Over the last few years I've collected dozens of free games from various online stores, most of which I've yet to even try. I think it's time I at least acknowledged their generosity.
I'm getting seriously behind on these freebies, so I've decided to start grouping them together to get through them faster. This week: a trio of totally unrelated racing games that I've been collecting for a while.
Flatout
- Play time: 6h 41m
- Released November 2004
Flatout feels a bit like if Burnout had a hillbilly cousin. It has the same atmosphere of high speed destruction and drifting, but is deliberately far scruffier and rougher around the edges. It's also deliberately aware that it's a videogame - every crash sends my driver flying through the windscreen (wearing no protective gear other than jeans and a leather jacket), only to reset and continue a moment later. This mechanic works to good effect in minigames where I must launch my hapless avatar in events like long jump, high jump, bowling and darts. Brash, loud, silly, and quite fun.
Dakar Desert Rally
- Play time: 16m
- Released October 2022
This one does not run well on my PC. It's sluggish from the outset, but turning all the graphics settings from High to Low makes it both look worse and run slower. Turning everything to Medium works better, but the controls are super twitchy and the whole thing crashes to the desktop with frequency. Otherwise the idea of semi-unrestricted racing across desert terrain appealed immensely. A pity.
Art of Rally
- Play time: 34m
- Released September 2020
Art of Rally starts with a free roam area where I can explore and find collectables in a pleasant and consequence-free environment. I take to it with ease, learning how the car handles for a while until I am ready to tackle a real rally. I tweak my graphics settings and begin. Suddenly everything is different - my graphics choices seem to have slowed the game rather than improve it, and my car now takes damage and time penalties occur for bad crashes.
Despite this I finish first in the stage, a fast and twisting route through blossom tree filled Japan. Buoyed by my success I press into the second, a return journey along the same route, where my overconfidence leads to several hairy moments but results in an overall win. I am delighted and determine to pursue my rally career further at a later date. Recommended.
Bonus: Absolute Drift Zen Edition
- Play time: 6h 11m
- Released July 2015
I've been playing this one on and off for a few years and recently fired it up to discover I was a gnat's wing from completing it, despite being generally terrible at drifting. It turns out that the movies lied to us - making a car go sideways with consistency is quite difficult - but between the wonderfully stark visuals and spot-on soundtrack I can't fault it. It's also a sort-of prequel to Art of Rally, sharing many familiar traits.
