The key phrase here is old school. If you enjoyed (nevermind if you grew up) with the OGs of the FlatOut, Grand Theft Auto and Need for Speed franchises, you will find TRAIL OUT to be the perfect homage and spiritual successor to the arcade, destructive racers of the early 2000s. Especially FlatOut, yet the meme game is also strong in this title.

In a rare case of a racing experience where the story is so over-the-top, you may almost regard it as comedic exploitation, Trail Out is everything Fast & Furious Crossroads failed to be in the end. And you still have to keep in mind that it’s a Steam debut for its dev team, GOOD BOYS (they sure love uppercase spelling). Publisher Crytivo’s first foray into the racing genre as well. Hitting the ground running and then some!

You won’t be greeted by a ham-fisted attempt at gritty storytelling, yet the narrative influences of “NFS Underground 2” and “Most Wanted” are quite obvious. There’s a revenge tale, a blacklist of racers you need to defeat and claim their prized cars. Last but not least, there’s plenty of vehicle customization minus garish neons.

A talkative protagonist supported by an equally funny cast of minor characters. They are caricatures of various movies and aforementioned games, yet they manage to provide this title with exactly the sort of comic relief one might require after a prolonged racing session.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2860861578

It’s not the most original script out there, but it will steal a few belly laughs from you regardless of novelty. I am fully aware of the wartime circumstances surrounding Eastern Europe in September 2022 and there are almost no political undertones in Trail Out. In fact, it’s got several love letters to Soviet engineering as well as a Pan-Slavic, unity of sorts.

Players shall assume the role of a Belarusian stunt driver which goes by the (stage) name of Mihalych. His recent brush with death has only made him thrist for more petrolhead adventures, in a strange twist of fate precisely as a new derby festival is about to commence.

The titular Trail Out spans across several continents and features a well diversified range of vehicles, from 16-wheelers to golf carts. In order for Mihalych to gain the top spot on a blacklist of pro derby drivers, he must gain and grow a sizeable social media following.

Winning lower stake races first and foremost shall pave the way towards the “boss battles” with the blacklist contenders. Our hero can depend upon his loyal canine friend and on Zhenka, a buff mechanic with a gas mask attached at all times. Something tells me there’s lots of vodka involved in this “creative process”. Thirsty work, being a stunt driver and social media influencer at the same time!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2861872496

Unreal Engine 4 powers Trail Out without any noticeable issues. The performance was up to snuff, though I couldn’t tell if switching back and forth between DX11 and DX12 had any palpable differences in terms of increased frame rate. Stability is well implied, I met no crashes or glitches either.

You might want to run the game in DirectX 12 if you have a GPU capable of ray tracing. I don’t and frankly, if I were to choose between RTX and an extra boost of 15-20 fps, I’d go with the latter option every single time. Alas, I still consider it a step forward when indie games are starting to adopt cutting edge technology once reserved to AAA fat cat titles.

There isn’t a Photo Mode in Trail Out per se, yet that won’t stop you from easily disabling the entire HUD in the Options Menu and then to capture as many proper screenshots to your heart’s content. Precisely what I did. The lack of video replays is something I had to highlight here since the classic FlatOuts stood out in that regard, by allowing players to relax and enjoy the mayhem they had unleashed minutes prior to a race’s conclusion.

The dialogue is literally so bad that it’s good. Subtitles aren’t corresponding to what the characters are saying in 50% of cases, but that’s an integral part of the B-movie overall feel in Trail Out. Fondly reminded me of the first Planet Alcatraz (still waiting for a shoddy English dub of its sequel) and how much was lost in translation from the original Russian script.

“Engrish” has its charm, it adds another layer of involuntary humour. The soundtrack truly shines, as expected from a self-respecting arcade racer. It could probably be an entire ONLAP album crammed alongside some other illustrious unknowns in dire need of exposure. Alternative rock also suited FlatOut like a glove.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2861872531

You came for the story, you stayed for the racing. Or the other way around. As it happens, Trail Out’s core gameplay mechanics can stand their own ground just fine, yet the proverbial glue holding it all together is still composed of memes aplenty. From the funny supporting cast, to their whimsical replies, you will notice nods to relatively recent pop culture events, mostly relating to gaming.

It’s helping break the monotony of restarting races one too many times. You will be doing that often, in order to memorize the tracks and achieve a higher podium ranking. It directly correlates to your two in-game currencies: cash and fans. No lootboxes in sight, have no worries. It’s all good, harmless fun as far as the in-game griding’s concerned. The mock FestApp is social media satire at its finest.

Ragdoll physics involving hapless drivers ejected through their cars’ windshields play out in a myriad of arcade mini-games, such as oversized bowling (Cousin Roman says “Hi!”) and darts. It’s all merry japes until you jump into the more gritty game modes such as Hunter and Escape.

In the former you’re going in for the kill in veritable vehicular combat while the latter involves high speed chases in which the hunter becomes the prey of highly accurate air-to-surface missiles. Complementing such wacky challenges, you’ll find more conventional ones involving urban sprints, off-roading with obstacles or the classic destruction derbies which represent their own flavour of strategy.

Simulated damage for the cars themselves may not be on par with BeamNG.drive, yet the highly destructible environments will compensate in that regard. I'd say you have plenty of replay value, since you can't keep or unlock too many cars at the same time.

Along with Wreckfest, I am glad to report that Trail Out is worthy of carrying the FlatOut torch for new generations of gamers, eager for the digital chaos no Forza or Gran Turismo could hope to offer. Trail Out shines by virtue of allowing the Trabant a winning chance against juiced-up muscle cars. Soviet-era jalopies, unite!

+ Steam Achievements.
+ Humorous bordering parody.
+ Beautiful graphics & soundtrack.
+ Replay value through customization.

- No Steam Trading Cards.
- No Video Replays.

This article was submitted for Imperial Reviews. Following my Curator Page, will help me keep publishing new reviews as soon as I can. Thank you for your support!