Previews

Hands-on with futuristic racing sequel Flashout 2 for iOS and Android

Flashing bright

Hands-on with futuristic racing sequel Flashout 2 for iOS and Android
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| Flashout 2

The first word that comes to mind when I pick up Flashout 2 is 'slick'. Even at this stage of development, there's a level of polish to the Wipeout-aping futuristic racer sequel that sets it apart from a lot of its contemporaries.

From the menus to the videos before each race, there's style surging through the game's veins. You can see it in everything, from the curves of the sleek blue tracks to the glowing power-ups that grant you speed boosts and deadly rockets.

There's more of an edge to proceedings as well, with a racing threat that was slightly lacking from the original Flashout 3D. In short, Flashout 2 is shaping up to be pretty exciting.

The tracks on show are short and sharp, combining death-defying leaps and sweeping curves to great effect. Alongside the speedway great skyscrapers disappear into clouds, and garish direction markers flash your path.

Shortcuts are closed until you snatch a power-up, meaning a mistimed turn can lead to a horrendous and race-ending smash. Cracks appear on the screen when enemies hit you with rockets, and if you take too much damage you'll need to revive or restart.

Catching the right line is important, and rocketing from boost pad to boost pad will keep you in the running for the top positions. There's a twitchy core to the game that requires split second timing to grab the right power-ups and miss the cruel walls next to them.

There are coins littering the raceway too, and you'll need to collect them if you want to buy boosts at the start of a race, or buy a more powerful vehicle to win the more difficult races.

If Jujubee can keep the same level of sheen in the final game, then Flashout 2 could well be a hit when it lands on the App Store and the Google Play Store - especially if it manages to get the multiplayer working as well as the single player.

There's just something that thrills about futuristic racing when it's done right, and if Flashout 2 avoids some of the pitfalls that tarnished its predecessor, we should all be in for a shiny treat.

Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.