FlatOut 2

"Flatout 2, the *Racing* Destruction game!"

Flatout 2, the *Racing* Destruction game!

INTRODUCTION
This is my first review of any game, for any website, period. After buying Flatout 2 and playing if for a few days, I came to GameFAQs to find out more about it. Here, I found the current reviews mildly helpful, but not really filled with the hands on information I've come to expect from a game review. So I decided to write my own. I hope this helps you decide whether or not Flatout 2 is worth your time and money to play.

OVERVIEW
Flatout 2 is a racing destruction game. I emphasis racing in my title because it is more a racing game with car destruction thrown in to make it more fun. Now, don't take that last statement as a fault in any way, the destruction portions of the game are superbly done and really do add to the game in a way that sets it head and shoulders above other racing games and other destruction games. With that said, to progress in career mode you must win races. The career mode has 3 classes starting with Derby, then Race, then Street. You can race the classes in any order, but the skill level required to compete in each class gets progressively higher as you ascend through the classes. Also, when you start the game from the beginning, you only have enough money to buy a Derby class car, so you must begin there.

Flatout 2 has a unique setup for it's racing which merits some extra attention. I've already explained there are three classes, in each of those classes there are three levels numbered 1 through 3, with 3 being the hardest. Within each level, there are two types of events, races and derby/stunt events. The races are a series of two through six races that are ran consecutively. The derby/stunt events are again split into three types. Destruction derbies, where you are put onto a closed field and smash each driver up in classic style until your car is destroyed or you're the last one left. Destruction races, where you run on a small track a number of laps where the track is designed for maximum driver vs. driver collision. Stunt events, where you fling you driver using the much toted "rag doll" physics into various targets with varied objectives.

To advance through career mode you must finish 3rd or better in each race series. As you finish each series, you unlock one of the derby/stunt events. These unlocked events are purely optional and do not need to be completed to get to 100% in that race class. Once you do reach 100% in each race class, you unlock a corresponding final's class race. Once you complete each final's class race you unlock the grand finale' race. Win the grand finale' race and you've completed career mode.

CONTROLS 9/10
This game handles very well. The controls are intuitive and responsive as much as a car's controls can be (see Physics below). You can opt to control your car with the dual analog sticks the PS2 is famous for, use the gamepad and buttons, or a combination of both. To truly steer through the multitude of obstacles the tracks will throw at you, you will most definitely need to use the left stick for steering, as it is much harder to nudge the steering using the gamepad. The accelerator and braking can be done with the right stick, or the X and square buttons respectively. Most of the time, using the buttons will be fine, but at the start of a race, to avoid spinning your tires, use the right stick to throttle about 60%. You will get a much faster start if done correctly. The nitro is on the top right shoulder button, and the handbrake is on the circle button. There are two alternate control setting, but neither offer a drastic alternative to the default controls. There is no option to put the accelerator and brake on the shoulder buttons, much to this reviewer's chagrin.

PHYSICS 10/10
The physics in this game are between realistic (see the Gran Turismo series) and arcade (see for Need for Speed Underground series). While the tracks are extremely clutters with all types of obstacles to crash into and litter the track with, the physics are required to be forgiving enough to allow you to drive though many things that would send a real car into a spin, and they are. On the other side of that coin, while you're driving side by side with your A.I. competitors at speeds well above 100 miles per hour the physics are refined enough to nudge them into disastrous results. The game makes use of the popular powersliding method of steering into a corner while letting up on the throttle and then flooring it once you're pointed where you want to go. This maintains your speed through corner and adds a bit of realistic driving feel to the game. This isn't to say that if you go into a corner too fast that you'll be able to hold on to the track as you can in the Burnout series of games. You must think ahead and watch your speed, especially in the high classes where your car can go much faster. Add to this the uneven terrain of many of the tracks and you'll find that each and every corner in Flatout 2 has its own personality that you must respect in order to master the track.

