Something you may not know is that the German version of Flatout 2/UC features crash test dummies instead of actual people to prevent the game being rated 16 instead of 12. Update: The games on Steam have been patched quite some time ago as someone in the comments has said and that applies to both Flatout 2 and Ultimate Carnage while retaining their 12 rating
I loved those Crash Test Dummies, they reminded me of when I was a kid and the early 90s toy line of The Incredible Crash Dummies. I think the Dummies fit better than the real people model. Although after also playing Pacific Drive I have a slightly different feeling about Crash Test Dummies.
The randomness and unpredictability of you're opponents and the debris and what the physics choose to do with you when you interact with it is what makes these games so infinitely replayable, you never know what's around the next corner no matter you're position, to me that's what makes a racing game great and stand apart
The fact that Flat Out 3 has the tag "psychological horror" on Steam should tell you everything there is know about that game. An absolute abomination!
You should give Trail Out a shot - another spiritual successor to Flatout 2 with some ex-Bugbear devs I believe! It’s stupid over the top but a fun game.
Unfortunately Bugbear devs weren't involved there, also the game itself (physics, game modes, overall style and music) is pretty questionable, like "FlatOut from AliExpress". I don't judge anyone, who likes it, but personally I love FlatOut 1, 2 and UC (and Wreckfest, of course) and I didn't really taste Trail Out :(
@@7Works ah okay, my bad in that case. I do agree that it is not up to the same polish as Wreckfest/Flatout, but I have found the gameplay to be really fun despite the technical issues/lack of polish. But that's just my opinion!
5:20 Despite the fact that I also prefer the soundtrack from 2, I want to share that Bugbear, when creating Ultimate Carnage, focused on this remaster returning to the ideas from 1 and referring to them. What is ultimately visible in this installment as much heavier objects than in 2, a new, dirtier and rawer style or a soundtrack consisting of more indie artists (even No Connection, which was in FlatOut 1, returned)
I discovered this game when it went on sale shortly after I built my first PC back in 2009. Had never played a FlatOut game before and was never a huge fan of destruction derby type racers, but I gave it a go regardless. It went on to become of my favorite arcade racers of all time, right up there with the likes of Need for Speed Most Wanted, Burnout 3 Takedown and Split/Second. It's just fantastic, and great news: the PC version recently got a slew of new updates on Steam (free for existing owners!) which remove the GFWL DRM, fix a ton of old bugs, add support for things like ultrawide displays and ensure the games work well on modern hardware. I was thrilled to see this old gem get some love, and there's no better time than now to pick this one up on PC and discover one of the best hidden gems of the arcade racing genre.
Flatout Ultimate Carnage is imo the single best racing game for just racing, no story no dialogue just pure racing, stunts etc. I have replayed uc about 15 times on my xbox with my friends just messing around trying to get bigger and bigger scores on carnage mode. Genuinely the most fun ive ever had with a racing game by a mile
What I like in FlatOut 2/Ultimate Carnage is there's SOME lore, primarily the rivals, and how it even affects them in gameplay. Having AIs with different behaviors is very cool! P.S. Funny Pac-Man World Rally didn't do the same, despite the original game having different AI behavior (still a cool game).
Flatout 2/UC is one of these games I just never got bored of playing even when I played on PS2 back then. It one of these games that I go back to once and awhile if I want a "comfort food" racing game to play. Also it's one of the hand few racing games from the 6th gen that you can still buy digital and they got updated this year too!
Ah, my childhood game and also my favourite game in the series. I remember spending countless hours on this game, the cheat codes for getting Flat mobile and so much more that I can experimenting with. I missed those stuff kind of content nowadays.
Bugbear studios is really underrated game studio,bro they put so much is in this flatout ,even the demage mechanics i never so much objects demage all in one that's a ton of effort
Yes my childhood in one video. Flatout games blew my mind as a young man. Still to this day i have played through this game many a time, just doesnt get old.
@@netherwolf3012 Perpetual licensing can exist for games which are published. The second you try to publish a new title, you'd have to establish new licensing (perpetual or otherwise.)
The fact Ultimate Carnage was updated a few months ago to remove GFWL finally, add Steam MP (at least I think they did, maybe I'm wrong on that one) and change/fix stuff after all these years says a lot about how good UC is and how good Bugbear is (and Zoom whoever they are, since I think they are the ones currently patching the games). Steam workshop support for decade old+ games? Hell yeah. Still patching the games (Flatout 1, 2 and UC/CE) as well? Win. All that being said, UC is still one of my favorite go to racing/destruction derby style games. You can see Wreckfest being born in Flaout 2/UC obviously, and that's why the game still holds up.
