FLASHOUT 2 Review
PROS
- Tracks look smart enough
- Fast ships
- Responsive controls
CONS
- Derivative design
- Uninspired, repetitive tracks
- Opponents disappear as lights turn green, and you spend the whole race trying to catch them
VERDICT
Flashout 2 takes huge inspiration from the WipEout series, but even though it is technically competent, its lack of imagination leave it feeling like a pale imitation.
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If you are going to copy something, copy the best. We have to assume that is what Jujubee was thinking when it developed Flashout 2. Generously, you could think of it as an homage to Sony’s WipEout series, but it sticks so closely to the source material - right down to the graphic design - that it simply feels like a pale imitation.
Races take place on metallic tracks that loop high above futuristic cityscapes. Though each track is littered with boosts, weapons, and jumps, they fail to establish any sense of place, anonymously bleeding into one another. Even the neon lights and directional markers that fleck each course manage to look bland.
You can steer you craft by tilting your device left or right, with weapons and boosts activated with a tap of the screen. It all works exactly as intended, but the lack of left / right airbreak and no way to control the weight distribution of your craft makes speeding around the narrow circuits feel like a crude enterprise.
This might suggest that races are easy, but this is far from the case. As the light turns green, the other craft shoot off, leaving you playing catch-up for the rest of the race. Its a lazy way to increase difficulty, and one that leaves you cursing shortcomings in your vehicle rather than your skill.
Flashout 2’s anti-grav racer all look the part, ranging from winged spaceships to narrow manned bullets. You can upgrade your craft, but no amount of fine tuning will ever make it a match for the next class of racer. This results in you constantly saving money to buy a new vehicle, rather than trying to tweak your current ride. This is clearly to incentivise investment in the game’s in-app purchases, but its poor implementation just makes the leveling process disheartening.
We know that games are built on the shoulders of what went before. Flashout 2, however, seems to be happy to scoot along on to WipEout's coat tails, and monetise the result in a lacklustre fashion. The end result is a serviceable hover racer, but one that is totally unremarkable.
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