A.I. 9/10
Again, unlike other racing games in its genre, Flatout 2 has very sophisticated A.I. for each of its drivers. Instead of racing against a group of no named, no personality cars, you will get to know each and every driver for their subtle differences in driving style.

-Sofia Martinez - She will be the main pain in your neck through out your career mode experience. While she's not a dominate driver who will win every race you don't, she is definitely the most consistent driver in Flatout 2. She drives level headed, usually takes the most efficient route on a track unless forced elsewhere, and does not crash into you to get past you. She will, however, out drive you to pass you, you've been warned.

-Jason Walker - The second of your three main competitors. Although his name and picture may have been stolen from Paul Walker's character in the Fast and the Furious, Jason always drives a muscle car. Muscle cars in this game are one thing, fast as hell. Their lack of handling though will be his downfall. On technical tracks Jason will not be as much of a threat, but on any track with a long straight away Jason will almost never be out of the top 3.

-Jack Benton - The third of your nemesis' Jack is a mix between Sofia and Jason. He has more speed than Sofia, and is better technically than Jason, but crashing accounts for his Achilles' heel. Jack will crash into you whenever he sees you. He has the skills enough to keep the rear engine cars he favors in the race while causing havoc all around him. Be careful, if Sofia crashes out early, Jack will be your main contender.

-Katie Jackson - From Katie down these drivers are mere placeholders in the Flatout 2 world. They will occasionally win races, and they do have their own driving styles, but none of these deserve an as in depth description as the other three. Katie can be summed up as a crasher, like Jack but less skilled.

-Frank Malcov - Also a crasher, Frank is slightly less skilled than Katie. Both Frank and Katie will give you trouble early in the Derby class, but by the time you get to the Race class their short comings will be evident and you'll cease to worry too much about where they are on the track.

-Sally Taylor - Is much like Sofia in her style, although her official game description says she'll turn into a crasher if you hit her too often, I haven't seen it. So in my mind, she's simply a much less skilled Sofia.

-Ray Carter - Ray, poor old Ray, what can I say about him? He wishes he could drive like Jason, I can say that much. He's always in a muscle car, always trying to make up for his lack of skills by burning up the straight away. Unfortunately, unless there are some serious wrecks poor Ray hardly sees the first place spot.

CARS 8/10
Again, like many other things in Flatout 2, there are three main types of cars, each one is definitly different, but they all fall into one of the three main catagories: Speed, Handling, or Strength. A few cars overlap these types, but you should be safe by just picking one that suits your style, any car can win any race. I've personally taken to the muscle cars, and while they aren't the "best" cars in the game I still do quite well with them.

GRAPHICS 10/10
The graphics are hands down some of the best on the current generation of consoles. On top of the detail of each car and the well done surroundings, the damage models for each car are mind boggling. Your car (or any of the cars) will take an appropriate amount of damage to the specific area they are hit. You'll loose your hood, trunk, exhaust, and wheels throughout your short road to an explosion if you're not careful.

SOUND EFFECTS 10/10
The sound effects are simply amazing. If the graphics didn't impress you, then the sound effects have to. Each car sounds different, damaged cars sound different than undamaged, the derby class sounds different than the race class, and different tracks have different sound effect. This is just one more point where this game shines.

SOUNDTRACK 7/10
It's all heavy metal, if you're into that sort of thing you'll love it. I'm not, so it's hard for me to explain it much better. There are well known bands, Megadeth, Rob Zombie, a few others I've heard of, and some underground bands I'm sure no one has heard of, but the soundtrack does hit the game's style very well. Hard, heavy, and loud, just like the game. That said, a more diverse soundtrack with the option to pick and choose tracks would have been nice, this account for the lower rating in this category.

REPLAYABILITY 8/10
The replay value on this game is high. Even once you've completed the career mode you can still buy more cars and race through all the races in any order you wish for a new challenge. On top of that, there's the minigames, derbies, and multi player, all of which add value to your dollar.

