The stunt events -- which featured you chucking your driver out the window -- were the most memorable things in the first FlatOut, and thankfully they've been expanded quite a bit. Favorites like Darts and Bowling are back, but now the grand total is up to an even dozen. Many of the new events stick with the sports theme: Field Goal has you weaving through giant 2D linemen to split the uprights as soon as possible, while Baseball has you "pitching" your driver at a huge baseball bat. Royal Flush is my early favorite, as you hurl toward a massive sheet of playing cards, attempting to make the best hand in five attempts. Other events include Soccer, Stone-Skipping, Basketball, Curling, and Ring of Fire.
The mechanics of driver ejection have improved as well. Once in the air, you can tweak the projectile's direction a bit like fine-touching your car in Burnout. A nudge option allows you to sort of double-jump in order to get a little more height/distance. The overall ragdoll physics seem toned down a tad, which actually serves to make things look more realistic and painful.
As long as we're talking racing alternatives, FlatOut 2 retains Derby mode. These are destruction derbies where it's kill or be killed. You earn points by causing damage, killing other cars, and surviving to the final three. A contact timer ensures that you're not just pussyfooting it on the sidelines while the real racers swap paint. New tracks like the supermarket parking lot and the skyscraper are refreshing alternatives to standard bowl arenas.
Gamers will be happy to hear that both the stunt and derby events will now be offered up for online play. For regular racing, the limit is six players on PS2 and eight for Xbox. If split screen's more your thing, Xbox offers four, compared to PS2's two.
As for regular racing, the number of tracks has been doubled. Spanning everything from forests to deserts to cities, they're ripe for destruction. Alternate paths run rampant; in fact, the borders around the road are often nearly non-existent. Courses are littered with interactive objects, so you'll be plowing through all types of debris.
