Unlike its predecessors FlatOut 3 was universally panned by video-game critics. It is only the second game in the 18 year history of Edge to receive a score of one out of ten (Kabuki Warriors was the first.).
Eurogamer also gave it a one out of ten score and criticised all aspects of the game;
especially the controls and the AI. It also lamented the fall from
grace of the Flatout series as a whole and summed up the review by
saying "You could go mad trying to rationalise Flatout 3. It is not bad in the way that a game
like Boiling Point is bad, where things coalesce into a kind of awful
greatness. This is a tacky and technically incompetent production with
no redeeming features whatsoever, devoid of fun and an insult to the
name it bears. Flatout once burned bright, but now is gone - and if
there is a driving hell, this is surely it."
Gamesmaster also rated the game as one out of ten and said "Some games are so bad they're good (for a laugh, at least). FlatOut 3 is just plain bad."
Gamespot gave the game its highest score by rating it as five out of ten, praising the Demolition mode and the wide range of game modes, but like in other reviews the AI, controls and the bad collision detection were criticised.
Minimum:
Operating system:Windows® XP
Processor: Intel® 2 GHz dual core CPU
Memory: 2 GB
Video: Nvidia GeForce 8600+ / AMD Radeon HD X2600+
Internet:Broadband Internet Connection
DirectX®: DirectX® 9.0c
Hard disk space: 16 GB
Sound: DirectX® compatible Onboard Soundcard
Supported Input Devices: Keyboard, Joystick, XBox Controller, Gamepad, Microsoft Controller for Windows
Additional Notes: Also supports Razer Hydra.
Recommended:
Operating system:Windows® 7
Processor: Intel® Quadcore
Memory: 4 GB
Video: Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 / AMD Radeon HD 6970
Internet:Broadband Internet Connection
DirectX®: DirectX® 9.0c
Hard disk space: 20 GB
Sound: DirectX® compatible Soundcard