Burnout 2: Point of Impact

"Macho macho man! I want to be... A MACHO MAN!"

I’ll admit it. I’m not that “masculine”. I prefer a good, intelligent thriller over an explosion filled action movie. I don’t particularly care to get my hands dirty by working on cars (which I also know little about). Give me a choice of a four star hotel and camping in the wilderness, and I’ll already be down in the hotel lounge sipping a martini. I’m not into any “manly” sports at all, but give me a good tennis match to watch and I’ll be happy. I’m a pansy, I’m a scaredy cat, and I’m pretty weak. I am the complete opposite of the stereotypical “manly man”.

Deep down inside, though, lurks a big manly man who wants to get his hands dirty. He wants to open up the toolbox and fix something. He wants to crack open a brewskie, sit down, and watch football. He wants to go see the latest brainless explosion filled action movie. He wants to rough it in the woods for a week. He wants to play a shoot ‘em up, gore filled game. He wants to drive really fast in the coolest car available. And when I let him come out, I enjoy it.

That’s why I love Burnout 2 so much. It appeals to the macho man inside of me. You have fast cars, cool music, big crashes, wicked stunts, and you drive at 100+ miles per hour. Except for the lack of naked ladies and a keg full of beer, what more could a macho man ask for?

To those who never played the original sleeper hit; let me fill you in. You race around different tracks and compete to be first across the finish line. Sure, it may sound a little boring… but I haven’t gotten to the best part! At the bottom of the screen, you have a boost meter. Drive dangerously, and the meter fills up. Drive on the wrong side of the road, barely miss a car, get some air on the bigger bumps, power drift around a corner… all of that adds to your boost meter. When the meter is filled, you let loose and get a HUGE burst of speed until the meter runs out. Continue to drive dangerously while you are using the boost meter, though, and the meter will automatically refill when it runs out. If it automatically refills, you continue to boost AND you get tons of bonus points, too. It works damn well, making an exciting and fun racing game.

Before you even start playing, you must pass Offensive Driving 101. It’s a simple set of lessons that act as the training mode. You get medals on each lesson according to how well you did. Unlike many other games, this training mode is actually a bit challenging. You won’t be getting gold medals on your first play through, and a fair amount of practice and skill are required to earn them. Pass all the lessons with a bronze medal or higher, and the rest of the game is unlocked

The championship mode is the beef of the game. Race against three opponents in different areas and tracks and be first. It runs the risk of being in the shadow of the other great modes of play, but a huge variety of courses keep it from being second fiddle to the rest of the game. Dropped in between each championship is a little bonus level. It might be a race against a secret car (if you win the race, you’ll unlock it), it might be a simple one lap race, or it might be the insanely fun Pursuit race.

In Pursuit, you are a cop car chasing after another car. Your job is to crash into the car and total it until it eventually breaks down. There are more ways to hit the fleeing car than you might think. You can ram the back bumper for a little damage, or nudge him into another car in the traffic for some big damage. Drive along side of him and push him against the wall, or simply slam on the breaks when you are right in front of him. Time isn’t on your side, though. If you don’t break the car down by the time it reaches the escape route; you lose and have to do the race again. It’s challenging, and downright cool to turn the police siren on and chase after some crook.

Crashing cars isn’t just a feature in Pursuit mode, though. You can crash cars in the racing and championship modes (doing so costs you valuable seconds though), but the main place to turn yourself into a crash test dummy is in the aptly named Crash mode. In this mode, you pick a car, whose boost meter is full and go through a short course and crash into other cars, trying to rack up the most money damage. Rack up the most insurance damage, you get a gold medal and the next course opens. Fail and only cause a single head on collision and… well… try, try again.

It works brilliantly because of the strategy involved. I remember a time where I just couldn’t cause enough damage in a highway course. I would only cause $1000 dollars so worth of damage… until I got an idea. I boosted of the starting line, and hit a bus head on. The force of the impact caused the bus to swerve and cover the majority the highway. Car after car crashed into the bus. Soon, a huge truck carrying lumber stepped on the brakes and swerved out of the way… only to cover the rest of the highway that the bus didn’t! I watched in childish glee, cackling like a madman as I saw cars continue to pile up. When it was done, I had over 15 million dollars worth of damage done, and probably twenty or so cars piled up. If I didn’t think to hit the bus and cause a super chain reaction, I’d still be struggling to beat that course. Strategy and pure blind luck plays an incredibly important role as you try to cause the biggest pile up ever.

As you watch cars pile up, you are treated to an orgasmic display of chaos. Cars go flying in the air in slow motion. Cars do somersaults on the asphalt as they crash out of control. Pieces of cars go flying everywhere. Glass shatters from the car windows. Huge dents appear in the many cars you crash. Cars flip over each other and crash into telephone poles. It’s almost kind of… sexy. Burnout 2 boasts the best crashes I’ve ever seen in a game. Trust me, they’re that good.

The rest of the visuals are on par with the crashes, thankfully. Each car reflects light and shines realistically. From what I know about cars, it seems they all match their models. The skid marks from the cars are all there, as are the minor scrapes and dents your car will get along the way. The other traffic causing cars on the courses are moderately varied, but you will see the same car models on the road repeating often. The courses are very well done and show an amazing amount of detail. You see little shops, ships on the water, plant life, medians on the highways… anybody who has played even one racing game knows that this amount of detail is rare. The weather effects, like rain and overcast, admirably do what they are supposed to do.

The soundtrack is the only thing that drags the score down a notch. It’s an odd mix of techno-rock-pop that doesn’t really add to the excitement at all. Having a killer soundtrack that adds to the overall excitement in a racing game is a must. While each course has its own music, the majority of the tracks sound strangely similar to one another. A little more variety in the music and less emphasis on techno and more on rock would’ve done the game justice. The sound effects shine above the mediocre soundtrack, though. Screeching tires, glass shattering into millions of pieces… they all sound strikingly realistic.

With this being an arcade racer, controls must be pick up and play. Thankfully, they are. After your first race, the controller almost melts in your hand and controlling your car becomes as easy as riding a bike. The menus are easy to navigate, but I found the “pick your car” menu and the many choices in it to be a bit cumbersome.

Burnout 2 has a very simple premise, but a huge cornucopia of modes keep it from being a totally mindless experience. You can always do better and cause more money in Crash mode, and there is a nice assortment of secret cars to unlock. There is a large amount of championship races, and getting all the gold medals is a very tough task that requires time and practice. Pick this one up and you’ll be playing for a very long time.

In the end, Burnout 2 offers a near perfect mix of action, cars, and cool stunts. The only thing that keeps it from perfection is the mediocre soundtrack. Now, excuse me. I have to dress up like a construction worker and whistle at the hot ladies across the street.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/22/03, Updated 06/23/03