FlatOut, on the Xbox 360, was one of our favourite racing titles. Focusing not so much on the actual driving, so much as the fun of smashing a car into everything and anything in site, the games had a distinct sense of humour, which led to a manic multiplayer mode. Offering a selection of mini games, which involved driving down a course, before launching your driver through the windscreen at a variety of objects, be they bowling pins, or a giant dartboard, the game was a riot.
So when the game's publisher, Empire Interactive, unfortunately went bust in 2009, we felt more than a little deflated. Thankfully, however, the rights to FlatOut were quickly picked up by another publisher, Zoo Digital - who in turn, have now passed the FlatOut brand onto a new developer, who are looking to put their own stamp on the series.
Not much has been revealed about the new game yet, save for the four modes you'll be able to take part in.
Racing
A "standard" racing mode, in as much as you need to drive around a circuit in a car, competing with others to take first place, races in FlatOut are aggressive, fast paced, and as rough and ready as they come, as you jostle with the other competitors, pushing them into buildings while you drive off into the distance.
Trash
A new addition for the Wii, this game asks you to wreck your opponent's car with a variety of implements, from crowbars, to baseball bats - presumably by waggling your Wii Remote to smash your opponents cars into pieces. Whether you'll be doing this while driving or not remains to be seen - we can only imagine things may get a bit confusing if you are.
Arena
Taking destruction derby to a whole new level, the Arena is a veritable deathtrap. Loaded with ways to wreck your opponent's cars, such as flamethrowers, and 1000 tonne wrecking balls, this mode is as much about luring your opponents into traps as it is avoiding them yourself.
Stuntman
The aforementioned driver-launching mini game, although seemingly rather stripped down, Stuntman is all about launching your driver at the best angle possible, with the intention of breaking as many of his bones as possible.
If the description for the Stuntman mode is accurate, then you can colour us sceptical (a mild shade of green), as FlatOut used to be about so much more than just flinging your driver through a windscreen and "breaking his bones" - the sports themed mini-games each set you a unique objective, and were as challenging as they were hilarious.
Ever the optimists, however, we still hold out high hopes for this one. If you like your racing games to be fender bending, rough, and up close and personal, make sure you keep an eye out for this.
