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review :: burnout 3: takedown
Burnout 3: Takedown
Reviewed on: XboxAvailable on: Playstation 2, Xbox
The perfect racer, and the perfect game. Even people who don't like racing games will love it, but "racing sim" fans might prefer something with deeper customization.
Players: 1 - 4 players (up to 8 via Xbox
Genre:
Release: TBA
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I don't like driving games. They bore me. You start of in slow and crappy cars that steer like shopping carts, and it takes weeks to get good enough to consistently win. Week, by the way, that I don't enjoy in the slightest. Unless, of course, I'm playing Burnout 3.
Burnout 3: Takedown is without question the best driving game I've ever played. Actually, all in all, probably one of the best GAMES I've ever played.
Burnout 3 is immediately engaging, immediately impressive, and immediately highly playable.
There's probably only two criticisms I can really make of this game. Three if I want to be picky.
One, the in-game DJ is really annoying. You often (especially in later races) have to restart races quite quickly after starting them, and that DJ gets on your nerves real quick. So do yourself a favour and turn him off.
Two, there really isn't the depth of customization and cars that some people might of a quality racing game. The cars go up in classes, and within each class there are the same old names for the cars. This works, but it's limited. There is NO customization available for the cars. Some of them you can change the colour, but that's it.
Three, The speedo is only listed in Miles Per Hour. Considering this is an internationally released game, and considering the US is the only backward country that still uses MPH, having an option to change that to KPH would have been nice.
Now that that's said, it's all good.
Seriously, everything else is pretty much gaming perfection.
You can see from this screenshot how pretty Burnout 3 is, but you're really only getting a tiny sample. Until you see it move, you haven't seen anything. Until you've felt the rush of powersliding sideways through a tiny gap between two cars at 300mph, you really haven't truly played this game.
This game is fast. Really fast. It feels fast enough that any game I've played before or since just doesn't seem to give that "seat of the pants" feel. Doesn't seem to do it for me.
Enough ranting. The game.
Burnout 3's main mode is it's old faithful "Career mode". As is so typical of games these days it's here that you unlock your new cars, new tracks, etc.
Gameplay is fairly typical of driving games, up to a very important point. You drive, you race, you boost, you powerslide. All of this to get you round the track as fast as possible. The big difference, and the thing that really makes this game stand out from the crowd is the "Takedown".
A Takedown is a kill on an enemy racer. There are lots of different types of takedowns, with the most common being a Wall Takedown (where you ram your opponent into a wall) or a Car (or Van or Bus or Truck, or whatever) Takedown, where you use a vehicle to kill the opponent. You can also get something called a "Psyche Out" which is when your opponent makes a forced error caused by you staying close behind and accellerating and panicking them.
There is another Takedown type called the "Aftertouch Takedown". Aftertouch is what happens when you hold the A button after you crash. Time slows down and with some luck you can actually steer your crumpled wreck's flight through space. Using this technique you can crash into cars still racing, even two or three or more of them in one string. Aftertouch manouvering is not very effective, and you have no control on the camera so it can be very hit and miss. Regardless, though, it's extremely satisfying when you launch your newly mangled car across a freeway to perfectly nail the guy in second place, then bounce across to take out third. Gaming brilliance!
The final takedown type is a Signature Takedowns. These are a level based takedown, and there are two or three (or more) different places or vehicles that can be used for a special takedown, whether it's a specific statue or landmark, or a common vehicle type specific to the area.
These takedowns all have a few things in common. First and most noticably, you get a cool dramatic Matrixy freeze effect happening. This does a great job of making the kill look hard, brutal, and exceptionally cool. Secondly, these takedowns add a little bit onto your boost bar. Boost is your "turbo" and is necessary to win. You get more boost by risky behaviour, such as driving on the wrong side of the road, just missing civilian cars, drafting behind opponents, drifting, getting air, etc. But you get the most boost from a Takedown. Not only does that fill your current boost bar, but it makes it longer too. Each successive Takedown up to three will add another segment to your boost bar, giving you greater speed and a better chance to catch up, or keep ahead.
Burnout 3: Takedown has several different game-styles. These are Race, which is self-explanatory; Eliminator, in which the last place holder is eliminated each lap; Burning Laps, a time trial, with an often insanely difficult time-to-beat; and Road Rage Events. Road Rages are about eliminating a specific number of "drone" racers. They are brutal, require surprisingly delicate touch, and are incredibly fun. The other mode type is Crash mode. Like Burnout 2, Crash junction lets you drive head-on into a pre-set traffic situation with the goal being to cause as much damage as possible. Pick-ups enable you to double or even quadruple your final tally, or add extra.
Also a lot of fun is an additional "Crashbreaker" control. Once you receive the required number of crashes for a particular junction you get access to a Crashbreaker. Pressing B will cause your car to explode, allowing you to bounce to a new area, get another pick-up, or cause further mayhem and destruction. There are also pick-ups that cause an instant crashbreaker effect, throwing cars around like toys and hurtling you to your next destination. This is, quite frankly, fun.
Unfortunately, though, it's not really all THAT fun. Approximately half the game is dedicated to these crash junctions, and while they're fun and satisfying I wonder if it would be more fun if instead of splitting the game half and half between Crash mode and everything else they made it one third Road Rage events.
