Burnout Revenge

Review from Yug and Yug - Wednesday, 28 September 2005 @ 12:00am

The Burnout games are revered in the AustralianGamer world, and Burnout 3 was our first ever review. Burnout Revenge was highly anticipated, and was previewed by us at Imagine.

Now we get to sit and really run it through its paces, and see if it is the answer to our prayers or a crushing disappointment.

Well, we never really prayed for this, but if we had, someone heard (more likely someone at Criterion than Heaven). Burnout Revenge is everything that Burnout 3: Takedown was, but it adds so much more.

There are two people that will be reading this review. Most will have already played Burnout 3: Takedown. If you have, then you know what to expect. An ultra-fast, hardcore arcade racing game, where "realistic driving models" have been replaced with speed, awesome crash physics, pounding licensed music, and some serious shiny. It's racing with the volume set at 11.

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Burnout Revenge turns everything up to 12. There was nothing really seriously wrong with Takedown, but Revenge adds a lot to a working formula. Strangely it seems that the improvements that they have made actually slightly show up Takedown, and things you never really thought of as flaws are suddenly glaring.

The other type of person who might be reading is those who never played Burnout 3. It's my fervent hope that there aren't too many of those people. Saying you missed out on Burnout 3 is like saying you haven't played Final Fantasy VII, or you haven't played Grand Theft Auto 3. Call yourself a gamer? For shame!

Burnout Revenge takes up where Burnout 3 was. The focus of Burnout 3: Takedown was "Takedowns", spectacular kills of opposing vehicles, and Burnout Revenge is similarly eponymous, with "Revenge Takedowns" being the permanent settling of a grudge. When an opponent takes you down he becomes your Rival. From there, the crushing of that one opponent becomes a specific goal.

Aside from the Revenge aspect, the biggest and most obvious addition to this new game is "Traffic Checking". Traffic Checking is the shunting of traffic heading in the same direction as your car (or stopped), pushing them into opponents or generally making roadblocks out of them. This is in contrast to Burnout 3: Takedown, where a tiny touch on any non-opponent car would be considered a crash, even if the overall collision was tiny.

Traffic Checking is something of a mixed blessing. While it is nice to not have that "Instant Death" from minor contact with cars heading in the same direction, the cars don't just get shoved out of your way. They get hurtled like they're made of cardboard. The physics involved are utterly ridiculous. It looks cool and everything, but it's really quite excessive, and actually a little bit silly. What probably makes up for it, though, is just how much fun it is Traffic Checking an opponent on purpose by basically shooting a car at them, or when large amounts of opponents are going through an area full of traffic, and cars are flying everywhere. The chaos is awesome. It has made me giggle like a schoolgirl several times, and I think we can all agree that while the image is disturbing, the concept is quite cool.

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There's one other major addition that adds so much that it's surprising they didn't have it previously. Shortcuts. The implementation of shortcuts and alternative routes makes for dynamic racing, and with traffic splitting, one half ducking and dodging through twisting and dangerous paths, then re-forming at major intersections as all hell breaks loose. It's a brilliant addition that adds a lot of replay value to tracks. Even when you have mastered them? have you really mastered them? There are shortcuts to learn, to watch for, and to get the hang of getting into in the first place. Many of the shortcuts are actually really difficult driving challenges as well, so strategically the choice might not be as obvious as it seems.

Other additions are really tweaks of existing features, or better use of them. There is much, much more air in Burnout Revenge. Air was very rarely used in Takedown, except in a few Crash modes, and it's good to see Revenge offering jumps, ramps, and different terrain, which makes for both spectacular driving and the addition of new takedowns, such as "Vertical Takedown", where you crash onto the top of another car.

After the traffic checking, one of the first things experienced Burnouters (Burners-out?) will notice is that Revenge is fast. I mean that. It's really really fast. The early stages of Revenge are close to the middle of Takedown in pure speed, and there's plenty of headroom. Higher levels are blindingly quick, yet even at insane speeds, the thrill and fun of driving is never dimmed by control issues of any kind.

Graphically Burnout Revenge is a step above the already exceptional Takedown, with small tweaks overall, but the levels seem to be significantly more detailed, with lusher backgrounds, and a more overall "real" feel to them because of it. This comes at a price, though. Loading screens seem to be that little bit longer. It could be just perceptual, but sometimes it feels like there's a bit of a wait to get your race on.

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Sound is all in all improved, but two of the very few criticisms leveled at the last game were sound related. The in-game radio station CrashFM was quite repetitive and got annoying real fast. Thankfully that has been removed now. The other minor flaw was the strange omission of a "sound" for when you're grinding along the rails. There is one now, though it's probably not as harsh and grindy as it should be.

Grindy's a word. Look it up.

I actually preferred the music in Burnout 3, as I find the Revenge music a little generic, and a little less memorable. Maybe time and more listening will change my mind on that, but it kind of lacks the punch of a good solid bit of Franz Ferdinand, etc.

There's only really one place in which Burnout 3 surpasses Burnout Revenge, and that's the navigation of the menu. Burnout Revenge's system for accessing races and events is really not very intuitive and might be quite daunting to many. It sure as hell was to me. Coming in on the middle of Yug's game, with no real idea what he'd cleared and what he hadn't, nor how to tell the difference didn't help either.

As with Burnout 3: Takedown, Burnout Revenge is at its best on the Xbox. We noted the grainy messiness in our preview play of this game, and long term play bears out that the ability to see into the distance with more clarity makes for a much better experience.

Burnout Revenge takes up the mantle of arcade racing genius that was previously held by Burnout 3: Takedown. It's a more than worthy successor to a game many thought could not be bettered. I know I didn't. Realistically at this point Burnout Revenge has only one competitor, which is of course Takedown. Burnout 3: Takedown is available for both Xbox and PS2 at the bargain price of $29.95 in many places, and people who are iffy might want to give that a go before shelling out for the new king of arcade racing. For those who have played Burnout 3 at all, Burnout Revenge is a no-brainer. It's an exceptional game. All you've been waiting for and more.

Summary

More of the same plus a whole bunch more, if you are a Burnout fan, then there are more than enough new elements to entertain you again, and if you are new to the series, then your in for a wild, fast, but no doubt highly enjoyable ride.

Pros

Fantastic graphics and sense of speed; big, detailed, varied levels with multiple routes; new elements such as traffic checking, vertical takedowns and revenge rivals fit in nicely; multiplayer is rock solid; a great deal of polish.

Cons

Maybe a bit TOO fast for some, gets repetitive after you play for 10 hours straight (but you?ll be back playing it again the next day), if you?re a Britney Spears fan prepare to be disappointed by the music selection (actually, that?s probably a pro).