FlatOut 2 (PS2) Review
Posted by Joshua Richey on 09.18.2006
God, I hate racing games.
If only you knew just how significant it is that I, Joshua Richey, am reviewing a ‘racing’ title. I generally would use words such as ‘loathe’ or ‘hate’ to help describe my feelings on racing games, but I cannot. These words fail to fully detail my deep disliking for the racing genre as a whole. I guess you could say that I ‘Scott Baio’ racing games.
Where do these feelings come from? Well, first you need to realize that I may have perhaps the shortest attention span known to man. Because of it I’ve never been able to appreciate such ‘masterpieces’ such as Gran Turismo or Project Gotham Racing. Not a fan of driving. I drive to work, and I drive to school; these are generally things that I associate with driving; so why in the hell would I want to play a video game that required me to do more driving?
If ever I find myself in the unfortunate circumstance in which I find myself playing a Nascar game, I’ll do a lap or so and then proceed to do my best Dale Earnhardt impression. I’ll make a complete U-turn and make it my mission to create as much motor mayhem as possible. Kill as many cars as I can, if you will. When I’m driving down the street in Grand Theft Auto – it’s only to unleash my inner vehicular manslaughter fantasies. Kill as many people as I can, if you will.
If you hadn’t already gotten the hint, Joshua Richey doesn’t like racing games. So why in the hell am I reviewing FlatOut 2 for the Playstation 2, a game which happens to feature a bit of racing in it? Well, because it was free. The games publisher, Empire Interactive was kind enough to send a version of the title here to the 411Mania offices (lol!) and I have been called upon to give it a test drive. See what I did there?
I think it was my old man that once told me ‘everything in life is better when it’s free.’ Well dad that philosophy didn’t work out very well the night that I lost my virginity, but out of fear of an Ashish beat down, I’ll give it a go. Here is my review of FlatOut 2…
Graphics
Once you begin to play Flatout 2, you’ll begin to notice just how nice the graphics are. Through a combination of level design, lighting, and vehicle detail, FlatOut 2 offers up some of the prettiest graphics that you’ll see a modern-day-gen racer. BugBear, the games developers, definitely borrowed some of the elements that helped make the Burnout series so successful.
By revamping their graphics, FlatOut 2 now looks like it can challenge for some of that destruction derby moolah that Burnout helped generate.
But looks alone will not help change my perception on racing games; you’ve got to have the gameplay to back it up…
(SEGWAY!)
Gameplay
It’s a racing game, folks. There is a gas button, a d-pad, and a turbo button. It’s not exactly rocket science, you know what I mean? By pressing the gas button, your car goes fast. By pressing the turbo button, your car goes faster. Got that? Good. In these areas FlatOut 2 does what it’s expected to do. The car’s don’t seem to flow as smoothly around turns as say Burnout does; rather they are taking a more Gran Turismo ‘realistic’ approach.
Sound
Alright, running your car into other cars = extreme. We can all agree on that, can’t we? Demolition Derbies = extreme. That’s a true statement, correct? Throwing your driver from his car and into giant basketball hoops, bowling pens, and baseball pens is also extreme, right? Well the makers of FlatOut 2 decided to add an extreme soundtrack to their extreme game; the problem? Well that soundtrack is extreme… as in extremely suckass. Who in the hell would want to listen to bands such as Papa Roach, Yellowcard, Nickelback and Rob Zombie as your slamming your into car into other cars – like Rosie O’Donnell slams ho-ho’s into her tummy?
Other than the poor soundtrack, the games sound effects are everything that you would expect from a racing game. You have the sounds of engines, crashes, and men screaming as the plummet to their deaths.
Lasting Appeal
If you’re like me at all, you’re going to play FlatOut 2 for a little while and then you’re going to turn to something else. The games graphics, while good and impressive, bring little new to the table when it comes to actually racing. Where FlatOut 2 is exceptional, is with its Mini-Games.
The Mini-Games in FlatOut 2 consist of seeing how far and how accurately you can launch your driver from a speeding vehicle. This is surprisingly entertaining. There are a wide variety of different Mini-Games to partake in. You can burn down the ally of a larger scale bowling ally, and then launch your driver in an attempt to knock down as many pins as you possibly can. There is ‘Full House’ that while doesn’t include DJ or Uncle Jesse, it does allow you to launch your driver into an array of playing cards to see who can get the largest hand.
It’s this feature that makes FlatOut 2 the most fun. I spent a minimum amount of time on the actual racing portion of the game, because I found myself having so much fun launching this man through the windshield with malicious intent.
Fun Factor
The Mini-Games and the Demolition Derby are very fun; especially with a friend. There is a bit of a learning curve that comes along with these modes, but they won’t infuriate you as much as they’ll motivate you. The modes sound silly in theory, but they actually bring an all-new fun element to the game. To be honest with you, if it were not for these very same game modes, I would not be recommending FlatOut 2.
The 411
FlatOut 2 is fun. Yes, I Joshua Richey, hater of all racing games, just said that FlatOut 2 is fun. Is it fun enough to buy? No. Is it as good as the Burnout series? No. But what it is - is a racing game that isn’t afraid to try something new. I had a blast playing the Mini-Games, despite how pissed off that they made me. I enjoyed the Demolition Derby, because of its simplicity. I didn’t enjoy the actual game all that much, but I’m still going to recommend that you at least rent FlatOut 2.
Graphics
8.5
Surprisingly good by PS2 standards. Nice level design, nice lighting, and good realistic car damage.
Gameplay
7.0
Turning curves is not very smooth. But everything works as you would expect.
Sound
6.0
Yellowcard, Papa Roach... are you kidding me?
Lasting Appeal
7.5
I wouldn't recommend buying it, but I do encourage you to rent it if at all possible.
Fun Factor
7.5
The Mini-Games are very fun. You and your buddies can invest hours and hours into them alone.
