FlatOut 2

• OS: Windows 2000 / ME / XP
• CPU: 2 GHz
• RAM: 256 MB
• Graphics Card: 64 MB
• Memory requirements ( HDD): 3.5 GB

FlatOut 2 is a racing game of the Finnish development studio Bugbear Entertainment. It was released in the summer of 2006 by the British publisher Empire Interactive for the platforms Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox and is the successor of 2004 for Windows, Xbox and PlayStation 2 released FlatOut. In autumn 2008, a version for Mac OS X was released by Virtual Programming.

The gameplay of FlatOut 2 is very similar to that of its predecessor. In addition to the usual racing games for fastest most possible driving routes is also often given the degree of damage done destruction of the environment or the opposing vehicles for the victory decisive. The game uses the visually appealing presentation of the destruction of a powerful physics engine and very detailed damage models.

The game was received positively overall, it scored at Metacritic Metawertungen 73-78 of 100 points. Critics praised above all the numerous options as well as the destruction exceptionally detailed damage model. Criticism was isolated lack of variety in the gameplay. According to the publisher Empire Interactive have already been sold to January 2007, over one million copies of the game.

In July 2007, appeared with FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage a new edition of the title, when made ​​some technical improvements and individual items, such as additional vehicles were added.

2013 announced the developer to develop a game titled Next Car Game, which has strong similarities with FlatOut 2 and the offshoots of it. The end of 2013 published a beta version of the game to pre-order. The Finished Next Car Game is to be officially released in the spring of 2014.

• 4.1 Evaluation in game magazines
• 4.2 sales

Gameplay

Generally

In FlatOut 2, the player takes control of a vehicle and compete against seven opponents in different racing modes. In contrast to the FlatOut race will now be held no longer mainly on unpaved land and gravel roads, but also on paved roads in urban areas.

Like its predecessor, is FlatOut 2 is an arcade racing game. This means that elements such as route design and physics of the vehicles have their focus more on action than on realism. For example, playing the use of nitro, which the player gets during a race for the serving of damage to opponents and surroundings play a central role. Furthermore, numerous ramps, traces of oil and potholes are distributed as obstacles on the tracks.

The game includes a single player mode and a multiplayer mode. Core element of the single-player mode is the career. This consists of a variety of championships, which in turn consist of several individual races. A background story there is not there. In the Windows version multiplayer mode, the player can compete in all modes of play with other players via the Internet or LAN. There is also a two-player game on a screen possible, this is referred to in the game as party mode. However, can not be played in this way all types of races. The party mode is also included in the Xbox and the PlayStation 2 version.

A peculiarity of the race in FlatOut 2 is that in all race modes, the driver may be thrown from the vehicle. This is usually done by a strong impact and costs the player in the race for a few seconds. In stunt events the player fires his character even deliberately out of the car because the stunt goals can be achieved only with the flying figure.

Ever since the first part of the series is built a realistic damage model of cars. This feature built the developers in the second part further and made ​​FlatOut 2 by the possibility that damage affect driving behavior and even vehicles are fully destructible, much action-heavy. Normal races can thus be obtained by all enemy vehicles are destroyed before the end of the race.

The head-up display that is visible during the race, shows the player's position in the field, contains a circular display, the route map, a tachometer and a damage indicator and a portrait of the opponent, who is the player currently on the next.

Race modes

In FlatOut 2 There are three different types of competitions, which differ greatly from one another.

The racing events are predominantly circular course race. In these races, it 's about the movement around a circular course and to the achievement of the best possible finishing position. Great variety exists in the nature of the routes. There are, for example, oval tracks in arenas, street courses, rural routes and routes from disused water channels. At the end of each round course race awards will be awarded to the driver who caused the greatest damage to vehicles and environments.

Derbys are events that are held on small, enclosed areas such as parking lots or building sites. At these events, it 's all about the damaging and destroying enemy vehicles. The derby will be won by the driver who has scored the most points at the end. Points are awarded for damaging vehicles and bonus points are awarded for creating a rollover or for destroying a vehicle. Furthermore, there is a so-called contact - timer; a stopwatch that runs continuously in the background and is at each collision the player reset with another vehicle. If a player has no more than 45 seconds rammed enemy vehicle, the timer expires and the player is out ( the timer also applies to AI drivers ). A derby is ended, when only one vehicle is functional.

