News FlatOut developer BugBear teases new demolition derby project

Finnish developer BugBear Entertainment, the former team behind the fabled FlatOut franchise and the recent Ridge Racer: Unbounded, has teased a new upcoming demolition derby project that is said to "go back to their roots."

The project is currently known as working title "Next Car Game" for now, but a new website contains a teaser trailer that is highly reminisant of BugBear's original multi-million selling FlatOut series. Intriguingly, it's been confirmed that the game will be released on PC and "yet to be announced platforms", so we could be looking at a possible next generation title. 

Comprised entirely from work in progress in-game footage, the destructive trailer showcases the project's physics and dynamic damage modelling, although it doesn't seem to have evolved too drastically since the last FlatOut game.

There's still a decent amount of debris in the impacts, but there once again seems to be an overuse of panels detaching from the car. Yes, it's in keeping with the fun OTT destructive nature of FlatOut, but I would like to see some realistic dynamic deformation on the bodywork – particularly when we've seen what CryEngine 3 can achieve when it comes to damage modelling with its revolutionary 'soft-body physics'. Future developers, please take note.

Still, I'm pleased to see that BugBear has responded to fan feedback and gone back to the roots of a traditional banger racing game. Six years have passed since the release of FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage, which was technically a remake of FlatOut 2 rather than a true sequel, and the banger racing genre has been left to rust ever since – despite Codemasters' attempt to revitalise it with DiRT Showdown.

​Indeed, BugBear seem to share my sentiments in a post on their website: "Best known for our critically acclaimed, multi-million selling “FlatOut” series (FlatOut, FlatOut 2, FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage), team Bugbear is going to deliver the definitive demolition derby racing game. We're doing it because nobody else seems capable of delivering the kind of game our fans have been asking from us every week," it reads. "We feel that there hasn't been a proper demolition derby game in years. It's about time they got an answer."

While the project could certainly be passed off as a FlatOut sequel, the final game won't be an official entry in the series – think of it more as a spiritual successor.

Unfortunately, BugBear lost the rights to the FlatOut license after publisher Empire Interactive was closed. Strategy FIrst subsequently picked up the license and released the farcical FlatOut 3: Chaos & Destruction a couple of years ago, but.the least said about that game the better – you only have to count the glitches in the embarrassing promotional trailer to realise how catastrophically awful it is. It's a harrowing reminder of how a an established series can be written-off in the hands of an inexperienced developer.  

Since it won't be an official FlatOut game, it seems unlikely we'll see a return of the hilarious driver-throwing mini games that were a staple part of the original series, too. Demolition derbies are said to be the developer's main priority for Next Car Game, but races with at least 8 cars on-track will also feature. 

To me, Ridge Racer Unbounded was something of a misstep for BugBear. Their penchant for OTT destruction simply didn't belong in a Ridge Racer game, and the resulting driving physics and urban track design didn't quite gel. Having said that, the track editor was terrific and innovative, even if it felt as if it belonged in a better game – let's hope that BugBear expand it to the next level in Next Car Game.  

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