FLASHOUT 3 Review

FLASHOUT 3 is a futuristic vehicular combat racing game akin to WipeOut. You get to ride in fast hovering ships around race tracks. You can attack your fellow racers with your ship’s weapon, but as expected, you can also be the target of enemy fire. Once your ship’s health meter is depleted, you go BOOM and respawn a few seconds later.

Unlike typical car racing games, controlling your hovering vehicle is slightly more complex. While you do have the traditional thrust and brake triggers (obviously), when going this fast, you’ll need to use your left and right airbrake in order to make certain sharp turns instead of braking as the latter might result in your ship colliding with the track borders.

The game does have a few modes. You can jump into the lengthy Campaign/Career mode, do a single race in order to get a feel of the game (highly recommended), or play with friends locally in split-screen; either vertically or horizontally. Each of the selectable ships has three types of weaponry such as machine guns and rockets. You won’t be able to spam your attacks as each attack require a cooldown/reload time.

Each cup of the career will feature different challenges/types of events. Aside from typical races, players will be able to jump into Elimination, Time Trial, and Destruction; among others. It makes each cup unique with its own layer of challenge. It also keeps players on their toes as they’ll need to adjust their play style; while a simple race will have you aim for first place, Destruction will make you use your attacks strategically in order to eliminate as many opponents as possible.

As you progress and conquer each cup of Campaign mode, you’ll be able to unlock new ships and weapons. The game is also very fair in the sense that you’re always rewarded with points even when finishing outside the top three positions. What makes this game feel fair is the weapons: after you blow up and respawn, attacking enemy ships will either slow them down to destroy them giving you a fair shot to climb back up the ranks.

The game looks great. Each track is uniquely designed and the environments will vary quite reasonably often to provide a decent variety, aside in cases where the event features one of the tracks but in reverse. There’s also a surprisingly decent variety of ships each uniquely designed. Some may look alike, but the differences are in the details. The soundtrack is an addictive EDM score that will keep your feet tapping as you zig-zag through the various events.

Unlike other racing games, simulators, or arcade style, these combat ship racers often require a bit of practice in order to get a proper feel for the rides. While not as intense as Redout 2, there’s still a slight difficulty curve, but it’s manageable. While you may struggle in your first race, you’ll get a hang of things by the second event.

FLASHOUT 3 is definitely one of the best racing games I’ve had the chance to play. There’s really nothing inherently wrong with this game aside from a typical learning curve that can easily be stomped after a few races. The gameplay is addictive; once you familiarize yourself with the controls, you won’t be able to put it down. Also being able to unlock new ships and weapons makes for decent replay value, it also features a banging soundtrack and decent gameplay variety. If you’re looking for something different in terms of racing games or you’re craving vehicular combat, FLASHOUT 3 is definitely worth your time and money.