The racing physics of Ultimate Carnage are somewhat of a hybrid between arcade and simulation handling. Though definitely not a true sim by any measure, the vehicles react differently to varying driving surfaces and offer the mass and inertia calculations missing from arcade style racers. The handing of your vehicle will be affected by damage inflicted upon it, however this feature can be disabled in custom races and by Xbox Live hosts.
Flatout UC supports Microsoft’s racing wheel and offers robust force feedback. While wheel owners are generally at an advantage in most driving games, I did not find this to be the case with Ultimate Carnage. Users of the standard Xbox 360 controller seem to be on level footing with Flatout’s setup that has all the required sensitivity, without being overly sensitive. Pulling back on the Right Thumbstick allows the gamer to look behind, but there is no ability to use the stick to look left and right. I would have preferred the “look back” feature to be mapped to a face button in this case.
The Xbox 360 has a lot of graphical rendering power under the hood, and Flatout UC puts the pedal to the metal by delivering some of the smoothest and most detailed graphics to be found in a racer. The vehicles are modeled well and feature fantastic damage systems. Hoods and doors show damage as they take punishment, until finally breaking loose of the vehicle and becoming an obstacle for other drivers. The gamer does not have the ability to customize the vehicle, save a handful of base paint colors, but not much is lost, as the cars look great as is. Even features such as the texture of the tires are done well.
Flatout UC offers a great variety of attractive landscapes ranging from farmland to city, desert to industrial. The first time you race down a dirt road with dust obscuring your vision of the road ahead, you’ll appreciate the work Bugbear put into making the environments as gorgeous and realistic as possible. The water effects are among the best I’ve seen in any game, down to the reflections, splashes and the rooster tails made by cars speeding through puddles and canals. The variety is fantastic, as some races will have you speeding by wheat fields, while the next race may have you taking shortcuts through airplane fuselages or crashing through shopping malls.
Ultimate Carnage features 5 different cameras, but no one camera works well in every situation. The two 3rd person chase cameras are good for demolition derby style races in which the driver needs to constantly turn and maneuver inside a bowl or arena, rather than follow a road. For race events, one of three first person cameras works best, including a “bumper cam”, a centered cockpit cam, and a second cockpit cam offset to the driver’s position. Each of the first person cameras has an advantage and a disadvantage. The cockpit cams give the gamer the most realistic sensation of driving, but your hood blowing up to the windshield, or smoke and fire from the engine compartment can obstruct the view. The bumper cam supplies an unobstructed view of the road, but you have no sense of how much damage your vehicle has taken, since there is no damage gauge for your vehicle (but there are gauges for your competition, go figure). Fortunately, the camera views can be quickly cycled with the X button. Flatout UC offers replays of your most recent race, but unlike many other games these days, you cannot edit or save your replays and screenshots.
The curse of most driving games is the inherent lack of variety in sound effects. Although Bugbear did a great job with making an inline 4-cylinder engine sound small and highly tuned V-8 engines sound big, one race will sound just about the same as the next. One way a racing game can set itself apart is with a great soundtrack, but unfortunately, Flatout UC does not make that leap. The soundtrack features a paltry 20 songs that are best left muted. There are no major acts; just a lot of 2nd rate bands trying to emulate a major act.
Overall Bugbear has delivered a great racer with the latest incarnation of the Flatout series. Ultimate Carnage makes excellent use of what the Xbox 360 has to offer including fantastic online play and superb graphics. If you like console racers and destroying cars and scenery, this title is worth a look. The fact that this game was released as a $50 bargain title, and has strong replay value, makes it a no-brainer.
