FlatOut 2 – PS2 – Review

Is that car not going fast
enough for you? Fire up the nitro!  Did that object seem to appear out of
nowhere, blocking your path in a race that’s too close for comfort? Simply ram
right through it!

These are the ideas of
FlatOut 2, some of which are executed very well. The destruction derby arenas
have their own exclusive tracks – no racing, no shortcuts, just one basic
goal: survive. My first match was over in less than a minute. Cars immediately
started piling into me. Eight vehicles are allowed on the track at any given
time, including the vehicle the player controls. By the time I put my foot on
the gas I had to dodge an assault from seven other drivers. They made contact,
my life meter depleted, and that was the end of it. 

In time I learned various
evasion techniques to survive, including one I like to call "run like a
chicken."  If you make it out of the first assault (which generally
involves every vehicle in the match), keep on driving. Avoid contact with
others as much as possible. If you try to attack someone now, someone else
will come in from the rear. Before you can recover from the first collision,
another driver will strike from the side, followed by a pile-up that will
almost certainly lead to your demise.

But if you can avoid the
enemy – at least until you get good enough to enter the fray without dying
immediately – they’ll end up taking out each other. When the final car or two
is left, start plowing. The remaining vehicles should be weak enough now to
succumb to whatever you’re able to dish out.

FlatOut 2’s graphics are
another aspect that lives up to the high-speed, turbo-charged dream. The
courses look great, with dirt roads and city streets dressed in realistic
textures. Water reflects nicely but has no interactive depth. Touch it and the
liquid substance turns into a wavy mirror effect. Not too impressive.

Windows, on the other
hand, reflect very realistically. The depth and detail, and the slightly
blurry and distorted images are amazing. You’ll almost want to slow down to
take it all in, but instead should crash right through and watch what happens.
The glass shatters into hundreds of tiny pieces, instantly killing the
reflection. As you drive through what appears to be a department store, dozens
of items will get tossed around by your vehicle. It all happens so fast you
can’t be sure exactly what you just saw. Was that a shoe that just hit my
windshield? 

Vehicles get demolished
in a number of unique ways. That’s nothing new for gamers to get excited
about. If you play this game the same way every time, you definitely won’t get
excited. You’ll never realize just how varied the crashes are.

Why? Let’s take a moment
to examine the physics of most racing game crashes. Good or bad, the visual
effects are usually based on the severity of the crash. They are not, however,
always based on the type of the crash that occurred. In other words, as pretty
as the crash may be, the results might not be truly accurate.

That’s where FlatOut 2’s
visuals really excel. In the beginning they are not overly stunning,
especially when compared to Burnout 3 or 4. To see FlatOut 2’s best work,
start a race and crash. Yes, I am telling you to purposely ram into something.
Take a look at your vehicle’s damage. Note the dents, scratches, pieces
removed, etc. Think about the crash you just had – does the body damage
accurately represent the type of accident?

Now re-start the race,
and this time crash into something else. If you picked a wall before, crash
into a vehicle or the corner of a building. Now examine the beauty – or
rather, the damage: every flaw is going to be different and accurately
represent the accident that just took place. These crashes are not typically
as flashy or as exaggerated as you’ll see in other games. In terms of
collision detection, however, they are the most realistic crashes found in a
current-gen racing game. 

These elements are great.
They make FlatOut 2 a fun racer/destruction derby game that stands out in the
crowded racing market.

The area where FlatOut 2
comes up short is also the area that’s most heavily stressed: career mode.
Career mode is all about unlocking and buying new cars, and upgrading the ones
you have. The upgrades are pretty generic for the genre and are not that hard
to come by since races can be repeated for extra cash.

That will hardly matter
to most players. It’ll be the last thing on your mind when you start the
career mode only to learn that the cars you’re driving are literally out of
control. Steering barely improves after winning several races, purchasing new
vehicles and numerous upgrades. Avoiding obstacles at high speeds (which I’m
sad to say aren’t half as fast as the first Burnout, let alone the most recent
release) are next to impossible. Crashes are not satisfactory when they lead
to your opponents taking the lead.

Ultimately the career
mode – and any single race you participate in – leave a lot of speed to be
desired. The game wants desperately to be Burnout, and when it comes to crash
physics, it has Criterion’s baby beat. To be flat-out honest, however,
Criterion is still the king of entertainment value. And no amount of physics,
realistic or not, can change that area of a game – the area that matters most.

Gameplay: 7
If exciting,
destruction derby action is all you’re looking for, FlatOut 2 is out of this
world. The career mode, however, is lacking in every area that counts. If it
had attempted to do its own thing the game might have worked. But as a Burnout
clone, all I can think is that it’s not fast enough. Even if Burnout didn’t
exist, I can look back on any high-speed racer released in the last five
years. FlatOut 2’s sense of exhilaration can’t compare. Its lackluster
controls reinforce the problem, leaving players without a solid steering
option when they reach higher speeds. You crash. You lose your place in the
race. And now you have to start over, moving much too slowly to stay fully
amused.

Ragdoll mini-games are
another gameplay option, but they’re an acquired taste. You’ll either love
them or hate them. They’re somewhat funny, I’ll give it that. The goal is to
launch your driver through the windshield of your car. You then can direct
your driver (which is a human, mind you) through a basketball hoop, onto the
bull’s eye of a target, into a cluster of bowling pins – things like that.
Like the rest of the game, it gets old rather quickly.

Graphics: 8.5
Excellent visuals
on a current-gen console in a world where everyone is screaming, “Next-gen,
next-gen!”  Some the best effects the PS2 has to offer have been crammed
into this game, like reflective windows and accurate body damage that reflect
each type of collision.

Sound: 7
I have a
love/hate relationship with this soundtrack. Almost all the songs are great.
They are also old, and when great rock music has been out for a while, chances
are it’s already in my collection. Consequently, I’ve heard the majority of
these songs a zillion times. Hearing them a zillion more isn’t as exciting as,
say, a collection of brand-new, never-before-heard music from indie and
established recording artists. The latter can be found in most modern racing
games. But you won’t find much of that here.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Despite its stiff
steering mechanics, FlatOut 2 isn’t that difficult. If the controls were on
par with other, similar racing games, you could beat this one in less than a
day.

Concept: 6.5
More of the same.
More from the first game, and more from the genre’s best titles. Regardless of
what they say about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, copying a
straight-A student’s homework doesn’t guarantee that you too will score an A.

Multiplayer: 7
Not any more or
less exciting than the single-player races.

Overall: 7
FlatOut 2 could
be described as Burnout’s little brother. It’s not as cool or as mature, nor
does it have as many friends. In time the series could grow. When they’ve both
reached adulthood – who knows? Age won’t be as much of an issue then. Given
the right direction, FlatOut could one day compete, maybe even overtake, the
games that inspired its creation. But first it’s got a lot of growing up to
do.