By
Michael Palisano
After the success of Burnout 3:
Takedown, it's no surprise that EA's Burnout Revenge is one of the year's
most-anticipated games. Upping the ante significantly with improved
physics modeling, more intense course design, plus added gameplay modes
makes this the best yet. Players can now check traffic moving in the same
direction and use Crashbreakers during races to create spectacular
crashes. Add in cool Revenge Takedowns and these improvements affect the
gameplay dramatically, giving things an even greater sense of chaos and
intensity. Constantly unlocking courses, tracks, and mini-games again make
for an addictive experience that keeps getting better as you progress.
Players' expectations are high so read our review and find out how the
developers at Criterion were able to make Burnout Revenge leave Takedown
in the dust.
Taking
the best elements of last year's game and intensifying them with more
features, exaggerated physics models and additional modes, Burnout Revenge
represents the best arcade-style battle racer to date on the Xbox. While
many other racing titles on the market emphasize realism, Revenge is all
about creating chaos and destruction in your wake. This doesn't mean that
the game isn't realistic, in fact the new courses this year feel even more
authentic and feature more jumps and branches than the last game in the
series. However, the developers' have once again taken the concept to
another level with more elaborate takedowns and crashes that seemingly
push the limits of their physics engine. As you scream down the road, your
objective is to cross the finish line before anyone else, crashing and
smashing any other vehicle that gets in your way. Unlike other racers
where you're penalized for going in the wrong direction or driving
recklessly, Revenge rewards players by adding to their flaming boost bar
for dangerous moves. This is quite important; because you'll need to keep
you finger on the boost constantly in order to succeed. Driving against
traffic slowly builds up your boost, but the real way to turbo charge your
level is to crash into rival vehicles and take them out of the race. There
are a variety of techniques that allow you to do this including running
them against a wall, shunting them off the course, landing on them and
knocking them off a cliff. Each time you do this, the action enters a
slow-motion mode where you can revel in your opponent's dramatic end. This
is similar to the approach seen in Burnout 3, but the developers have now
added the ability for players to check or crash into traffic traveling in
the same direction, meaning you can plow through other vehicles. However,
your vehicle isn't strong enough to withstand an impact with a larger
vehicle such as a bus, even if its going in the same direction.
While
crashing into other vehicles and taking them down is enjoyable and
satisfying, there are many points in the game where you'll find yourself
taken out. At this point, you can slow the action down and control the
direction of your wreck using the Aftertouch mode. This also lets you get
instant revenge, since your vehicle's wreckage can Take down a rival if
they are close by. This works like last year's slow-motion mode, though it
seems slightly easier to control your direction. Another change in this
year's installment is the new Revenge Takedown system, where a car that
knocks you out of the race is subsequently indicated in red as a Takedown
Target, which you can then knock of the road, gain revenge and give your
racer an instant shot of boost. Revenge Takedowns are a great improvement
on the gameplay that adds a new element of aggression and tension to each
race. After you've beaten a few levels, you can also use the Crashbreakers
when you crash. Using these allows you to explode and take out nearby
vehicles. However, if you don't take out a rival car, you'll lose all the
energy in your boost bar. While the cars seemingly take unlimited damage
in some modes, since they immediately rejoin the race at full strength
with no apparent damage, you'll also need to keep an eye out on the damage
meter, since you can total your vehicle if you crash too many times. As
you race through each course, the game keeps track of your driving moves
and ranks your skills and performance. At the end of each event, you'll
earn a number of medals depending on how you finished. However, you can
earn an extra medal if you finish the race with a high skill ranking, but
can lose a medal or two if your driving skills were poor. This makes it
important drive skillfully and consistently during each round. After each
round, players can also earn trophies if they complete a certain special
move or takedown during the race. It sounds more complicated than it is.
Burnout Revenge intergrates the rankings seamlessly into each round to
create a cohesive system that makes sense.
Burnout Revenge features many of the
familiar modes from the first game plus a couple of new ones, which add to
the already deep gameplay. The game's structure is excellent, consisting
of a variety of smaller mini-games that let players to progress at their
own pace. While a large number of events are usually open at any given
time, players can unlock additional events and vehicles as they complete
earlier races. You'll find several standard racing modes including Burning
Lap, where you have to beat the best time, an Eliminator race, where the
driver in last place is eliminated at the end of each lap plus standard
lap races where you compete against rival vehicles. As you progress to
later levels, you'll also be able to unlock the new Crashbreaker races
which were detailed earlier. There are also a number of cool mini-games
that diverge from standard racing structures. The first of these are the
Crash mode, where the object is to set up a spectacular crash by driving
into a group of vehicles and causing massive chain reactions. Some of the
earlier Crash modes are simple, but the latter levels require some
strategy, as you need to plan your route and figure out where your vehicle
can land to cause the most damage. Once your vehicle has landed and time
has elapsed, you can then detonate your vehicle using the Crashbreaker, to
cause even more damage. In addition, players can choose to play through
the Traffic Attack mode, where the object is to check a number of vehicles
to reach a damage target amount. Your time is limited, but you earn extra
time for each vehicle you crash. Similarly, you can play the Road Rage
mode, where you have to complete a number of Takedowns in order to win a
medal.