Have any of you heard about Crash Time series? I think it was quite popular in (central) Europe, but today no one remembers it. In Poland many people knew german tv series "Cobra 11" it was based on and it was fun to play a game about it. Sure, it was quote low-budget, tie-in video game but parts 2, 3 or 4 certainly deserve a recogniction!
The amount of explosions on this game is crazy. Great review as always! I think a review of Wreckfest would be nice, its a spiritual successor of Flatout but still has enough new content to be worth checking it out
Wreckfest for sure! I got flat out one somehow on PC years ago and put so many hours into it. Always shocked me how good the physics were.. I’m 30 now and still play it and wreckfest 😍 Awesome video mate! Always brings back good memories
Those eBay prices are the main reason I just emulate most old games. It's crazy how scalpers have decided 20 year old games that aren't at all rare are suddenly worth more now than when they came out...
I've been playing the "simple" version since it came out and it is AMAZING!!!! Thought these changes seem to be enough to justify the alternate title I think they missed out on the music part but still... Great video as always!!!!
Flat Out 2 is easily one of the best racing games out there! Played it a ton growing up and having picked it up again recently for PC, it is incredible how well the game still holds up to this day.
Great video, dude! I might try this one again since I didn't get too far last time (you're right about the game being difficult during the beginning). Also, I would honestly be very interested to see a Flatout 3 review, despite me already knowing how bad it is.
If you play your own music from the xbox 360 hdd while playing Flatout UC it'll actually pop up the song title (if its named) on the in game UI. Something I only ever saw in that game.
I discovered the Flatout franchise via a random game in a bargain bin at my local junk store for $2. The game was Flatout 1 & it was love at first banger race.
Fond memories of playing the PSP demo for this as a kid, it only had about 2 levels but i had so much fun replaying them. Will have to get the full game someday
Compared to Wreckfest I still think Flatout 2 is better, sofas and other stuff in Wreckfest is fine but it's just not the same when Fallout 2 has better modes I the, handling/track layouts and more are fair, the throwing your driver parts are great something we rarely see anymore in games besides a GT7 of fuel/come challenges I find racing games lack side modes these days it's really sad. They change up then just derbies/races Wreckfest has as Flatout 2 does. Never played Flatout 1 so no idea how much improvement but yeah PS2/PSP, 360 what a time for this game. The handling is fair, content is varied enough, damage model is fair, AI is alright, takes a bit of getting used to to beat it though but it's good for sure for the era not as good as other games. OST is fine not my thing really but I know of a few songs and they fit the tone of the game. Still not my thing though. Prefer other video game OSTs in menu music or different genres. I think Full Auto is great. Own 2 on PS3 and it's really fun. Not that want to put too many suggestions (but and play whatever to review when have time but either way) but Gravel (rally tv show type), OnRush and MotorStorm series, Driveclub, Alfa Romeo Racing Italiano, Racing Evoluzione (got a copy recently love it and Sega GT Dreamcast for their features I need to get Sega GT 2002). R Racing Evolution, Auto Modellista and more are interesting titles to cover. Also the MX vs ATV series I got into in the last few months and yeah Unleashed is alright but Reflex was so much fun. But those are the highest rated so no idea how the others compare. Ride 1-3 are good 4 has the region system from Forza Motorsport 1&2 but more restrictive and challenging I hate the AI it's too hard a game but the region system is really cool. Better than Ride 2 with a Forza Motorsport 6 type Cutscene approach that's ok but I'd they were that inspired by Forza Motorsport like sigh just go for it. Too many games, too much time, IRL things to do.
Flatout Ultimate Carnage is just pure Fun. Its a game that I never ever Uninstall in my laptop and PC. Just pick a car, track and give it a go once or twice. Its a nice time filler while you're bored.
