FlatOut 2

The Good
FlatOut 2, like it's predecessor, is a racing game that encourages you to go ballistic with other drivers on the raceways. This includes trying to wreck opposing vehicles, send other drivers flying through their windshield, and destroying as much of the environment as you can. This is quite a campy game as it hardly takes itself seriously. There really isn't any sort of story. You play as a nameless driver who competes in competitions with unlicensed vehicles. There are other characters, who have mini-biographies to read during the load times, but you never really learn a whole lot else about them. As with any racing game, you've got a few game modes to choose from: a career/story mode which ultimately just has players doing races (and stunts) in an assigned order, a stunt mode which lets the player toss their rag-doll driver around in absurd courses, an event mode which offers alternative versions of race tracks, and lastly a demolition derby mode. This game really shines in the demolition derby/stunt department, as not a lot of other racing games offered up this kind of gameplay. I don't think even Burn Out came this close to accurate car damage. That's another thing: the exceptionally destructible environments and highly detailed, realistic car damage really gave FlatOut 2 a genuine simulation of real-life indie races and all that. Lastly, I found the soundtrack to be a mixed bag of good songs and straight out garbage. It consists of rock artists such as Zebrahead, The Vines, Papa Roach, and a lot more. While the soundtrack is subjective, I was generally satisfied with it.

The Bad
As I said earlier, FlatOut 2 definitely shines for it's outrageously entertaining gameplay and stunts. While it may be fun to crash around the course, trying to actually navigate through the courses effectively can be quite the hassle. The driving mechanics in FlatOut 2 feel very clunky, opponent vehicles often go faster than your car, regardless of upgrades, and trying to turn your vehicle can be one hell of a chore. There are three classes of cars in this game: derby, race, and street. The derby-class cars handle the best but have some of the lowest speeds, race-class cars have pretty good handling and moderately high speeds, and street-class cars have the worst handling but have the highest speeds. Naturally cars with high speeds don't handle that well, and I get that, but these street-class cars spin out at the mere touch of the analog stick. And it isn't just a few of the street-class cars, pretty much all of them have terrible handling -- even a handful of race-class cars can't seem to handle properly. I hate to penalize FlatOut 2 for this aspect, but I felt that there should have been some sort of storyline to it. The cast of characters seemed really neat and I'm sure the dialog could have been rather humorous because of the whole campy feeling of this game. But I suppose it doesn't make or break this title.

The Bottom Line
FlatOut 2 is definitely for those who are just looking to have some silly, non-competitive fun. The stunts and rag-doll physics alone will keep you and your friend(s) entertained for hours. However, I would definitely not recommend this game for fans of of more serious racing games like Need For Speed and Gran Turismo. As I said earlier, the cars are not licensed so there's really no sort of realism or realistic customization for your vehicles and the handling on these cars are definitely nothing like what more hardcore racing gamers are used to.

Though on a more personal note, I found FlatOut 2 to be a total joy -- a game that, for me, has stood the test of time since it's 2006 release on the PS2. I play this game quite often, perhaps even more than other, newer racing games like The Crew and Gran Turismo 6.

Definitely a PS2 game that shouldn't be overlooked.