Gamestah - Article: Review: Flatout 2 - Esports commentary and shoutcasting for competitive gaming

Review: Flatout 2

Date Posted:

Wednesday 16th August, 2006

Author:

Alfreido

Subject:

Game Review

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2106

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Pages: 1 2

Graphics
Once again, the brilliant Flatout engine returns, tweaked and upgraded to suit the hardware of today. Sporting some new graphical effects like HDR Lighting and Bloom effects only makes this game prettier. The outside tracks look especially brilliant, with thick vegetation and trees just looking fantastic. The graphical effects from the first game have been improved upon in the second game. The motion blur in this game is great... it's subtle which is a plus over the exaggerated motion blurs of the Need for Speed and Burnout series, but it's very smooth and very realistic. The particles and debris system are great as well, every bone-crunching hit on another car sprays metal, glass and tires all around the area of impact, and it really sells the idea.

Another plus of the first game was that it was REALLY smooth for pretty much all types of computers. The code was optimized really well and 60 frames per second was really easy to achieve on even the ancient computers. Thankfully, it has followed to the new game and it's great to see games where you do not need a beast of a computer in order to experience the full graphical pleasure of the game. This game would easily run on 1280x1024 with some anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering on even a P4 3.2ghz with a 6600GT. More games need to follow suit and design with the majority of users in mind, as not everyone can afford to upgrade their computer every 6 months, as some of the games have wanted us to do lately. (Yes, I'm looking at you Bestheda Networks and your system-hogging Elder Scrolls games )

That being said, the game doesn't look as spectacular as the games that have been released lately. Some of the game's textures are pretty standard, not offering that WOW factor. The cars look pretty, especially with the reflections and light bouncing off the hoods, as demonstrated in the screenshot to the left, but aside from that and the effects, there's some graphics which could've looked better. And the game faces which appear in the bottom left which represent your driver look pointless. That being said, it's definately eye-candy.

Sound
The sound in this game is generally good. Like the first Flatout, there is nearly no speech, aside from the screams of drivers flying out of windscreens. The engines all sound different, but one thing I have noticed is that they don't seem very grunty. Games like Need for Speed have had really powerful engine sounds which really drive the sense of speed home but in this game, it's not as evident. Don't get me wrong, some of them sound authentic but... where's the POWER? Especially when you install new parts on to your cars, like new engines and fuel lines etc, your car should sound different. But it doesn't in this game. One thing that does sound meaty is when you fire off the nitrous. There's POWER in that.

The game has a new soundtrack as well, but unlike EA Games and their sometimes terrible track selections for EA Trax, this game has some good songs. Bands like Nickelback, Megadeth and Underoath have all provided tracks for this game. While I'm not a fan of scream rock, Underoath's 'Reinventing your Exit' matches the game pretty well. Megadeth's 'Symphony of Destruction' however is one of the tracks I would've ditched for something else. The tracks included in this game are definately leagues ahead of the teeny-bopping crap that EA puts into games like Burnout and Need for Speed.

The game features all the usual audio effects, like EAX and reverb. One effect which really jumped to me was the reverb effect when you do the mini-games. The mini-games take place in a huge stadium, with what looks like a huge crowd watching you hurt yourself. Before stunts there is music playing which echoes all over the stadium, and it really sounds like you are at a stadium. This is usually accompanied by the crowd cheering, and an announcer (although very faded and hard to hear) speaking over the intercom, firing up the crowd.

Lastability
The single-player portion of this game is relatively short. You have around about 30-40 races before you have completed all the cups, and to top it off, around 12 different mini-games and destruction derbies. The game can be easily completed in 10-15 hours if you know what you are doing, making a short, but sweet game.

There is an online component to the game too, and I have been told that there is a few lag issues with the game at the moment. Nothing that can't be rectified with a few patches though, so here's hoping.

Final Thoughts
Flatout 2 has made vast improvements over the original Flatout, making it the ultimate game to release the road-rage induced anger. Definately a game that is worth a hire though, due to the short time-span of the game.

If you are going to take it online though, be prepared from some lag issues which can easily frustrate.

With new tracks, graphical updates, hilarious mini-games and various improvements though, Flatout 2 is definately a game to have a go at.

Gamestah Verdict

The Good