Mini-tournaments will also be available for players to set up, throwing in their own mix of stunts and races. Limiting gameplay to eight players (the decision has been made due to concerns of lag and long waits in lobbies), FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage on Xbox Live will feature gametypes unavailable in the single-player mode, like Hunter Derby and Head-On.
Whilst the first is described as a vehicular version of Cops 'n' Robbers, where predator cars race after prey cars with the roles reversing when a tag is made, it's the Head-On gametypes that sounds like it's going to stick closer to the Ultimate Carnage name. The idea is that the cars will spin around 180 degrees after completing a lap, taking them on a direct course against the rest of the field - you can already imagine the carnage that this is going to cause. It all sounds like a lot of fun, but as the game isn't available on Xbox Live or its debug equivalent PartnerNet we weren't able to take the new modes for a ride...
Picking an end of June release may prove to be a shrewd decision by Empire Interactive, with the run up to the holiday season already looking more congested than a motorway at rush hour. Coming at the beginning of the summer doldrums, FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage may prove to offer the sort of instant gratification needed by players as they stoke up a barbeque on a hot day - though the end of May demo will get Xbox 360 gamers in the mood.
gfh-77
Date Added:Sat 16th Feb 2008 08:28
Anonymous
Date Added:Wed 4th Jul 2007 16:27
Anonymous
Date Added:Wed 4th Jul 2007 15:32
Anonymous
Date Added:Fri 29th Jun 2007 22:21
Anonymous
Date Added:Fri 29th Jun 2007 00:23
Anonymous
Date Added:Wed 27th Jun 2007 22:52
GRANTblade
Date Added:Wed 27th Jun 2007 20:53
The derby mode is so fun it is all out derby war the best desrtruction derby on a game ever!!!
Ant the widy loved stunt mod is back andbetter than before!!!
7/10 more like 9/10 cant give it 10 because of ga... [ Read full comment... ]
Anonymous
Date Added:Wed 27th Jun 2007 19:02
Anonymous
Date Added:Wed 27th Jun 2007 12:37