FlatOut 2

"Wow, but they forgot the handling."

Now I see why this isn't such a well known title. I mean, slamming into the curb doesn't get better the more you do it. Oh, yeah, you'll be doing a LOT of crashing, just not the right type.

See, this game takes after Destruction Derby and such other games, where you're really there to crash into things and just in general damage things. So, in this context, crashing is awesome and great and fun, however, most of the stuff you'll end up crashing into aren't damageable things; Invisible walls, destroyable scenery, and such other things. As to the reason, well, read on.

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Graphics/Interface: 9/10

I really can't complain about this. The game looks really good, and the menus and such work like a charm. It looks a whole lot like the later Burnout games, but honestly I don't mind. It is also comfortably 30 FPS almost the entire time, and it does its job.

Another good point in my opinion is the design of the cars and tracks, everything looks really good but they also seem rather original. About the cars, the three classes of cars you can drive are all really good looking, in their own special ways. The higher end cars all look rather dashing, and the whole thing is pretty evenly distributed. About the car designs, they aren't using brand-names or any of that but if you know your cars you can see some...erm, twins of many actual cars. Not uncommon, but worth a mention anyways.

The entire thing with the crashes and the parts flying off, the overall wrecking you can do in the tracks, is all very neat to see. The damage to the cars is very impressive and while not entirely fantastically realistic it is still just charming. Damage doesn't actually hinder your performance, so despite driving without one wheel or with your engine on fire, you can still compete.

On the effects side, it is all the usual motion blur here and there, and a lot of glitter and sparks everywhere. The reflections are pretty well done, and it just works. Another cool thing is the whole "launch driver through windshield" gimmick they're running here, which in my opinion is pretty entertaining, but could use some actual blood or gore or something (but that's just me!)

Overall the graphics make good use of the PS2 aging hardware, and the whole thing looks awesome.

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Controls: 1/10

No, I'm not kidding. That's a one right there. Why? Well I said the game looked great, but that doesn't make up for the fact that handling is practically a matter of luck. See, what you press on the controller as far as steering goes are just suggestions.

In reality, the problem isn't necessarily that you can't steer at all. The problem constantly changes depending on which cars you're driving, but there IS always a problem.

Problem number 1, is the fact that the game doesn't treat analog handling the same way as, say, Gran Turismo and such would. Pressing left on the digital pad or pushing left on the analog does not make the movement of the wheels to the point where you've pressed or how hard you pressed. In other words, pushing the analog quickly to the left entirely not mean the wheels will turn to the left quickly. No, they have a fixed rate of movement, and this means that if you need to snap the wheels to the left for whatever maneuver you had in mind you're out of luck. You may be able to somehow overcome this if you plan ahead of every turn and drive very carefully.

Only problem is, you're not racing alone, and the track is littered with jumps, debris, other drivers, and things that in general require you to react VERY QUICKLY. It made the game, for me, unplayable. I was spending most of my time fighting with the car, trying to get it to do what it SHOULD be doing, but failing. Expect to retry things over and over and over.

Problem number 2, at the higher levels, the cars become very powerful in acceleration and speed. So, besides problem number 1 not going away, controlling the throttle is extremely tricky, and if you fail to do so it is unlikely you'll be able to recover from deceleration or running into something. Maybe it is also a practice thing, but I simply couldn't keep the car from spinning out. Problem 1 doesn't help any since to countersteer out of a spin you need good control over the rate at which you're actually turning the wheels. Needless to say, you'll be spinning out a whole lot.

Both these problems can be avoided, maybe, if again you drive very carefully or just get used to it. I don't know how exactly that would work, but it didn't for me.

Overall, I blame the developers for trying to implement simulation-style physics, in a game which doesn't really need them. Spinning out because you're applying too much throttle is something really technical to think about meanwhile you're trying not to slam into things, most of them entirely out of your control.

Nevermind that problem 1 is simply ridiculous. I have not seen another game that does this unless they are not analog-supporting games, and in THOSE games pressing automatically means full-turn of the steering wheel and the game then adjust depending on speed how far the wheels turn, effectively avoiding this (and you get the "tap tap tap tap" directional steering of ol' times.)

