FlatOut 2 Design Failure (Spoilers)

YAYitsAndrew

I've come across a problem with flatout 2's design. I'm at the point where I have all golds in everything derby, even the finale. This unlocked the last derby car, the viper. But why? I don't need a derby car. I finished derby and 10k could buy me a pro part for street racing.

Which brings me to my next point. This game is fun when you smash things. In the 2nd and 3rd kinds of racing (race and street respectively) there's less emphasis on crashing and smashing. By the end of derby I was making 2-4k a race just crashing into people and blowing up their cars. The prize money didn't go up too much; how am I supposed to afford all these expensive new parts when I can't even make money during races anymore?

Going back to derby isn't an option. I finished everything there. Were I ever to go back, then I would be grinding and that's a sign of design failure.

And finally, why is my street racing level 1 car slower than my derby level 3 car? I feel like I want to take my derby car into the street race so I can get my speed fix again.

I'm almost certain that flatout 2 ends when you finish derby racing.

Dyre Straits

I think my comments probably fit this thread more than the others.

While I'm very pleased with the racing aspect of this game, I'm really disappointed with how they've handled the stunts. Really, really disappointed.

In FO 1 they were just plain fun and hilarious. In FO 2, I'm totally frustrated with them.

The High Jump just isn't a 'high' jump any longer since you have to travel a LONG distance and hit a net to set your height.

The Bowling is really atrocious! Why doesn't the driver slide down the alley like a bowling ball instead of having to hit the pins on the fly?

So far, about the only one I'm enjoying at all is the Basketball but even in that one, there's no perception as to how far you're going. You may look like you're going into a hoop and come up 20 feet short.

So, design flaw is likely how I'd describe this part of the game, too. Someone should have put the brakes on some of this and told them, LOOK, it needs to be FLATOUT FUN....not totally frustrating.

But, the racing is really good IMHO. Especially the online performance as long as you don't get some knucklehead going the wrong way with a school bus.

Zardon

After an hour or so of playing perhaps im not in an ideal position to be giving my opinions on this game but I will anyway.

The engine and the polishing of the graphics is top drawer and it runs exceptionally smoothly, but i have to say that im very disappointed with the way the game plays. Part of this is perhaps my own fault as i had expected a more realistic game in the vein of burnout, with cars being able to be written off and a much more destructive racing game. As it stands there is very little ramming and deliberate destruction as I found if you attempt to do this, then another car or two just speeds past you while you are locked in a battle. I vaguely remember playing the original flatout and while it was nowhere near as polished as the new version it appeared that you could have more fun ramming and bashing opponents.

Of course if im wrong and missing the big picture then please correct me, ive only played it for a hour or 2 and really to win races it seems you are better off avoiding opponents and just going as fast as possible - ive won every race ive tried to this point first time and have a load of cash and cant even be bothered buying upgrades. Not what I had expected and honestly its quite boring - I wanted a destruction derby type game

Dyre Straits

There is destruction derby in the game. It's a 'last man standing' type with a time limit. But, you have to select that type of game and look for such online....or create one.

As for the other races/tracks, were you looking for something in the same vein: 'last man standing' type of thing where once a car wrecks it's pretty much out of the race?

I've never been a fan of such games at NFS or GTA. The only other game with driving in it that I really enjoyed was MAFIA. I loved driving those classic cars around town.

Zardon

Ah right, I kind of thought the main racing was that style too, as I said for some reason I was thinking it was going to be a "last car able to move" will win the race, but I found if you concentrate on ramming cars and wrecking them, then another computer opponent will win the race.

Yeah I thought perhaps if you wanted, you could ram everyone off and if you drove well could win on the fact you totalled all the other cars, I find the best way to win, is to race just like a standard car game and basically avoiding as much bashing as possible.


Mafia was really in its own league IMO and would rate in my top 3 (possibly no1) of all time. It had an amazing storyline as well as some fantastic characters and action, although it wasnt really in the same vein as a "racing game" you had a lot more to do than just race cars. It kind of reminded me in a way of GTA but a little different, based more on the italian gangster stuff with a deeper storyline.

You might like saints row on the 360, if only they could get it running at a better frame rate.

YAYitsAndrew

You'll have to get good at ramming people and keeping your speed. Do it in corners and stuff where you were gonna slow down anyway, but ramming a car may help you take the corner better. Slamming someone from behind can cause them to swerve and wipeout on their own. If you push one of their back tires to the side you can make their car do a 180. That really slows them down without stopping you at all.

You typically only need a lap and a half to climb from last to first or second. If you spend the rest of the time harassing whoever is near you in points you should get golds.

As for stunt mode, they are less about having fun with rag doll and finding the right way to beat them. For high jump you need to nudge the second you come through the windshield. That's the only way to get into the 160-170 bracket. For bowling you need to be going around 100 mph and keep a low angle that way if you fall short you'll slide. Save your nudge to help you jump off the ground if you start slowing down too much. I'll agree that having to know these kinds of things is less fun than just throwing a body at a pile of sticks and seeing what happens.

Zardon

yes the hitting on the rear near a tyre works, as it does in all car games, but it doesnt really seem to do much to the opponents car at all - sure he spins out but in a few seconds he is back on track. I rammed a guy like 30 times in a race and he was still moving at full speed. The damage is there and it looks great, but its totally unrealistic IMO. I had one opponent virtually driving around with half a car and he was still going at full speed.

Im sorry i think ill give it one more go then im deinstalling it, its not really a wonderful game IMO and it certainly hasnt held my interest. After reading your comments at the start of the thread with dyres, it seems unfinished to me. a massive shame as the engine is brilliant.

YAYitsAndrew

I'll agree that after derby this game seems to forget WHY it is fun. This game shouldn't be about racing.

In demolition derbys after my car gets banged up it does seem to perform worse. I don't think my top speed is ever affected though, just handling and acceleration.

Sandok

Well I'm just about to test this out but I remeber that in the first flatout, the damage during the race had huge performance impacts!

Dyre Straits

If you race this way, you lose out on the bonus points for some of the special hits. Those do add up pretty fast and are sometimes worth more than a first-place finish.

I've been trying to get my rumble feedback working again on my XBOX 360 controller. I was getting game errors attributed to the XBCD drivers for the controller. So, I updated them and then ran into trouble. It's working again, but without the r/f.