''FlatOut 2'' is an

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

developed by Bugbear Entertainment and published by

Empire Interactive Empire Interactive was a British video game developer and publisher based in London. Founded in 1987 by Ian Higgins and Simon Jeffrey, it was acquired by Silverstar Holdings in 2006 and went out of business in 2009. History Empire Interacti ...

in Europe and Vivendi Universal Games in North America. It is the sequel to the 2004 game ''

FlatOut Flat Out may refer to: * Flat Out (horse), a racehorse * ''Flat Out'' (Buck Dharma album), 1982 * ''Flat Out'' (John Scofield album), 1989 *Flatout, a brand of Flatbreads owned by T. Marzetti Company *Flat Out, a term coined in reference to the ...

''. This game is themed more on the street racing/import tuner scene than its predecessor. A notable change is the tire grip; players can take more control of their car, worrying less about skidding in tight turns. The game has three car classes: derby, race, and street. It was released in Russia on June 29, 2006, in Europe on June 30, and in North America on August 1. In 2008, an OS X version of the game was released by Virtual Programming. In 2014, a Linux version of the game was released on GOG.com as part of the launch of Linux support. An enhanced port was released in 2007 for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

and Windows as ''FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage''. A

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 200 ...

port of ''Ultimate Carnage'' was released as ''FlatOut: Head On''.

Gameplay

Ragdoll physics

The ragdoll physics in the sequel have been greatly updated. During the race, the driver may be thrown out of the car if slammed into a wall at a high speed. In the numerous

stunt A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery sp ...

minigames A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than th ...

the goal is to shoot themselves out of the car and complete objectives like knocking down a set of

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

pins, hitting the designated spots on a

dartboard Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

, score a

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or fly through flaming hoops. Players must use '

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glide ...

' to control the driver in-flight, but overusing it will increase drag, which will slow the driver down and possibly prevent him/her from reaching the designated target. If the driver falls short of the target, players can use the "nudge". This gives the driver a small upward boost and slightly reduces drag. In the Stone Skipping Stunt minigame, the players must use nudge just as the driver hits the surface of the water to skip the most efficiently and reach the furthest.

Reception

Critical reception

The PC version of ''FlatOut 2'' received "generally favorable reviews", while the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. In Japan, ''

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'' gave the PS2 version a score of all four sevens for a total of 28 out of 40.

Awards

* Won IGN's award for Best

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...

Racing Game of 2006. * Won ''

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''s award for Best Racing Game of 2006.

''FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage''

''FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage'' is an

enhanced port A video game remake is a video game closely adapted from an earlier title, usually for the purpose of modernizing a game with updated graphics for newer hardware and gameplay for contemporary audiences. Typically, a remake of such game software sh ...

of ''FlatOut 2'' featuring new gameplay modes and graphics as well as at least two new cars. It was known earlier as ''FlatOut: Total Carnage''. ''FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage'' was released on July 22, 2007 in Europe, on August 1 in Australia, and on October 2 in North America for the

. The

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

version was released through the

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...

network on August 26, 2008, and in stores on September 2. There is also a handheld version of the game for the

called ''FlatOut: Head On'', which was released in Australia on March 12, 2008, in Europe two days later, and in North America on April 4.

Gameplay

''Ultimate Carnage'' introduces a brand new series of tracks which are based anywhere from busy streets to storm water drains. The cars are more detailed than previous games in the series, employing the latest in dynamic lighting and shadow technology, and a greatly enhanced damage and physics engine where each car is made of up to 40 separate destructible parts. The single player game supports up to 11 other AI-controlled cars in each race. A new multiplayer format is also included; this runs on the Games for Windows - Live system which requires the user to either sign into own Xbox LIVE or Games for Windows LIVE Gamertag, or sign up for one for free. The LAN function is not available in ''FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage'', unlike the previous two ''FlatOut'' games for Windows.

Reception

The Xbox 360 and PC versions received "favorable" reviews, while the ''Head On'' version received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website

. ''

Hyper Hyper may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hyper'' (2016 film), 2016 Indian Telugu film * ''Hyper'' (2018 film), 2018 Indian Kannada film * ''Hyper'' (magazine), an Australian video game magazine *Hyper (TV channel), a Filipino sports channe ...

s Maurice Branscombe commended the Xbox 360 version for "looking and playing better than ever before", but did not like the soundtracks and stated that "the game's load times are too long". In Japan, ''

'' gave the same console version a score of three sevens and one six for a total of 27 out of 40.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flatout 2 2006 video games Bugbear Entertainment games *02 Games for Windows certified games Linux games Lua (programming language)-scripted video games MacOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation Portable games Vehicular combat games Video game sequels Video games developed in Finland Video games featuring protagonists of selectable gender Windows games Xbox games Xbox 360 games Empire Interactive games