I’ll be brutally honest, I’ve been putting off trying out Flatout: Head On for one very poor reason, with the re-release of Final Fantasy 4 every time I reached over to pick up a portable system instead of reaching for the PSP to do some work, I’d pick up the DS to play some FF. Eventually however, I buckled down and got to work and boy did I not realize what I was missing! When I first try a game I like to watch the entire introduction video before pushing start because I feel an intro should get you excited to play and show you what kind of game it is. Flatout did this fantastically as I watched cars crashing left and right and brilliantly detailed explosions occur, granted these were not the in-game graphics, but boy howdy how it got me excited!

Flatout: Head On is the latest of the Flatout series. Published by Empire Interactive and developed by Six By Nine and Bugbear Entertainment, this battle infused racer was released for PSP portable rampaging on March 11th 2008. Based on the bestselling Flatout Ultimate Carnage, Head On takes the same qualities and expands upon them, while making it a portable experience for anyone to enjoy on the go.

While Head On’s graphics did not really impress me (I was a little jaded playing the game to find out that the graphics in the opening sequence weren’t actually what we see while playing), I would be the first to admit that they are great graphics, especially for the PSP. That being said, they are not the best I’ve seen on the system. The physics used within the game are as realistic as you can get while driving 150 kilometres per hour, things like hitting other cars or signs feel pretty realistic from a physics point of view and satisfying from a sadistic point of view, all adding to the general feel of the game, crush or be crushed. Car dents, fire, and explosions all look fairly decent as well; not amazing, but pretty good considering this is a portable title after all. Best of all, with eight cars racing, things exploding all around you and high speed crashing going on all the time, I don’t think I ever noticed a single hint of slowdown, and if I did, it was so small it’s not even worth mentioning. With detail being the only casualty of all this goodness, I am willing to lose texture beauty for physics and carnage.

Now, about your ears… I’m not sure who decided on the sound track for Flatout, but not giving players the option of manipulating the music, or better yet, allowing them to play their own soundtrack using a memory stick was downright mean. The music was alright, generic emo-rock or hard-rock with soul, whatever you want to call it, but aside from the music you’re given at the beginning of each song, you have no control over it. The sound effects were pretty nice, from tires screeching to explosions and people screaming, Flatout makes the best use of those tiny PSP speakers, even more if you have some decent headphones.

Control, I feel, is where this title was the weakest. Basic driving controls such as X for gas, Circle for hand brake, Square for brake/reverse, and left shoulder for rear view are all included. With Flatout Head On, you are also given a couple of other neat tricks, the Triangle button resets your car in case you flip or go off course (a button I use much too often) and right shoulder shoots your nitro, which you build up by smashing cars, blowing objects to smithereens, and getting high air. You can also control your car with the analog nub or the D-pad. For challenges in which you launch your driver into the air, you hold down the right shoulder button to get altitude and release at your leisure, then you can create acrobatic moves using the D-pad to move the ragdoll a little (at a price of speed and height) and give them a one time nudge by pressing the right shoulder button again. The issue I have with the controls are when steering narrow passages become common, the steering, thanks to the realistic physics engine being used in this game are just too… real! In an unrealistic arcade racer I enjoy unrealistically easy steering, or at least an option to choose my type of steering (or transmission for that matter).

This game will keep you busy for a while, with a large number of racing styles, you can play career mode, in which you compete in a number of championship tournaments to become the best racer out there. Within career mode you are given three distinct car styles to choose from, derby, racing, and street, with each type having tougher races and more advanced cars. Earn money by competing in and winning races earn even more money by destroying your competition in both races and demolition derbies, utilize your nitro to make an even larger dent in your opponent’s doors. Players can also utilize Carnage mode in which you perform amazing crashes in 36 quick play challenges. Within these 36 Carnage challenges, there are specific events such as Death match Derby, Beat the Bomb, Ragdoll events and more. My personal favourite are the Ragdoll events in which you catapult your driver through the windshield of your car to do specific tasks like get the highest altitude and stick to a net, or try to bowl a strike in bowling minigames. With 40 cars to choose from, complete with customization of both paint and mechanics, as well as 40 tracks to play on, you won’t run out of things to do in this title any time soon. Up to 8 players race or crash in each event in single player mode, and with multiplayer wireless racing, mini games, and tournaments, up to four drivers can compete for smack talking rights.

Graphics: 3.5 / 5.0
Gameplay 3.5 / 5.0
Sound 2.5 / 5.0
Replay value 4.0 / 5.0






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