Burnout 2: Point of Impact

"This is the fasting racing game i have ever played"

This is the second installment in their arcade racing game. After the success of the first game, criterion games decided to make another game which features huge crashes and super fast arcade racing. Well, they sure did it. This game is a HUGE improvement over the previous game. I'll explain in the next few paragraphs.

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About the game
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When the original burnout was released, many people were disappointed with the limited amount of tracks and modes. Burnout 2: Point of Impact makes up for all the things the original game missed. In this game you drive through streets clogged with cars and trucks. The goal is to come first without crashing. And if you do, the crashes you see will stun you for some time. You don't just bump into cars and carry on, you actually CRASH!!!! I mean heaps of cars that make you want to crash. Tires fly here and there, horns honk, tires screech, shades of glass get blasted away and body parts (the car's) break apart. Imagine going at 150 mph and when your about to cross an intersection a sedan comes in front of you. You crash, sending your car flying to another car, which creates a chain reaction and so cars keep on crashing. The result? A huge pile of totally mutilated cars. Is that cool?

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Graphics:10
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The graphics are too good to be true. It matches the same graphics quality of NFS:HP2. The water reflections look excellent. Everything is very lifelike. The game operates at 60fps so it never slows down. The beauty of the crashes are too good to put in words. Criterion games put the most effort in the crash scenes. Hoods, bonnets, windscreens, tire and the now demolished car of yours , all get tossed away. You feel like you are actually driving on a road and that the car you are driving IS really a car. No complaints here.

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Sound:9
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The background music isn't back though they aren't what you can call the best. Some of the background music is from the original burnout. It could have been improved but well....nothing is perfect. But i can tell you the sound effects sure are perfect. The tires screeching and the sound heard when you activate the boost are simply superb. My final words are that the music could have been improved.

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Gameplay:10
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Ah. The best part of any game. There are alot of cars and SUVs to choose from. They aren't licensed cause companies don't like seeing their cars in the mess you would get if you rammed a car running at the speed of 200 kph. Some look like the Ford's, some Chevy's and some Nissan's. There are also cars that you could have found in the streets during the 30's or 40's. The best are those that are from the movie 'Fast and the Furious'. Now i won't go into that much detail so i'll leave it here.
There are alot of modes you can in. The best by far is the 'crash' mode in which you have to have to drive like a madman crashing into cars and causing as much damage as possible. The most usually mode and is in every game, the 'single race'. You probably know about it if you have played any racing game. You race against 3 computer controlled cars on the many tracks offered to you. The AI is just as it should be. They are pretty smart, too. They don't go in a single lane and they DO crash. I once tried to bump the AI into a truck but i didn't see infront of me so i went BAM into the car. I didn't like the pursuit mode very much though. In this mode, you have to ram the opponent racing car 10 times to win the race. They should have added more features in this mode like in NFS:HP2. Like there should be laps or other ways to stop the opponent. Theres always the championship, in which you race in 4 or 5 tracks to win a tornument. You have to play this mode to unlock more tracks or cars. But before you can even start playing any of these modes you have to finish 'Offensive driving 101'. It is a kind of license test in which you are taught the basic methods of gaining boost(boost makes your car go faster like the nitros in 'Fast and the Furious'). Well! That's it about the modes.
Now about the tracks. There are a lot more American locations than the original one. In fact I think all of them are American locations. Some are short but others are so long it may take you some minutes to complete one lap.

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Replay value:9
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There isn't anything more to do after you have completed the championships but there still is the crash mode and the single race which will have you playing this game for months.

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Rent or buy?
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I did definitely recommend this game for people who like racing and it should be in everyone's collection. But if you haven't played racing games, then i suggest you rent it first. Trust me, you won't regret buying this game ever.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/02/03, Updated 06/03/03