Stunt events are a special feature of the FlatOut series. Generally it comes in stunt events about to hurl his pawn out of the car and with this to achieve a specific goal to push them particularly high or far, for example, or to take certain objects with her. Key factors for the achievement of the best possible end result is the launch angle and the force with which the character is fired. There are a total of twelve different types of stunt events. These include variants of well-known games such as darts, football, basketball and bowling.

Career Mode

Unlike the first part, there are in FlatOut 2 a coherent career mode. However, this dispense with a background story. Rather, it consists of numerous championships, each consisting of two to six individual events. The aim of the career mode is to win the Flat -Out Championship Cup. This can be gained by the player successfully completes all the championships and the Grand Final, a further six-part championship wins. The championships always consist of round course race. The only exception is the final, which will be unlocked once the player has won three championship trophies. The finale consists of derbies and round course races on special routes. The victory in a championship, a special event is enabled. Special events are stunts, derbies or round courses on special routes. In addition, the player receives money called credits. With these he can afford to buy new cars or upgrade their own vehicles.

Rolling stock

FlatOut 2 includes a total of 38 vehicles. The vehicles have no license, and are therefore fictitious models of developers, but mainly based on real models. The vehicles are divided into four classes:

Derby cars are vehicles that were originally derived from scrap yards and were equipped with the necessary stockcar racing equipment such as roll cage and reinforced body. They are comparatively slow and sluggish, but absorb a lot of damage and are well suited for uneven roads. Examples are vehicles that are the Ford Bronco or Ford Granada modeled.

Vehicles of the racing class are road vehicles, mostly muscle cars or light sports coupes. They can be seen as a mixture of vehicles of Derby and road class. They are faster than Derby cars and take more damage than vehicles of the road class. Models in this class are suitable for all track types. Examples are vehicles that are similar to the Chevrolet El Camino or at the Lancia Coupe.

Cars of the road class are tuned sports car, sometimes racing cars. They are the fastest but also the most sensitive vehicles in the game. Take the most effective on flat, paved surfaces. One of them is, for example, the Dodge Viper or Lamborghini Urraco.

The fourth class includes special vehicles. These are for a car with a turbine engine, which are mainly used in stunt events as well as vehicles that are classified in any other category, such as a school bus, hot rods, or a model that the Batmobile similar.

After the class selected by the player, the vehicles of the enemy directed. Selects the player, for example, a vehicle of the Derby class so he goes against vehicles of this class.

The tuning plays in FlatOut 2 a subordinate role. Is open to both improvements in the engine, brakes and transmission to increase the performance of the vehicle, as well as the installation of a roll bar or a reinforced chassis for increased stability. Ways to modify the appearance of the vehicles on the other hand, there are hardly the only option represents changing the body color

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of FlatOut 2 includes 26 pieces of music. Like its predecessor, are rock, located in the metal and in the indie sector in this. A number of the represented in-game music pieces were created by law known bands. Mention may be made, for example, because Nickelback, Megadeth, Papa Roach or Mötley Crüe.

History of development

After the success of FlatOut, of the slightly more than 800,000 units were sold, planned the responsible studio, Bugbear Entertainment, relatively fast for a successor. The Publisher Empire Interactive and Vivendi already announced in July 2005, nine months after the release of FlatOut, the development of a successor to. The developers, often the graphic designer Tomi Linja -aho reported regularly in a blog on the progress in the development and gave an insight into the work of developing a racing game.

The game will build as leaders from the development studio, on the gameplay of its predecessor. " The basic concept of destruction and race as with FlatOut FlatOut 2 also in our central vision," Jussi Laakkonen developers commented on the concept for the new game. Primarily, the criticisms should be eradicated at the predecessor. Thus, as a major innovation was by the developers of the installation of a multiplayer mode via the Internet announced. After the publication of several trailers that gave an insight into various new elements of the game, the game was finally unveiled at the American E3 2006 in Los Angeles.

