Like an orphan with his nose pressed against the glass of a cake shop, you salivate at the array of upgrades laid out temptingly in the garage, locked. Even at this stage you can see that plenty of effort’s gone into lifting Flatout away from the mediocre. You get cash for placing well in races and completing challenges.

Little is available when you first wander 'round the garage, and if you bet the farm on your initial car purchase, you’re not going to be able to buy anything. There’s a Tuning section, which consists of buying parts for your car’s engine, drive train, exhaust, suspension, tires (sic) and body, obviously with a view to increasing horsepower and efficiency. You construct a profile, pick a male or female driver, get $4,000 and a take your pick of a selection of five cars of various weights and power. Just like a man who’s just been thrown through a car window at 70MPH, we’re a little stunned, and our noses mysteriously resemble Steve Bruce's after a brawl.įrom the off it looks rounded. It may as well have been a different game on the disc. The bets remained firmly on it being a bit rubbish. “Good fun,” we added through gritted teeth trying to be positive as the physics engine threw us into another lake, perfectly aligned with the arc of the joypad's flights across the room in fury. And so it was with Flatout, the physics-heavy mud-racer developed by the team behind Rally Trophy, Finnish perfectionists Bugbear Entertainment. “Won’t succeed if these issues aren’t addressed,” we say. Half the time you’ll find the preview disc is merely limited finished code, or is so obviously indicative of the final game that the sighs and depressing inevitability accompany the writing of the preview. It’s rare that a game picks up heavily from preview to review code.

Code for flatout 2