Unacceptable, unless you're playing the stunt events, and other things where circuit handling don't matter much. In those events you mostly need to drive in a straight line, and in the derby events it doesn't matter how it handles since you're not trying to turn curves. Even so, it kills more than half the game.

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Game play mechanics/Implementation: 2/10

Alright, so we've already established this game handles in a REALLY AWKWARD way. I don't know what exactly motivated the developers to decide against what is mostly common knowledge, as far as handling goes, but I don't really care, because the result is a restart-fest, and not only restarting but mid-race you'll be reseting your car many, many times.

Ok, it's expectable that you need to reset your car often, after all, it is a racing/crashing game. It's not automatic, for some weird reason, but when you go out of the track too far into the scenery, it is. It is fairly quick and you can reset just as soon as you spin your car halfway. Remember problem number 2 and such above? Well here's one possible solution. Spin out? RESET! Crashed because of the controls? RESET! It rained? RESET! You can also reset the race if you just want to see if luck plays it differently this time around.

Oh, by the way? I just described the entire racing experience. A whole lot of artificial difficulty because of the controls and physics, so be prepared for that.

On the other hand, the AI drivers actually have the ability to get tangled up in crashes and just in general have the same superficial problems you do. What they don't have is a problem with the controls, since they can take any good'ol turn like the best of them. Not always, as I've seen the AI drive right into walls, but I don't know if it's because they share the same controls exactly or they do the typical silly AI-logic of just skipping going through the same motions as the players and they just had a lousy day.

What isn't ruined here is the mini games and such, like launching your driver around in the events and the destruction derby-style rings of death, to name them something. Those are fun and work fine, since most of them don't rely on good handling to function properly.

It's just, you know, that they're mini games.

Overall, this doesn't work. An important part of a racing game is, you know, being able to control what your car or vehicle is doing. Don't have that? Well, sorry but it's not going anywhere.

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Storyline/resolution: N/A

This doesn't have a storyline as far as I know. But just for the sake of saying something, let's say the overall goal is to get a lot of money and complete all the races, so your main character can be happy and feel awesome. Oh, also beating all the rivals/opponents is an important part of his happiness!

In this game, special attention is given to the other racers, and they have their own little description and driving habits, according to the game at least. You see this every load screen or so. I found this neat, but I wished that you could mod up or customize your dude or gal in some way, too. You'll be seeing a lot of him/her in the mini games and in general, since the whole launching driver gimmick really does involve your character after all, so it would've been neat to change their appearance or something.

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Music/Sound: 9/10 (SOUND EFFECTS ONLY)

I found the sound effects quite appropriate. Explosions and crashes, everything sounds like it should and it has this raspy character to it which is enjoyable given the setting. The engine sounds could've been better, but I think they get the point across rather fine. The nitro sound is lovely, too.

I don't rate the music for games which use bands/etc, and which the music wasn't specially designed for the game. If the developers think that's good enough for me, then I think I can just turn the music down and listen to whatever I like!

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Replay/Extras: 7/10

There's all the mini games, events, and you have lots of cars and tracks to unlock and tournaments to beat. There's a bunch to do, and if you can get past the insane controls and actually play this thing you can expect it to last a while.

The making-of video is fun, and there's other fun stuff. Inclusion of cheat-codes as simple password-style words is really awesome, since I'm a person who doesn't have too much patience for the whole unlocking thing.

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Overview/Overall Score: 4/10

I suppose that if you stick to this and you get used to the controls, somehow, you may enjoy yourself a lot. It seems like a good game, and I really want to like it, but since I can't play it for long before I start to get angry it's a real shame.

The mini games are fun, and I'll be playing that probably since I already got into this mess. Some of the modes are worthwhile for that matter, anything that doesn't involve actual racing in this game is OK.

First time I've seen something like this, honestly!

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My recommendation:

Rent this thing, borrow it, or something. Give it a shot, since it maybe works for you. If it does, then you probably won't be disappointed, since just about everything else is there.

If it doesn't, well, at least you didn't BUY it.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 09/17/07

Game Release: FlatOut 2 (US, 08/01/06)