In addition to the introduction of an online multiplayer mode, the developers of FlatOut 2 laid emphasis on improving the graphics. In addition to adjusting to the current state of the art included designing a detailed lighting system, since for the first time in the FlatOut series also races were installed in the dark. Another key point in the development was to improve the AI. The computer-controlled opponent in FlatOut 2, in contrast to its predecessor, an individual appearance and characteristics that significantly affect driving behavior. Thus, each of the seven AI driver has its own driving profile, so they react in certain driving situations sometimes very different.

For the development of a realistic sound output went to a team from Soundwave Concepts that have already contributed sound effects for racing games like rFactor or GT Legends, the site of an auto recycler, on which it demolished many objects in many ways. This technique produced sounds were recorded and then the charge of the audio programming developer at Bugbear, Pauli Meriläinen passed.

Finally the game in North America in late June and early August in Europe has been published. The version for the German market took it a special position, since there were conflicts with the German youth protection. Specifically, the human -inspired action figures were the focus of criticism, as they are often thrown in the game with the corresponding noise from the vehicle. For this reason, the game was considered too brutal and youth received no share. However, to obtain such, the human driver were replaced by crash test dummies in particular for the German market version.

A few months after the release in Europe and North America appeared FlatOut 2 in Japan. Shortly before the release the game were unveiled at the Tokyo Game Show.

Reception

Review in game magazines

Chris Roper of the British online magazine IGN praised the very entertaining because chaotic race. As a good change the numerous mini-games can be seen. The detailed physics engine, especially the behavior of the objects in collisions, and the good sounds also reaped much praise. The only point of criticism constituted the presentation of the AI drivers, this is something superficial. The magazine drew from the game as the best Playstation 2 racing game of 2006.

Alex Navarro from Gamespot rated the game an overall positive. The large scope, detailed, countless destruction facilities and the varied stunt events were the core areas of praise. Also, the introduction of an online mode has been well received. Criticized the handling of the cars, this is too similar. So there would be even across classes a very similar driving behavior. Another aspect of the criticism was the vehicle selection, too much goes into the realm of sports cars. This does not match the stock car character of the game.

The author Michael Krosta by the German gaming magazine 4Players praised as the other magazines to win the level and variety of options. The efficient programming was highlighted, which allowed even on older systems with a high level of detail to play. Another plus point was the sound that was able to score with a suitable soundtrack and realistic sound. They criticized the career mode that's too short and the controller, which is imprecise. Platform Specific the edge flares was still criticized in the Xbox version.

Heiko blade from the German magazine Gamestar emphasized the artificial intelligence of the game, count them among the best there is. Also, the physics and the technology of the game made ​​a good impression. Also, the track design was praised, this is very varied and creative with the many abbreviations and the many destructible objects. Were criticized for beginners at a high level of difficulty of the campaign and the lack of visual tuning.

The editorial also the German magazine PC Games was particularly impressed with the particle effects and the many ways destruction. Along with the good physics engine made ​​this an exceptionally good graphical presentation. Also the numerous mini-games were praised, who attended along with the varied round course races for your entertainment. However, it was criticized that anyway after a certain time stopped monotony.

The editor Bernd Fischer of GamePro wrote mostly positive about the game. The good graphics, the impressive effects and the many game modes provide plenty of variety and playfulness. The only point of criticism represented the control, which was considered too vague.

Arnd Rüger of Games World praised the simple and therefore easily accessible game concept. As a further Pluspuntk the abundance of different types of races was called. The graphic presentation, both the appearance of the environment and the level of detail of the vehicles, was praised by the author. As the only point of criticism was the author of the censorship called, which took place due to the protection of minors.

Sales

The game sold more copies than its predecessor. According to the publisher Empire Interactive have until January 2007, within half a year after launch, already sold over half a million copies of the game. Thus, a total of 1.5 million units were sold of the games of the FlatOut series. Already half a year after this press release appeared with FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage is a successor. At this point, about 1.2 million units were sold by FlatOut 2.