Burnout

"Burnout could have been so much worse, yet it could have been so much better."

Burnout. Avoid crashes, collect points and burn your engine. Is it really any good though?

Gameplay: 8/10
Compelling enough. It can become a bit repetitive but all racing games are repetitive by nature. The crash replays become a bit annoying after a while because you don't really want to see your measly bumper to bumper in three angle slow motion glory. The different number of tracks and cars is nice and provides a bit of variety but most of the crashs begin to look the same and you will only get one or two every month were you successfully go flying over a fence, down a hill and landing upside down in a ravine.

Graphics: 7/10
Solid. You get the choice of the number of Hz you want the game to run at. Whichever one you choose, it runs unfaltered. Other things such as buildings etc. aren't as realistic as they could have been and the cars can sometimes look a bit cartoony compared to the surroundings but I am probably the only one who has noticed that.

Sound: 9/10
The music is pretty good, the engine purr is nice and the screech of brakes is well done. No major complaints to make here.

Controls: 9/10
Nicely done. They are pretty solid and make it easy for you to steer your car away from a large brick wall a couple of yards from the finish line. There is still room for improvement but they are pretty good.

Multiplayer: 8/10
When you play with two people, the fun factor is pretty high. You can fly around the track to see who can get the best time or cause the most crash damage etc. Its pretty good and no major complaints could be made about the multiplayer aspect of the game.

Replay Value: 7/10
As I have said before, racing games are repetitive by nature. They become quite old, quite quickly, but this is an exception. I'd say there would be a month or two in the game before you begin to play it less but that's just going by what I've experienced from my time playing it.

Overall: 7/10
It's not a bad game, it could have been much worse but it could have been much better. The graphics could do with being improved a bit as some things look out of place but thats the big complaint you could make about the game.

Buy/Rent: Buy when Platinum
I picked mine up preowned. When this game goes Platinum, it is definitely worth the purchase. Until then, buy GT3 and enjoy it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/28/02, Updated 10/28/02