In any case, if you don't have Burnout 3 you should buy it. Just buy it. Now. There is enough gameplay to last you weeks, and anyone can pick up and play. While we feel the Xbox version is better due to the suitability of the triggers to driving games, the PS2 version is just as good. So whatever you can get it on, get it!
Burnout 3: Takedown is without question the best driving game I've ever played. Actually, all in all, probably one of the best GAMES I've ever played.
Burnout 3 is immediately engaging, immediately impressive, and immediately highly playable.
There's probably only two criticisms I can really make of this game. Three if I want to be picky.
One, the in-game DJ is really annoying. You often (especially in later races) have to restart races quite quickly after starting them, and that DJ gets on your nerves real quick. So do yourself a favour and turn him off.
Two, there really isn't the depth of customization and cars that some people might of a quality racing game. The cars go up in classes, and within each class there are the same old names for the cars. This works, but it's limited. There is NO customization available for the cars. Some of them you can change the colour, but that's it.
Three, The speedo is only listed in Miles Per Hour. Considering this is an internationally released game, and considering the US is the only backward country that still uses MPH, having an option to change that to KPH would have been nice.
Now that that's said, it's all good.
Seriously, everything else is pretty much gaming perfection.
You can see from this screenshot how pretty Burnout 3 is, but you're really only getting a tiny sample. Until you see it move, you haven't seen anything. Until you've felt the rush of powersliding sideways through a tiny gap between two cars at 300mph, you really haven't truly played this game.
This game is fast. Really fast. It feels fast enough that any game I've played before or since just doesn't seem to give that "seat of the pants" feel. Doesn't seem to do it for me.
Enough ranting. The game.
Burnout 3's main mode is it's old faithful "Career mode". As is so typical of games these days it's here that you unlock your new cars, new tracks, etc.
Gameplay is fairly typical of driving games, up to a very important point. You drive, you race, you boost, you powerslide. All of this to get you round the track as fast as possible. The big difference, and the thing that really makes this game stand out from the crowd is the "Takedown".
A Takedown is a kill on an enemy racer. There are lots of different types of takedowns, with the most common being a Wall Takedown (where you ram your opponent into a wall) or a Car (or Van or Bus or Truck, or whatever) Takedown, where you use a vehicle to kill the opponent. You can also get something called a "Psyche Out" which is when your opponent makes a forced error caused by you staying close behind and accellerating and panicking them.
There is another Takedown type called the "Aftertouch Takedown". Aftertouch is what happens when you hold the A button after you crash. Time slows down and with some luck you can actually steer your crumpled wreck's flight through space. Using this technique you can crash into cars still racing, even two or three or more of them in one string. Aftertouch manouvering is not very effective, and you have no control on the camera so it can be very hit and miss. Regardless, though, it's extremely satisfying when you launch your newly mangled car across a freeway to perfectly nail the guy in second place, then bounce across to take out third. Gaming brilliance!
The final takedown type is a Signature Takedowns. These are a level based takedown, and there are two or three (or more) different places or vehicles that can be used for a special takedown, whether it's a specific statue or landmark, or a common vehicle type specific to the area.
These takedowns all have a few things in common. First and most noticably, you get a cool dramatic Matrixy freeze effect happening. This does a great job of making the kill look hard, brutal, and exceptionally cool. Secondly, these takedowns add a little bit onto your boost bar. Boost is your "turbo" and is necessary to win. You get more boost by risky behaviour, such as driving on the wrong side of the road, just missing civilian cars, drafting behind opponents, drifting, getting air, etc. But you get the most boost from a Takedown. Not only does that fill your current boost bar, but it makes it longer too. Each successive Takedown up to three will add another segment to your boost bar, giving you greater speed and a better chance to catch up, or keep ahead.
Burnout 3: Takedown has several different game-styles. These are Race, which is self-explanatory; Eliminator, in which the last place holder is eliminated each lap; Burning Laps, a time trial, with an often insanely difficult time-to-beat; and Road Rage Events. Road Rages are about eliminating a specific number of "drone" racers. They are brutal, require surprisingly delicate touch, and are incredibly fun. The other mode type is Crash mode. Like Burnout 2, Crash junction lets you drive head-on into a pre-set traffic situation with the goal being to cause as much damage as possible. Pick-ups enable you to double or even quadruple your final tally, or add extra.
Also a lot of fun is an additional "Crashbreaker" control. Once you receive the required number of crashes for a particular junction you get access to a Crashbreaker. Pressing B will cause your car to explode, allowing you to bounce to a new area, get another pick-up, or cause further mayhem and destruction. There are also pick-ups that cause an instant crashbreaker effect, throwing cars around like toys and hurtling you to your next destination. This is, quite frankly, fun.
Unfortunately, though, it's not really all THAT fun. Approximately half the game is dedicated to these crash junctions, and while they're fun and satisfying I wonder if it would be more fun if instead of splitting the game half and half between Crash mode and everything else they made it one third Road Rage events.
In any case, if you don't have Burnout 3 you should buy it. Just buy it. Now. There is enough gameplay to last you weeks, and anyone can pick up and play. While we feel the Xbox version is better due to the suitability of the triggers to driving games, the PS2 version is just as good. So whatever you can get it on, get it!
Final Verdict
The perfect racer, and the perfect game. Even people who don't like racing games will love it, but "racing sim" fans might prefer something with deeper customization.Pros
Fast paced, great replayability, excellent multiplayer, awesome graphics.
Cons
Godawful DJ, need to unlock everything, sometimes unreasonable "catch-up".