I have fun little experiments that I like to do from time to time just because I can. These aren't the kind of experiments that get a community pissed off at me, like the ones Ashton Kutcher pulls off on Punk'd, but rather little gaming sessions with unlikely players. For instance, a friend of mine who's a cop got a kick out of the criminal life in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (he has since purchased it). Then there's Jacob, a friend who prefers extreme sports games- and yet he had no problem going toe-to-toe with me on Rockstar Games Table Tennis. (It's funny, though, watching him go "F**k yes!" and jumping around upon scoring on the edge of a table.)

So, for FlatOut 2, I called up a friend who was an insurance agent. He came over and I immediately was in the middle of a career race, and he walked in at just the right time. I was in a spectacular wreck, with debris flying all over the place. Immediately, he became mesmerized, even though he probably hears examples every day of cars trashed to total shit or what-not. "I haven't seen anything wrecked that bad since Burnout 3;" he told me. And that's one of the game's strengths- its utter chaos.

Like the first FlatOut before it, FlatOut 2 thrives on its car crashes. This time, however, there's far more detail. If you plow into a parked car, it isn't just a matter of "THUNK" and seeing a dinged-up front end. No, instead, your car explodes into a massive pile of auto parts, crashing all over the road. It's like instantaneously being prepped for a visit to the junkyard, with regeneration being your only advantage. Bugbear Entertainment has put a lot more work into the graphic engine this time around, even offering some shades of Criterion's Burnout series. The track designs are varied, ranging from big city life to backwoods racing, and there's alternate paths all over the place that give you the chance to score a first place win. There's also dangers lurking about that can stop you in your tracks quicker than a traffic cop at a speed trap.

Parked cars and roadside objects are the least of your problems. FlatOut 2 packs a highly aggressive AI that tries to ram you off the road and keep you from grabbing a first place win. But the problem here is that it's a bit too pushy for its own good. The cars can sometime fly right off the charts, acting normal one minute and then suddenly wanting to take you out the next. Bugbear would've been wise to formulate this into some kind of behavioral system. Say you push a car and make them wreck, and then they have a vendetta against you. Kind of like Burnout Revenge had. But here, the AI is hard to figure out, leaving you itching for survival and just a little bit irritated.

There's also a problem with the game's controls. It seems that no matter what vehicle you've selected, the gameplay feels the same for each one. No balanced physics, no feel of deterioration if your left front tire gets knocked out of whack, just the same old same old. That'd be fine if the controls weren't so quirky. Let me set you up an example. You're in the middle of a tight turn, right? You begin to lean right on the analog stick. The next thing you know, you could be entering into a dangerous drift that leaves your car skidding down the road sideways, just primed for a collision with a roadside object. The game does have decent steering once you get accustomed to it, but the fact you have to overcome such a hurdle to get there doesn't do the game any good. This'll frustrate a few of you, especially if you think the game's as instantly accessible as other drivers are. My insurance agent friend found this out the hard way and took some time getting used to the controls. "It feels like the car's low on steering fluid," he noted.

One more complaint, and then I'll get to the good stuff. The game does feature a rock-themed soundtrack with the likes of Audioslave, Megadeth, and a few others, but Bugbear seems to have followed the generic route here. The soundtrack has a few noteworthy songs but it doesn't offer any complexity, like being able to set up a playlist or skip songs. Worse yet, you don't have the option to run your customized soundtrack in the game. It's like owning an AM radio and the only station you can listen to is something along the lines of an 80's rock station running a marathon of A Flock of Seagulls. Lovely.

OK, now, that aside, I will say that FlatOut 2 has benefits aplenty in three specific areas. The first is Career Mode. This mode not only lets you earn cash for your destructiveness and first-place wins to score cars and other parts, but has a ton of events to complete. The destruction derbies are especially noteworthy, as you can bash cars to pieces without having to worry about maintaining a ludicrous speed. (Sorry, little Spaceballs reference there.) You can even see the damage you lay on rogue drivers and hunt after them to take them out. The races are fun, too, given that you've gotten used to the control system. There's lots to do here.

Then there's the mini-games, the bread and butter of the series that I think makes it stand out. These games take advantage of the "rag doll physics" that came about in the first game, where a driver can be launched through a windshield in a non-fatal way, like a projectile. There's new mini-games to be played here, although most of them are gimmicky at best. Football, royal flush cards, and basketball are the main highlights, although favorites such as darts and bowling make a welcome return. And you thought you wouldn't see a bowling game associated with a driving game. My agent friend loved getting strikes, even at the price of a digital concussion or two. Or eighteen.

Finally, the game allows online play for up to eight people, in both races and destruction derbies. You can also play the mini-games online. And I'll tell you- there is nothing like being part of a rag doll darts league. Anyone can just throw a dart, but to launch a person out of a car windshield into a gigantic dartboard and boast a bullseye to your competition? That is just living, my friend. The online community isn't as full as I'd like it to be, but it is serviceable, and racing against human opponents is better any day of the week than racing an unpredictable AI.

FlatOut 2 doesn't have what it takes to topple the champion in this area, Burnout 3: Takedown. EA and Criterion's two year old game still has the wreck-and-racing brilliance that this series slightly fails to match, especially with its AI and control flaws. However, Bugbear's latest still deserves a rental, if only to take part in the delectable chaos that is car wrecking and human launching. And I'll tell you, if a game can make an insurance agent yell for more vehicular destruction, it can't be all bad. He just won't tell his boss, that's all.