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The first FlatOut is coincidentally also my entry point in this franchise of explosive muscle car racing goodness. At the time of writing this review it is also the only game in the franchise that I have played. And as a first game.. it was pretty good. I had a blast playing through this with many fun moments, especially making the lives of my enemy a living hell by driving them into trees or other obstacles. The drifting took some getting used to (Ice Physics in a racing game wut), but overall I had no trouble beating the main campaign. I did however have personal issues, which mostly comes down to FlatOut being a bit inconsistent. This came down to but not limited to shortcuts. Sometimes I just moved slightly to the left of a track and was immediately branded as off-track, having to reset to an earlier point in the lap. On the other hand, sometimes I could just drive through trees far gone from the track but it happened to actually function as a shortcut. Due to that I was hesitant on trying out shortcuts because they would either be the greatest shortcut ever, or I would go off-track and perhaps even lose my chance of winning the race. Another inconsistent part if how your car would suddenly turn around or even be completely immobile after hitting an obstacle or debris. Debris usually spreads all over the road if you or an enemy drive into them, and they can be a pretty big hindrance to you. I had multiple times when I drove near or over them, just for my car to completely spin around and me having trouble getting back on speed. Both of the inconsistencies did lead to some frustration which is a shame, because other than that I really did have fun with the game. The bonus mode especially was a ton of fun to do, special credit going to the Destruction Derby-esque minigame. I wish there were slightly more modes, since one of the modes is a quick race which is just the regular campaign mode.. without the campaign. I would have liked a sandbox mode or anything because despite there technically only be 5 lands with a good amount of maps in them, they would be fun to drive around with without a worry in the world. Overall FlatOut was a fun game to experience and definitely has me interested in the other FlatOut games. The original FlatOut does show its age, but if future games do improve on my issues, I'm in for a fun ride!
7/10
