
But the way that some of the cars look, the way that the tracks are designed, and just the basic feel of the game simply make it a little too immaculate for its own good. What if we try to do something more like that?" That's not to call FlatOut 2 a rip-off of Burnout, because as a whole, it still feels like it has more in common with its predecessor than Criterion's racing franchise.

It's like someone in a suit somewhere said, "Hey, those Burnout games are a lot slicker looking than what we've got. The whole game simply feels less down and dirty than the original did. This is an issue that permeates most every aspect of FlatOut 2. With so much dirt and debris all over the place, it's almost counterintuitive to want to drive these clean-looking rides right into the thick of it. Unfortunately, that style just doesn't jibe with the dirty feel of the races. Even though it's fun to smash up tricked-out tuner cars, they drive just about the same as the derby cars, so they don't really add anything to the package except a different visual style to those races. The one problem with all this, though, is that frankly, some of the cars just don't look like they belong. Though the floaty car feel from the first FlatOut is front and center once again in FlatOut 2, and though that feeling can be very disconcerting early on in the game, you'll get used to it, and because all the cars handle so similarly, you don't have to make any dramatic shifts in how you drive as time goes on. That's not to say that any of the cars handle particularly bad, mind you. Again, you notice differences in speed, but no matter how much you crank up the handling rating or the weight rating, you'll still feel like you're driving the same basic car across the board. But even these upgrades lack a measure of tangibility.

Each car in the game has several ratings in categories like speed, acceleration, strength, weight, and the like, and all of these categories can be upgraded via new parts in the career mode. Size is really the only major difference, and even that is purely cosmetic (big trucks trump small racers in crashes, and so on). The odd thing about the new cars, however, is that apart from some expected speed differences, they really don't feel any different than the clunkers in terms of handling or durability. There are even new car classes, with race cars and street racers to go along with the typical junk cars. All the stuff you liked-like demolition derbies, figure-eight races, and stunt mode-is all there, with more track options and stunts tossed in. Massive automotive destruction returns in Bugbear's FlatOut 2.įlatOut 2 takes much of the basic content from the first game and tosses in a bunch more of it.

However, these irritations don't suck away all the game's enjoyment, and those with a penchant for smashing and crashing cars will find FlatOut 2 an appealing piece of work. And some of the things that Bugbear didn't change still prove as problematic as they were a year ago. FlatOut 2 throws in some new, stylistic touches both in its content and aesthetics that make it feel more like a clone of other established arcade racers, rather than something original. In FlatOut 2, the same basic concepts found throughout the original game are once again on display, but while more content has been added to the package to try to flesh things out, it is with these additions that FlatOut 2 begins to lose its way.
#Save flatout 2 drivers
That game consisted of big, clunky, filthy-looking cars that deformed in all sorts of spectacular ways while flying through the air, crashing into one another, and even periodically sending the drivers of said vehicles crashing through the windshield in a rag-doll-heavy heap. Enter last year's FlatOut by developer Bugbear, a demolition racer in the purest sense.
#Save flatout 2 series
As much fun as the Burnout series of racing games can be, sometimes you want something a little grittier and grimier than the glossy, pristine-looking races that series has had on offer in recent years.
