Flatout 4: Total Insanity First Impressions: Chaotic Arcade Racing Falls Short to Repetitive Gameplay Mechanics

Flatout 4: Total Insanity is a good party game. If you have friends, a sibling or a pet that can theoretically pick up a controller and start playing with you then by all means Flatout 4 is worth your time. However, if you are playing the game by yourself, then I would suggest renting or waiting for the price to drop even further down.

Developer Kylotonn does a good job on making a totally crazy arcade racing game. But the moment to moment to gameplay gets too boring too quick. There are loads of things to do in Flatout 4, you can play the career mode, play online, and even play ridiculous party games.

The party games happen to be the best part of the game as it keeps you entertained with its physic based mechanics. There are a couple of variations to the modes but essentially they play the same; you’ll have to drive down a ramp, drive through fire rings, etc to then eject your driver out of the car and land him or her in the designated area for the mode. These modes bring me back to the old school gameplay from the Monkey Ball titles where you would have to land in the middle of a platform to score the most, dodge bombs in the air, or try to land the furthest from the starting point.

This brings fun quality gameplay, however, like I said before make sure to play with someone or it’ll get boring just as the main game does. Now switching gears and getting to the main portion of the game, Kylotonn really did do a good job on making this game exactly on what he promises to be. It’s crazy and by all means totally insane. But gameplay falls short due to the repetitive nature of the game.

Career mode just has players completing races until they have enough in-game currency to unlock the next class. It’s a boring repetitive system that gets under your skin after a couple of unlocks. However, Kylotonn did manage to add a decent amount of variations. Maps, cars, and destructible items all keep players in high adrenaline.

But the adrenaline will quickly fade and you will be looking for something else to play. Racing games are always hard for longevity, but Flatout 4: Total Insanity does little to help fix that problem. It wants players to stay for the long grind and for most gamers, myself included, will quickly drift into something new.

Once the game goes to a $20 price tag, I could easily recommend the game then. It brings a decent amount of laughs if played with someone else, but the single player grind is asking too much of the player.

Flatout 4: Total Insanity is now available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.