The FlatOut series has been touted as the uncouth cousin of Burnout, and with good reason. The game offers breakneck speeds akin to Burnout; only across more off-road locales such as massive sewer lines, factory backroads, and partially constructed cattle paths, which contrasts starkly with Burnout’s slick cityscape. The third iteration in the series (FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage) is every bit the dirt-devil the last two were and more.
At a glance the game looks and feels like an identical twin of FlatOut 2 – you have the same tracks, similar cars, and many of the same race avatars. Spend just a little while with it though, and you will notice numerous little improvements that stack up to make it more impressive than the earlier two. For one, visual detail has moved a notch up, making the game far prettier in every way. The particle effects have received a massive overhaul, making everything from dirt and debris, to the heaps of disposed tires lining up corners around the tracks fly gloriously, enhancing the surreal grittiness of the game.
As before, the Derby racing mode is my favorite and this time it’s actually more fun than in FlatOut 2. While the mode was fun in the last game too, it didn’t feel all that easy and well-tuned, and I found myself replaying many of the tracks. Now the car control has received a fair amount of tweaking to make it far more responsive, and the overall difficulty level has been trimmed to make the game pleasurable rather than extremely challenging. I saw myself skim through most races without having to replay them, showing that the game’s difficulty level has hit the sweet spot (for me at least).
Apart from the standard Derby, Race and Street mode, a Carnage and Party mode are present, that consist of many of the old minigames (that were the pride of FlatOut 2), and more. If you wish to play the game like a quick in-and-out arcade game, the features that were in place in FlatOut 2 have been beefed up to allow you to do just that!
This game rox as did the flat out 2... 
