FlatOut 4: Total Insanity

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 32
  3. Negative: 4 out of 32
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  1. GameGrin
    Apr 3, 2017
    85
    FlatOut 4 is a well-made and well-presented racing game that does a lot to escape the level of 'mediocre' that falls among other racers. With modes like beer pong, survival and time trail to choose from, FlatOut 4 is a great experience from start to finish.
  2. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    May 29, 2017
    80
    Look past the scruffy visuals, because Flatout 4's penchant for vehicular violence means it passes its madcap MDT. [May 2017, p.92]
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  3. GameOver.gr
    Apr 14, 2017
    80
    As its name implies this is an insane arcade racer that offers a kind of gameplay not so common these days. Flatout 4 is fun, crazy and enjoyable, albeit a bit repetitive in areas.
  5. PlayStation Universe
    Mar 17, 2017
    80
    For fans of FlatOut your patience has been rewarded; the series has reached its zenith at a time when nobody expected it to resurge, let alone do so with such brutal conviction. For the rest of you, FlatOut 4 is the perfect antithesis of all those sensible racers out there; a real, rough around the edges prospect that demands your attention.
  6. 4P.de
    Mar 24, 2017
    78
    Flatout 4 is back on track. It takes a while to get into, but once you’re hooked to this arcade racer, you’ll look past its loose controls and the AI flaws.
  7. Impulsegamer
    Mar 27, 2017
    76
    Worth a look if you enjoy the idea of racing but find it can be a bit boring… throw in some explosions and falling buildings and it may just keep you going.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 59 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 59
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 59
  3. Negative: 18 out of 59
  1. Furiousmike
    Aug 16, 2017
    1
    Flatout 4 doesn't live up to the glorious Flatout 2!

    If you are one of those who had tons of fun playing previous entries of this series, I    Flatout 4 doesn't live up to the glorious Flatout 2!

    If you are one of those who had tons of fun playing previous entries of this series, I would suggest not to touch this one. I fired up my original xbox to be sure that I'm not just wearing nostalgia goggles. Flat out 2 is still the best one by far.

    In this title I found the cheapest AI in gaming history. Even worse than nfs undercover. I really didn't think that was even possible but here it is. It doesn't matter what you're driving or how well you drive. These opponents will pass you while driving the crappiest piece of **** in the game. Which leads us to the next problem. Usually the player will be the one who's driving the ****box clunker. That's because you have to go through hellish grindfest in order to have enough money for a better car. But that doesn't really matter because the ridiculous rubber band AI is giving you the finger no matter what.

    Destruction has been taken to a whole another level. Half the time you can't even see where you are supposed to go. There's just too much **** on the screen and too many opponents on the track at once. It's funny though. This chaos provided those rare moments of fun I had with this game. No guts, no glory! Pedal to the medal and hope for the best! Yeah.. that was fun. For a few seconds.

    The mini games from flatout 2 are back. Here you will fling your driver through your cars windscreen and use the poor fellow as a game medium to play high jump, beerpong or some other games like that. They are stupid and not fun at all, just annoying. In Flatout 4 you have to play them if you want to unlock any of the better cars. This happens by completing challenges in flatout mode. You have to complete ridiculously hard mini games and racing challenges. My "favorite" is a death match. In this challenge you will drive the crappiest cars in the game and try to demolish your opponents in an arena. Problem is you can't hit anything and even if you do, you just end up wrecking your own car. You get unlimited respawns though. Some times the opponents won't take any damage no matter how hard you ram them. it took me 4 hours to complete one of these.

    Fun moments in Flatout 4 are sparse. Even as a fan I wasn't able to enjoy the game much. The AI characters were obviously created by a 4 year old. Antonia Fool, a girl with a clown paint on her face. WTF!? It's a no-brainer, this game absolutely needs a local multiplayer option but it's not present. Why? I just can't figure it out. It makes me furious because local multiplayer should be an obvious feature in any racing game. Good soundtrack is not enough to save this totally vulgar pile of Scuzzlebuts excrement.

    After playing enough to do a review my eyes started to wonder. I was looking at my copy of flatout 2 in my game shelf. I ejected flat out 4 disc from my ps4 and threw it cross the room and out of the window. I couldn't believe I had wasted big pile of money to another ****ty game. I popped flatout 2 in my xbox. I played couple of races and suddenly all was well. I wasn't angry anymore, I was smiling. I was having fun. This is how you make a good arcade racer!

