- Improved graphics, especially
vehicle models
- An intense sense of blistering speed; may be the fastest
racing game today
- Tons of different goals to accomplish and a multitude of
unlockable content
- Connecting to Xbox Live games
wasn't always easy, particularly with races
- Longer than necessary rewind on crash levels
- Extended playing sessions may cause carpal tunnel syndrome
- Generic cars once again
Be
notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out
twice weekly.
Enter
E-Mail Address Below:
Burnout
Revenge
Score: 9.2
Revenge is a dish best served cold - unless
it's dished out in Burnout Revenge, Electronic Arts new update of the
Burnout franchise. Then revenge is best served by scorching hot,
blisteringly fast vehicular mayhem on sizzling asphalt during torching
races more concerned with smashing and crashing cars than crossing the
finish line first.
The developers at Criterion treat gamers once again with the most
innovative racing title around. The Burnout series is a racing game, but
the heart of the gameplay isn't racing against other drivers, trying to
garner the checkered flag (although that's one of the many different
game modes in the game). Instead, the game focuses on smashing the hell
out of cars. It's not who finishes first; it's who finishes first and
destroys the most competing cars. And in Burnout Revenge, the Burnout
formula is comprised of blistering speed, annihilation of motor vehicles
and causing massive auto wrecks. It generally goes completely against
the grain of the
typical racing game, which advocates
staying away from crashing into other cars. Instead, Burnout Revenge
completely encourages hitting each and every car you find in your path
of automotive chaos.
The last time I played a Burnout title was Burnout 2, and the dramatic
jump in not only the look of the game, but the improved gameplay and
sheer amount of modes and unlockable content is amazing. While Burnout
Advertisement
2
was a sharp-looking game, it's clear that Criterion has adeptly learned
all the tricks necessary to get the most out of the graphic capabilities
of current consoles that are in the latter stage of their lifespan. The
cars are beautifully rendered in Burnout Revenge, the equal of what's
presented in Gran Turismo or Need for Speed games. The levels that
you'll be driving through at blazing speeds seem to be just as well
maintained visually as the cars, but since the roads and cities just
blur by while you're driving it's really hard to tell definitively how
good they really are visually. This is by far the fastest racing game
out there, with an intensity of speed you'll encounter in no other
racing game today.
One real negative is that once again the cars and even the roadways and
cities you are driving don't really exist - everything you drive and
everywhere you drive are totally fictitious creations of Criterion. The
only feature you can even change on a car is its color.
Guess not too many car companies wanted to be affiliated with a game
that encourages 100% road-raging, vehicle destruction; nor is any city
going to be too happy being subjected to being labeled as a haven for
races of revenge and demolition. On top of that, the explosions of
twisted car metal are the best around (although Sega's next-generation
title, Full Auto, looks like it will obliterate that when it appears on
the Xbox 360 this winter).
Sounds of the game are done well, but all the cars start to sound almost
the same after a while, especially since the cars are motoring at
nitro-induced speeds and sound just like a jet fighter boosting its
afterburners. Since EA is now the publisher of Burnout Revenge, the same
type of soundtrack that you'll hear in most EA Sports titles pops up in
Burnout Revenge, with plenty of fast-rocking tunes to get your blood
boiling and fuel your fire for roadway revenge.
The underlying gameplay of the ultimate road rage dream-come-true of
thrashing other cars to your heart's content is what Burnout Revenge is
all about. There are a ton of different styles of game modes, including
races against other cars or even just the clock. But the main theme of
each Burnout Revenge is to get to the final goal, and crashing into
every other car in the race or in the traffic flow is highly encouraged
along every inch of the asphalt battlefield. The most fun mode again is
the Crash Event, where your only aspiration is to hurl down a road into
traffic as the ultimate auto weapon, intent on causing the most severe
damage via a massive traffic accident initiated by your ride. The one
annoying aspect of the Crash mode is that if you fail to record a
medal-winning score, the "rewind" back to the starting point from the
failed crash scene can be annoyingly longer than seems necessary.
Other modes have been added that exponentially increase their respective
fun quotient too. The new addition that's the most entertaining is the
Traffic Attack, where your objective is to smash into as many cars as
possible. The new strategy of "checking" traffic out of your way and
also into other traffic for points is a lot of devilishly good fun, a
new guilty pleasure in the racing game genre (just like the hockey move
it sounds like: "check" into other vehicles with the sole intention of
causing them to wreck and get checked out of your path). There are a
total of eight modes available in Burnout Revenge, more than you would
expect, and all with some level of revenge to extract in their gameplay
element.
This is a long-lasting game too. There are so many new cars, levels,
stats, and trophies to unlock throughout the seemingly hundreds of
varied racing roads and environments of Burnout Revenge. There's so many
unlockables throughout the game, that in my greed and obsession to
collect and unlock as much as possible over extended playing sessions, I
actually developed a case of carpal tunnel syndrome that required me to
not play a video game of any kind for three whole days. Alongside the
addictive nature of unlocking every little secret the game has, Burnout
Revenge's gameplay is totally intense and possesses a relatively strong
control schematic that keeps you on the track and in full control of
your vehicle even at speeds at over 200 mph and is forgiving when you
impact into environmental obstacles if you are effectively controlling
your driving (although there are times when it's the exact opposite,
when a seemingly innocuous collision will result in a total annihilation
of your car).
There is an online mode for Burnout Revenge over Xbox Live, but I was
disappointed in the fact that I had all kinds of issues properly
connecting to race competitions, for no apparent reason. I did have
overwhelming success joining Crash Party games, however, that are more
enjoyable and competitive than straightforward race competitions.
The schizophrenic online play was a bit of a letdown, but if you like
barreling into cars at insane speeds then Burnout Revenge is exactly the
sizzling ride you've been looking for. It holds its own as a traditional
racer in the Need for Speed and Midnight Club vein, but the brilliant
twist of the encouragement to crash cars for gaming pleasure and reward
pushes the petal to the metal and zooms Burnout Revenge past the average
racing game. For those who haven't tried out a Burnout game, Burnout
Revenge is the best yet. Burnout veterans will have enough new features,
and of course, the allure of unlocking more and more tracks and cars
while going for the gold medal and in-game trophies as plenty enough
reason to get Burnout Revenge.
