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Burnout Revenge (Xbox/PS2/PC)

Burnout Revenge

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: Electronic Arts
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: PC, PS2 and Xbox
Genre: Racing
UK Release: 16th Sep 2005
Article Date: 01st Dec 2005
Difficulty: Medium
Price: £39.99
Score Breakdown
Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:


Overall Score: 95%
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Pros
  • Great graphics
  • Multiple game modes
    Cons
  • Constant saving to memory card
    Screenshots

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    Anyone sick of standard ‘lap races’ will find something totally refreshing about Burnout Revenge. Whilst indeed, Burnout Revenge features these standard races you’ll also find a plethora of other modes to boot, and as the title suggests, they mostly revolve around the theme of crashing into things at speed.

    As mentioned there is an abundance of different race modes awaiting you as soon as you enter the main game mode, the World Tour. You initially start off in one area and as soon as you have completed enough of the different races you are whizzed off to another place and must start off the process again. The whole idea is to collect great ratings in each race and to earn a decent rating to increase your overall rank.

    But more about the different game modes. The rush hour mode has you deliberately crashing into the rush hour traffic in as imaginative way as possible. Extra points (and boost) are awarded for hitting the same vehicle twice; hitting a vehicle that subsequently hits another vehicle and so on. The crash mode returns, and has you competing to cause as much damage as possible on a specific path. Extra points are awarded for causing a target car to crash due to the mayhem, and if you cause enough damage, you can add insult to injury by blowing up your own car and causing even more damage. There are also standard time trials and lap races to enjoy, and all encourage you to cause havoc at any opportunity, indeed its rewarded in the bucket load.

    Signature takedowns have been built into the package to keep the replayability pumped to the max. Each arena has a special area where only certain takedowns can be pulled off. For example in Motor City (one of the earlier arenas) you can get signature takedowns by forcing an opponent to crash into the pillars under the freeway or by hitting a rival into the dockside cranes. Each of the multiple arenas have these specialist takedown spots and if you manage to unlock them all you’ll be rewarded with even more unlockables and of course some of that spectacular FMV footage.

    And that’s not all either. As with the signature takedown, the challenge sheet awaits every single arena in the game. In the challenge sheet you have specific challenges to meet in that particular area. For example you might need to perform three revenge takedowns in a race, or simply perform a vertical takedown but at the end of it all; a completed challenge sheet will reward you with another bonus unlocked car.

    EA may get there fair share of negative press but we only wish other developers and publishers would lavish their games with as much polish as EA religiously do. Burnout Revenge is simply brimming with nice little touches that never fail to grab your attention. Informative tutorials kick in when you come across a new feature, lengthy FMV sequences celebrate any takedowns you perform and generally the presentation is top notch. On occasions, during races, some people may find the takedown FMV annoying as it can distract from the gameplay (although it can also be turned off in the options) otherwise the whole feel of the game is solid gold.

    Simply put the graphics are outstanding on the PS2 and the developers have really outdone themselves this time. No other PS2 game has given us the illusion we were actually playing on something more powerful than this particular title did. During races using the boost will slightly blur the screen to give a nice illusion of speed whilst the detailed backgrounds and attention to detail on the car models really push this title towards the best looking PS2 game to date.

    The soundtrack is assured with this being from the mighty EA stables. The EA Trax’s have again been laid out for this release and feature music from The Doors (The Other Side), The Chemical Brothers (The Big Jump), Unwritten Law (F.I.G.H.T) and 33 others. Again full customisation is catered for with tracks being able to be played randomly, sequentially or individually turned off if they grate.

    The crux of Burnout Revenge revolves around the massive World Tour although there is also offline multiplayer for between 2 to 6 players with 6 different game modes to choose from. The race mode, as you would expect, is a normal race around the laps although you can define the course and the number of laps and players. Crash Tour has up to six players battling it out to cause as much damage as possible and the other four modes are interesting variations of the race and crash modes. Net play is also catered for and allows up to six players to thrash it out online in similar game modes to the offline side.

    If we had to any hurl any complaints towards Burnout Revenge it would be that at times the game seems to be a victim of its own success. The PS2 version saved and loaded profiles after every race which slowed down the pace of any gaming sessions. Also, the menu system may initially be confusing to novices, with multiple different branching menus, leading to different events; getting lost in it all is a distinct possibility. However having said that, when in game, the frame rate is so smooth things are instantly forgiven. It’s a shame that the developers didn’t give the gamer the choice of saving their game when they wanted, because as it stands it does seem particularly excessive.

    Burnout Revenge really does have it all though, it has managed to finally shake up the racing genre into a wholly more addictive package. For those of us who prefer a more arcadey experience when playing their racing games Burnout Revenge delivers everything we have ever wanted and more. With top notch presentation and replayability that goes through the roof it’s a sure fire bet to assume the Burnout series is safe for some time to come.






    DETAILED GAME INFORMATION

    [Click to enlarge image][Click to enlarge image][Click to enlarge image][Click to enlarge image][Click to enlarge image]
    [Click to visit the official site]


    Version Reviewed: PS2
    Other Versions: PC, PS2, GC
    Muliplayer: Yes
    Price: £39.99

    Burnout Revenge screenshots (15MB) - DOWNLOAD HERE





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