FlatOut is a Banger Racing series, using old scrap cars. Ultimate Carnage is an updated version of FlatOut 2. The soundtrack is good but features no big names unlike the original version. The original release was a much improved sequel featuring more cars, more tracks and more destruction.
The races take place in several different themed tracks; construction site, racing track, muddy forest, snow and rural town, aircraft graveyard, race track under construction.
Career mode is the usual affair. Select a basic car, then complete events to progress and earn cash. Finishing third place or above in each set of races awards you a trophy. The cash you earn can be used to purchase better cars or upgrade your current one. Upgrades can be quite subtle, especially in the lower classes. The upgrades modify your stats which can increase some aspects but can also decrease others. The upgrades can modify acceleration, speed, handling, weight, strength, and nitro. However, outside of this, there are no other customisation options to modify colours/decals etc.
There's also optional 'bonus' events that are unlocked as you progress through the career. There's many destruction derby events, Time Trials, and more.
There's a separate carnage mode, which contains many variants on challenges involving launching your driver out of the window; high-jump, long jump, dart board, bowling etc. These mini-games didn't take my interest, but others will find them entertaining to see their driver flail about using the games' rag-doll physics.
The amount of destruction within the game is extremely impressive. The parts of the car deform and break apart as you experience collisions. Similarly, there's plenty on the track that is destructible such as large wooden signs, stacks of tyres, barriers and other constructs. On subsequent laps, the debris will remain which sometimes can be a problem if your car bounces off it. Smaller objects are usually fine.
FlatOut's racing model awards you boost for causing destruction which can be a nice reward. It's risk vs reward though because crashing slows you down, secondly, you may end up being nudged into an unfavourable direction and have to slow down/turn around. Worst of all, your car may get lodged on the items and have to trigger the respawn. Crashing into opponents inconsistently awards you; since it's mainly direct hits that count, but slightly nudging them into other cars or walls may do way more damage, but you won't get the nitro reward for it. Therefore it can be best just to focus on racing.
Another welcome feature is that at the end of the race, there are awards for who caused the most destruction to players, to the environment, who achieved the fastest lap and more. Major crashes can cause your driver to be launched out of the windscreen although this is less frequent than the previous game. The opponents will happily plough into each other, and it seems a frequent occurrence that at least 1 driver won't finish due to being completely wrecked.
I found the difficulty much more consistent in this game. This was a huge problem in the first game as you never really knew what you were up against and sometimes no matter how well you were driving, you would struggle to win. It is pleasing to see opponents make mistakes or attempt to ram each other which can go nicely in your favour. Other games seem to rely on rubber-banding to keep things even, but it seems FlatOut has a more random approach. The drivers are quite recognisable due to driving distinctive cars and their name and avatar displayed on the screen when they are close by. This helps/encourages you to maintain rivalries with them.
When you find yourself in an unfavourable position, like facing the wrong way, it's a good idea to trigger the manual respawn to reset your car. This either keeps you roughly in the same position but it can also take you back a few seconds. On the plus side, it does make you invulnerable for a few seconds which stops other people ploughing straight into you.
I loved the theme of using old run-down cars and I always enjoy off-road style racing, so FlatOut really appealed to me. There's much more content compared to the first game, and the higher emphasis on destruction suits the games' style.