    Conclusion:
    Graphics: nothing special
    Game play: inconsistent, winning is matter of luck not skill.
    Ai: rubber band crap, unfair challenge
    Multiplayer: Only online, no local multiplayer. (This is automatic -5 from me in racing games)
    Soundtrack: Best thing about this game. Reminds me of times when racing games had awesome soundtracks every time. Many games today lack in this department.

    A solid score of 1 from me. I'm harsh but I'm fair. Score would be 6 with local multiplayer option. Even bad games become fun when you play with your friends in the same room.    … Full Review »
  2. SuperkenGaming
    May 5, 2017
    6
    FlatOut 4: Total Insanity
    Fun Racer with no balance
    Flatout 4 is an arcade racer that’s fun to play, with great track design, but broken    FlatOut 4: Total Insanity
    Fun Racer with no balance
    Flatout 4 is an arcade racer that’s fun to play, with great track design, but broken rules and broken multiplayer…
    There’s a career mode here where you take place in racing cups, speed trials, and arena battles…
    Winning races and destroying opponents will earn you cash to buy better cars or upgrade your current car…
    The only problem is the payout is far too low…
    A low payout mixed with unbalanced rules makes getting through this career mode a drag…
    There is way too much emphasis on the total insanity aspect of this game…
    There’s a derby cup, classic, and all-star, but the rules remain the same unbalanced mess…
    You aren’t rewarded for being a flawless driver like let’s be honest.. I am of course…
    jokes... a little... I do have my moments…
    But there is a nitro boost to help you in races…
    The thing is that sure you get a little from jumps and sharp turns… but you only really get nitro for ramming into other cars..
    because of this enemy ai is extremely aggressive, constantly spinning you out…
    doesn’t sound like a big deal until you realize that being out in front means there’s no one for you to hit.. There’s no way to fill up your nitro...
    you aren’t rewarded for maintaining certain speeds or dodging obstacles…
    because of this you have everything to lose by holding the top spot…
    it’s way too easy at the last moment for an opponent that’s been ramming into cars all race to use it nitro to catch up to you and then spin you out… forcing you to reset your car and be placed in the middle or near the end of the pack when you were in first place…
    this unbalance makes the racing segments of the game feel unfair..
    Sure coming out on top against all odds is thrilling...
    but being first the whole time and then losing because there is no nitro reward for you makes the game feel cheap, and ultimately makes winning feel like you got lucky…
    this of course could be balanced out by high payouts for wins and damage.. But you don’t get that… the payouts are low so you can’t just go buy a better car... you’re stuck with playing the same tracks over and over until you can afford one…
    The tracks are well designed and fun to play through though.. easily the best part of the game…
    Outside of the grindy career there’s flatout mode which features stunt tracks where you try to nock items down for example for the most possible points, beat the bomb which is a race the clock checkpoint style challenge, carnage where you destroy as many items and cars as possible, and finally death match which like the arena modes in the career is a demolition derby style game, expect here you have infinite lives trying to get the most kills, while in the career its more last man standing…
    and finally there’s multiplayer..
    Which is completely broken...
    I’d tell you how it plays but for 1 it’s a ghost town, no one’s playing it, and for 2 the game would crash every single time the match start counter got to 0, so don’t plan on buying this game for its online…
    The negatives of this game could be overlooked if the payout killed the grind…
    But unfortunately that isn’t the case… this game is an imbalanced grind that you’ll lose patience for…
    I give Flat-out 4: Total Insanity
    a 6.5/10    … Full Review »
  3. Harbey
    Mar 18, 2017
    8
    It's Flatout, and if you like any of the previous Flatouts, you'll like this. Unfortunately, it is just like the previous version which isIt's Flatout, and if you like any of the previous Flatouts, you'll like this. Unfortunately, it is just like the previous version which is great in some ways, but could be seen a missed opportunity. It's still great fun though and one of the best arcade racers out there - especially if you like crashes (and who doesn't?). Would certainly recommend, especially as it will no doubt be in the bargain bucket within a few weeks due to the terrible job they've done of not marketing it.… Full Review »
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