LOVED playing Flatout 1 and 2 back in the day. Flatout 2 had the best soundtrack and I still to do day throw it on Spotify and rock out to it. Such a great mix of songs. Also yes, I would recommend skipping Flatout 3 and going straight to Wreckfest. ^_^ Awesome video Spencer. =)
Only reason why this game is fresh in my memory, is because they updated the Ultimate Carnage version on steam earlier this year. Mainly to remove the old Games for windows live DRM. But they added a ton of fixes and new content that made it fun again
I think it speaks how good it is for a games soundtrack when people make mods dedicated just to adding back in a games OG soundtrack. Like Crazy Taxi or THPS
The Ultimate Carnage edition came out way later than Flatout 2, and its a different game itself, hence the copyright you see no well known artist on that game ost, seems like music was the last priority of the budget
9:48 in this case, the most noticeable behavior out of all the AI has to be sofia and frank imo. Sofia will less likely crash into anyone and Frank is just a menace on track. Polar opposites hence why you notice it alot. Edit: 12:44 i say that then i see this, then again i said less likely to crash into you lol
Achieving gold in a carnage mode unlocks the car you use in the event earlier if you don't have it unlocked, I'd complete carnage mode first then grind money to buy a high end car early in the career
Apparently, most if not all of the licensed music from flatout 2 was completly omitted for ultimate carnage. So if you are ever considering doing a playthrough on twitch, try snagging a copy on steam or for the ps2.-Lackluster Edit: Before I forget, the original version also had 2 less drivers, the game looks pretty crusty with a color palette from that of fallout 3 or new vegas depending on the map. I would recommend it.
If you in any way are interested, just go for it. It's a total hoot and the mods are pretty good too. I bought it on mobile just to support the dev having played the hell out it on PC. I regularly reinstall it just for the laughs.
Despite it being a fun game, I was a bit disappointed with Ultimate Carnage - Flatout 1 always felt like you had to master its physics and avoid certain obstacles and that a crash is just around the corner, where UC had more of an arcade feeling to it with physics feeling more standardized and less dangerous, if that makes sense. In that way, Wreckfest felt more like a return to Fallout 1 rather than UC to my eyes.
Flatout 2 might just have the best soundtrack for any racing game, mainly for the ones from Alkaline Trio and Yellow card, among others. I love the game but was in love with the soundtrack. recently they had the Flatout bundle of 4 games for like $4 on steam, and oddly enough, i never played U.C before because i didn't have a xbox360 at the time and the version i got on steam back then didn't run on my pc, but now ran on my new pc. FLATOUT UC is still getting updated and for a 2008 game ? it looks amazing. sadly, the soundtrack, while good, it isn't great, but so far i found a couple of bangers on it...but to be fair, the whole soundtrack feels ''flatouty'' if u can get what i am saying, it feels like wanabe bands or cover bands from the first game, doing a great job. anw, great series, i am playing it now (UC) and having so much fun.
If you want to save your sanity you better get directly to Wreckfest but if you want to have a peak under the hood of a game with no engine then go for Flatout 3. I´d watch both tbh.
I didn't like Carnage mode 😅 I loved FlatOut for how grounded it is, so when FO2 gave me the same but with better cars it was all I needed. I did finish all the unlocks, including the batmobile (that one took me a few tries NGL), but only so that I can have more fun with racing. I also don't like point systems in general, I think they're arbitrary.
If you want to review more Bugbear games, you should do Sega Rally Revo PSP, Ridge Racer Unbounded, or (ideally) Wreckfest. FlatOut 3 and 4 were not made by Bugbear and are terrible
SO happy to see you review this game. FlatOut 2 is probably my favorite racer of all time. It just has everything, although the soundtrack in both 2 and UC aren't 100% to my taste...emo music has no place in an aggressive racing game. I do prefer 2 over UC strictly for the unfiltered color pallet. It's just brighter and more vibrant in color, despite being less detailed in textures and reflection effects. You should cover Test Drive 5 one of these days. 4 and 6 were terrible, but 5 is one I return to and play for hours on end for some reason. I'm curious to know if I'm crazy or if it's actually a good game. It might be the soundtrack.
If you review Flatout 3, then good luck! I haven't played it, but I'm curious to see what makes it so universally disliked. At least if you do look at Flatout 3, it'll make the following sequel's improvements feel that much sweeter.
"Why does FlatOut UC have a worse soundtrack?" Google: Music rights costs. "Why does FlatOut use normal words like soccer instead of dippity-doo?" It's almost like it's set in the US, or something. Are cars coated in Stars and Stripes or Confederate Loser Flags (before they waved white flag) common outside the US?
@@kirby1225 A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous product or work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue the product line or media franchise of its predecessor, and is thus only a successor "in spirit".[1][2] Spiritual successors often have similar themes and styles to their preceding material, but are generally a distinct intellectual property.[3] In fiction, the term generally refers to a work by a creator that shares similarities to one of their earlier works, but is set in a different continuity, and features distinct characters and settings. Such works may arise when licensing issues prevent a creator from releasing a direct sequel using the same copyrighted characters and names as the original.