The
most important element that truly separates Burnout Revenge from other
racing titles on the market is its sheer intensity, which surpasses
anything else on the market. While other street racing games have nitro
features, none come close to achieving the sense of speed that Burnout
Revenge offers effortlessly. Taking the crash dynamics to a completely new
level, the added Revenge modes add another layer onto what was already an
intense game. With such an astonishing sense of speed, its even more
impressive that the developers at Criterion have implemented such an
accessible, responsive set of controls that allow you to steer your
vehicle, perform massive jumps and even do some drifting. These controls
are quite responsive and fluid, making this installment an absolute joy to
play, giving you a sense of speed and control that other racers seem to
lack. The most important feature of the game's fluid controls are their
accessibility, you can jump right into the game with little instruction.
However, you'll definitely need good reflexes, but you won't have to waste
hours of your time learning the basics. It's a simplified arcade racer at
heart, but there are nuances to the gameplay as well. Using the Aftertouch
system has also been simplified, with the directional crashes easier to
manipulate, allowing you to cause even more damage than before. On top of
all of these elements, the game now allows you to crash into traffic ahead
of you to create massive skill shots that let you use them as weapons to
take out other vehicles. It isn't easy to accomplish at first, but once
you get the hang of it, this new ability just adds more fun to the
proceedings.
From an aesthetic standpoint, Burnout
Revenge has evolved significantly with a deeper, richer and more subtle
color palette used to create even more realistic environments. There's a
greater variety of locations this time as well, with urban and city areas
mixed with mountains and rustic areas to give the game a greater variety.
The cars remain fantasy vehicles, but the rendering engine shows definite
signs of improvement with increasingly detailed bodies giving each one a
more realistic feel. Burnout's exaggerated physics engine allows players
to perform stunts and survive crashes that they'd never see in reality,
giving the game an almost surreal feel at certain points. This portion of
the game has also undergone an overhaul, with the cars taking damage more
realistically then before with fenders and tires blowing off the vehicles
when they crash. The already impressive crash physics are also enhanced,
with even wilder crashes that cause the vehicles to explode off the road
into the air. Checked cars bounce around the track like ping-pong balls
and you can now cause massive chain reactions where dozens of vehicles can
be seen twisting and turning into the air. This is incredibly cool and
shows the sheer power and creativity that makes the game explode off the
screen. As you'd expect, the game offers a phenomenal sense of speed that
creates quite a dizzying sensation at certain points, where you feel
you're moving almost impossibly fast. To go along with the supercharged
gameplay and hyper-realistic visuals, Burnout Revenge features a selection
of pop-punk and techno tracks from a variety of artists, sadly the quality
of these tracks is hit or miss, with some complimenting the action
perfectly, while others seem out of place in this context. With its
impressive damage system already in place, the upgraded environmental
graphics and sense of speed makes Burnout Revenge the best-looking title
in the series to date, surpassing the original in terms of realism and
sheer magnitude.
There
can be little doubt that Burnout 3: Takedown revolutionized racing games
last year. What's most impressive about Burnout Revenge is experiencing
how much the series has evolved in a relatively short period of time. Some
of the changes, such as the ability to check traffic, might seem minor on
the surface but end having a major impact on how the game plays. Taking
the game's crash dynamics to a new level, the increased vehicular carnage
doesn't feel overplayed, and instead seems like a natural extension of
what was already one of the most unhinged arcade racing titles on the
current consoles. More importantly, the nearly non-linear structure keeps
you challenged throughout and you rarely feel confined in one area of the
game. A constant stream of unlockable content further adds to your
motivation, making Burnout Revenge consistently enjoyable throughout.
These enhancements and changes are smartly implemented and don't feel like
needless additions to the series, making this manic racer the most
enjoyable, addictive and challenging racing titles released for the
current generation. The developers deserve praise for adding to their
already-successful formula without trampling on the elements that made the
first title so enjoyable in the first place. Burnout Revenge is one of the
best action-racing titles on the market, and far exceeds the lofty
expectations set for it.
