Burnout: Legends
Score: 80% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: EA Games Developer: Criterion Media: UMD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Racing/ Mission-Based Driving
Graphics & Sound: Burnout: Legends takes the previous release of the Burnout line (Burnout 3: Takedown) and puts it in the palm of your hands. But this isn’t just a portable version of Takedown, with gameplay modes like Road Rage (found in Burnout: Revenge). Legends is more like Burnout 3.5. Legends’ visuals look good on the small, bright screen. There were times when the terrain felt a bit pixilated and jagged, but overall, everything from the cars and track typically come off pleasing to the eyes. Each car model is beautiful and full of detail; even the crashes are as impressive as I remember from Takedown, though I seem to remember the collisions being a bit more showy. Like most EA Sports games, the soundtrack is made up of a wide selection of rock, alternative and many other varieties of music. Like the other games, you can choose to listen to only certain songs or mix and match the tunes in the game’s jukebox.
Gameplay: When Burnout: Legends was released, I was secretly hoping it would be a portable version of Revenge. But alas, that was proven wrong when I smashed into a car going my direction and instead of it flying across the street at the enemy vehicles, I was treated to a classic Burnout slow-motion collision. Oh well, even though this game doesn’t match the latest in the console line, it is still chock full of modes and options, explosions, and collisions making it a true Burnout title. Legends’ Single Player mode boasts gameplay like Race, Time Attack, Road Rage, Pursuit, Face-Off, Legend Face-Off, Eliminator, Burning Lap, and Grand Prix. Modes like Race, Time Attack, and Grand Prix are self-explanatory and pretty much the same as in every other racer. Road Rage has you burning around a city taking out as many rivals as possible before you car becomes totaled. Eliminator makes keeping ahead throughout the race all the more important because as the race continues, the last position gets eliminated. Burning Lap tests your ability to go all-out and complete a course as fast as possible, while the Face-Off races have you and a challenger racing for pinks (well, sort of - you keep your car if you lose, but you get a copy of theirs if you win). Single Player also has the ever-popular (well, with me anyway) Crash Events. These missions have you tearing it up in the middle of an intersection trying to cause as much monetary damage as possible with just one hit. This is one of the modes that kept me up till who-knows-what-time in the other versions of Burnout, and this game isn’t any different. The last option in Single Player mode is World Tour; here you travel across the globe competing in various other race types (as described above). Multiplayer mode has several tournaments that you can host or take part in. These events are Race, Road Rage, Pursuit, and Crash. Each one is like their single-player counterpart except it allows for simultaneous or alternating players.
Difficulty: Burnout: Legends should be an average game to go through. As with the other games in the Burnout series, your races, crash attacks, and other missions get harder and more complex as you advance. Unfortunately, this game suffers from “floaty” control that makes it hard to manage your vehicle in tight turns. This is a major issue that not only affects the game’s difficulty, but also hinders its fun level. But this isn’t the section to talk about control issues...
Game Mechanics: ... this is. As I said above, Burnout: Legends suffers from less-than-precise control over your car. I can’t tell if it is the game’s interpretation of the analog signals or if it is the simple fact that the PSP has a short nub instead of the PS2’s stick. With the shorter joystick, there is no way to have quite the same range of movement and precision – and if that’s the reason, then we will probably keep seeing this fault pop up long after this game. I have to say that because of this game’s loose controls, there were times when I just didn’t want to pick it up. These times were rare, but they were present. So is Burnout: Legends a good game? Is it something you should get? If you can get past the control issues, then yes. It is fun and is a great way to take the Burnout experience with you on the road. Between its Quick Races, World Tours, and Multiplayer modes, you can find a play mode for any occasion. If it weren’t for the controls, I would say this is a must-buy. As it is, give it a rent and see if you can stand this fault.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
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