PROS & CONS
I'm not sure how to do pros and cons without it sounding like a list, so I'll do a list. The pros aren't a long list, and the cons list is much longer, but please realize the pros I do list are HUGE! The cons are just me being picky.

Pro 1. Great competitive racing game with realistic physics that still let the game be fun, and not a sim.

Pro 2. Crashing is handled very well. This isn't Burnout with its spectacular crashes, but the driver flyout is fun, and the crashes are still pretty spectacular.

Pro 3. The game actually has A.I. that you notice! No faceless opponents here, here you get to curse out Jack when he crashes you. The drivers are different enough that you notice when someone is doing something they shouldn't be. Like "why is Ray up front?!?!" and "did Sofia just crash me? WTF!!"

Pro 4. Each car is different, they handle different, they react different, and they drive different. In a genre filled with cookie cutter cars, it's nice that the developers took the time to detail all the physics for each car. Kudos.

Con 1. The driver flyouts take real time to watch. The flyouts are great, but taking the time to watch one will cost you precious race time, this is the biggest con I have.

Con 2. No manual transmissions. In a game where so much detail was paid to so many "smaller" points, why was this overlooked?

Con 3. No free roam. Again, honestly, why not? There are only a handful of locations, just take all the directing obstacles out and let us drive around aimlessly for a few hours, please!

Con 4. No customizable controls. I can understand the old school guys wanting the gas and brake on the face buttons, that's how it's been done forever, but the genre is going toward shoulder buttons for this, why is that not even an option? My ideal setup would put the gas at R2, the break on X, nitro on circle, and hand break on R1, as it is now you cannot press break (square) and handbrake (circle) at the same time, something that may add another dimension to the sharp cornering in many of the tracks.

Con 5. No camera control. This is a problem that usually plagues games of other genres, not racing games. Racers usually have an abundance of camera controls, not here. Here you can look forwards, and backwards, that's it. The left-right on the right stick (accelerator/break is up-down) does nothing, nor does the up-down on the left stick (steering is right-left), why can't these control the camera?

Con 6. Poor advertising, or at the very least, misleading, vague, and lack of advertising. I didn't see a whole lot of commercials for this game, but the ones I did see made it look like a mildly amusing "crash into stuff and throw the driver from the car" version of Test Drive: Eve of Destruction. I have TD:EoD, I like it, but like I said, I already have it, why should I spend $50 to get the same thing with a driver flailing about everywhere? If the commercials, ads, etc. did more to show the racing aspect of this game I may have bought it before I found it on the discount rack. Heck, if everyone knew what I do about this game back when it came out, then maybe it wouldn't have hit the bargain bin so quickly. I for one would have been waiting eagerly to buy it as it was first placed on the racks. The "rag doll" driver and all that is nice fluff, it adds to the game for sure, but the meat of this game is its attention to detail, track design, spot on A.I. system, and its car collection, not some Raggity-Andy doll flopping about.

Con 7. You can restart a race at any time. Now, I debated for a while whether to even include this as a con. I realize the total frustration that can be had if you are 5 races into a 6 race series, and you get crashed out and have no chance of getting the 3rd place trophy for the series and advanceing in career mode. BUT! It just feels like cheating to be able to rerun a particular race in a series over and over again just to get the result you want. So, not so much a con, as I recognize the need for this, but it still takes away from a hardcore gamer's sense of reality.

SUMMARY
This is an excellent game, I have not played a better racing or destruction game ever, period. Flatout 2 does what it set out to do, offer edge of your seat racing with mind blowing crashes. It's created a world filled with intelligent A.I., personality, and tracks you really remember. Unlike anything else offered to date, this is a solid buy, don't rent game.

CONTROLS: 9/10
PHYSICS: 10/10
A.I.: 9/10
GRAPHICS: 10/10
SOUND EFFECTS: 10/10
SOUNDTRACK: 7/10
REPLAYABILITY: 8/10

TOTAL: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/28/06