Flatout 2 Review
The destruction derby style racer gets a makeover. Is it enough of an improvement to be worth playing?
The original Flatout managed to provide a good sensation of speed and destruction, however it just wasn’t finished. Things like a decent menu system and car upgrades were glaring omissions and the whole thing felt too short.
In comparison to the first game things feel a lot more complete. This is in part due to the greater choice provided by the two new race modes to unlock. This also provides longevity to the game as ultimately if you hop between the modes you will have to re-adjust to the slightly different cars. There is more choice in general, as you unlock cars, tracks and bonus games that can divert you from plowing through the game in a day or two.
Arguably the racing experience has been made easier with the addition of nitro and restore. Nitro allows straights or corners to be taken much faster meaning that getting wiped out does not mean restarting the race as it often did in the original game. Restore puts you back moving and invincible onto the track in the case of disaster. The ultimate result of this is that the tracks feel easier and are more of a blur, whereas in the original some tracks are still memorable to me today - this is both a blessing and a curse although the tracks in the original game couldn’t really be called too hard. Nitro also has the effect of taking some of your concentration off driving, it does feel like it has been added more to fit in with other games of the genre and what players expect than for what it actually adds to this game.
Car upgrades have also been improved. Each aspect of the car, acceleration, handling, weight etc can be affected either postively or negatively by each upgrade. Okay, to petrol heads this may be the fisher price school of engineering but its’ enough to enhance the game without making it incomprehensible to anyone not remotely interested in making their Fiesta “phat”. No doubt some will find the absence of being able to put neon lights on the base of the car and the lack of a nagging feeling there should be a “dogging” mode something of a relief.
The destruction system has been revamped, in true Carmadeggon style money is now rewarded for various different levels of carnage, this has the rather neat effect of distracting you from the race, meaning that on the faster races you’ll often use a competitor to redecorate a wall and spin out yourself, there is a certain skill to balancing causing damage and coming first. Competitors can be completely wiped out, but this isn’t really practical in most races if you want first place.
The game can feel biased at times towards the heavier cars which can give and take more punishment, the lighter cars are too easily spun out by competitors to really feel worth driving and this becomes especially obvious later in the game. There is far too much repetition of the same tracks which makes the extra longevity over the first game less welcome. Although new tracks are introduced throughout the game, they literally get lost amongst having to race the same ones over and over again.
The soundtrack features bigger bands than last time round, Rob Zombie, The Vines, Massive Attack and others will be welcome or incomprehensible depending on your tastes. Personally I am a fan only of Rob Zombie but I definitely found the other tracks growing on me (or at least imprinted on my brain) by the time I had finished the game. An option to listen to your own music through pointing the game at a folder of mp3s or a CD as with GTA would be welcome.
Flatout 2 does what a sequel should and its fun for a while. Really this is the game the original should have been. There isn’t really much re-playability to it and the multiplayer feels soul-less unless you’ve got a bunch of mates on voice chat or are playing at a lan party. If Bugbear want to do a Flatout 2.5 or some sort of expansion pack, they basically just need to add more new and varied tracks. However for a full sequel they’re going to need to add something a bit special to maintain interest.
Graphics: 7/10
The game looks good but there isn’t anything that’ll make you sit up and take note.
Addictive: 6/10
You’ll want to win the races, but once you have you won’t feel like going back
Multiplayer: 4/10
Its there. But the Internet options just don’t add anything - half of the fun of a game like this multiplayer is being able to interact with the other players. Voice chat is a glaring omission.
Overall: 7/10
Does exactly what is says on the tin. If you liked Flatout you should like this. Won’t appeal to true petrolheads or Carmageddon die hards. It still feels like a console game but this is less noticeable than last time round.
[...] Original post by Mostly Harmless [...]