Burnout: Revenge
Score: 95% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: EA Games Developer: Criterion Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 6 (Online) Genre: Racing (Arcade)
Graphics & Sound: In a genre cluttered with Forza, Need for Speed and Gran Turismo wannabes, the Burnout series has been able to carve out its own little arcade racing niche. While the others have focused on things from racing to upgrades, Burnout has focused on something you typically don't want to do in a racing game, crashing. Burnout Revenge builds on what is already considered one of the best arcade racing experiences, building on the strengths of past titles while including a slew of new options, making it one of the year's best racers. Having played the series from its start, it is amazing to see just how much the game's visuals have grown over the past few years. Revenge isn't a massive leap over last year's game, but when you consider how great that game looked, it's hard to find fault. Revenge skirts many of the traditions found in other racing games by not including licensed cars, instead relying on a roster of made-up cars and some decent look-a-likes. There's also very little in the way of personalization. The only mark you're likely to leave on any of the cars are the dents and smashes you create while enjoying Revenge's real stars, the crashes. Watching the chain reactions set off by even the smallest of fender benders is really the whole reason you're playing the game, so enjoy the pyrotechnics. I wasn't too impressed with the licensed music that appears on the game, though to be perfectly honest, I am rarely interested in anything that is included in the EA Trax the company decides to include in some of its games. There are some interesting tracks, but the music really wasn't to my personal tastes. The good news is that Revenge includes customizable soundtracks, so if you're like me and don't enjoy what's already there, you can pop in whatever music you want (provided, of course, it's on your Xbox's hard drive already). Musical tastes aside, everyone should be able to get into Revenge's crashes and other ambient effects.
Gameplay: Burnout has never been solely about getting to the finish line and Revenge does nothing to change the formula. The big addition to Revenge is that traffic that is going in the same direction as you can be smashed through without causing any penalty to you. In fact, this type of behavior is encouraged since your goal is to cause as many road hazards as possible by ricocheting cars into one another with the hopes of taking out some of your rivals (or at least making their trip to the finish line a difficult one). Setting up crashes goes far beyond sending one car flying into another. Every course you come across is designed to see the maximum of destruction. Not only does every course feature oncoming traffic, but some also include environmental areas that you can use to your advantage, such as construction yards and other objects scattered throughout the streets. Both the cars and obstacles combine to give Revenge an extra layer of strategy. Yes, you'll have to think about how you'll outrace the other cars, but also you'll have to plan out how you'll set off little chain-reactions and other course hazards in order to impede other racers and keep your timer from dying down. Some race styles, like Traffic Attack, encourage this type of play driving since the more chaos you cause, the longer you'll have to race to each checkpoint. Another of Revenge’s numerous play modes is Crash mode, where you're given one shot at causing a multi-car pile up. The bigger the damage, the more rewards you’ll rack up. The mode is nothing new to long-time players, though it does play much differently than in past games. The key mechanic in play here is that a three-press meter similar to the kicking meter in Madden determines your speed. Pressing the button at a certain time stops the meter at certain points and determines the speed and straightness of your course. From there, it’s all about watching the destruction unfold before your eyes. Racing games are always fun with more people, and Revenge is happy to oblige. Both offline and online multiplayer options are available and come with a nice selection of modes. The only downside to taking the game online is that you’ll have to unlock everything again.
Difficulty: Compared to past games, Revenge knocks the difficulty level down considerably. Rivals are rather passive and never knock traffic towards you, nor do they use some of the special moves available. This gives you a pretty big advantage during races. Without the hazards to deal with, the only difficult aspect of Revenge is the A.I., which can feel unfair at times. If you’re ever doing really well, or have a noticeable lead, other cars gain a significant speed boost. The intent is to keep the race challenging, but I would have rather seen more aggressive cars instead of a cheap speed-up tactic.
Game Mechanics: And, just because there weren't enough ways to take out other cars, a Crashbreaker option is also available for when you really want some fireworks. After a rival decides to fight back after navigating through the funhouse of a race course you’ve set up for them, you can get your last bit of revenge by triggering your Crashbreaker; causing you and everything around you to go up in one final ball of fire. Getting the maximum impact from a Crashbreaker is all about timing; but when you get it, it’s a beautiful thing indeed. Even though the game’s greater focus is on crashing rather than driving, the driving engine behind Burnout Revenge is still solid. Cars handle with the quick-paced tightness of your standard arcade racer. Swerving through traffic as you try to set up that perfect smash or line a rival up in your sights is very easy to do. Tight handling also helps when navigating the reworked tracks in Revenge. Part of the fun of smashing through everything in sight is that you’ll sometimes find alternate paths and shortcuts that help give the game an even more exciting feel as you can sometimes catch a rival from the side as you come speeding out of a side street. One of the few downsides to Revenge are the load times, which are frequent and take a little longer than you’d like. Though they’re far from game breaking, having to sit through multiple load times does kill some of the adrenaline that comes with playing the game. Think of them as the straight set of track on a roller coaster before that last, big, twisting drop. Revenge is as complete an arcade racing experience as you can hope to find. Everything you’ve ever enjoyed about the Burnout series is here and has been streamlined into a nice, fat-free package. A few issues like the A.I. and load times keep the game from total dominance, but you can’t go wrong with Burnout Revenge.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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