Burnout 2: Point of Impact

"Everyone knows that the fastest cars win"

You’re a boy. You like cars. You should buy a Gran Turismo game. That’s what the folks at SCEE say and it seemed simple enough for me. But while playing GT3 I realised yes, I like fast, sexy cars. But tweaking engines and breaking at just right the point to take half a second off of my lap time just isn’t all that fun. I like the excitement of weaving through packed motorways and the thrills of crashing into a truck full on and creating a huge pile up in the middle of a T junction. Burnout 2 is the game for me and probably is the game for you, unless you’re a mechanic or Hendy Ford or something.

Gameplay:
Burnout 2 is by far the fastest driving game on the Playstation 2. Earn yourself an electrifying speed boost by living dangerously on the wrong side of the road, skimming traffic and skidding round corners. Gamble being incapacitated by another vehicle as much or as little as you wish. As each lap rolls by, the traffic and the danger increases. Be safe, race properly and not lose time crashing OR go wild, probably crash more often but make up the time with loads of speed boosts. You need to be about half way in between these two strategies if you want to succeed. Try to live on the wild side while boosting and you’ll earn yourself another boost and another and another until you’re going so fast you know it’s eventually going to end in tears. However, crashing isn’t frustrating because it’s always your fault having not reacted quickly enough rather than the computer conning you.
The AI of the other 3 drivers is the most impressive I’ve ever seen, certainly much better than GT3. They, like you, will fly all over the place getting boosts and crashing sometimes causing huge unavoidable traffic pile ups in front of you. Also if you burnout your boost 3 or 4 times in a row you will have earned your 10 second lead and it won’t be stolen by cheating AI. Unlike most driving games one crash isn’t the end of your race or even your lead. I can’t think of any negative points about the gameplay, which is why it gets a 10/10

Graphics:
“Graphically it has to be seen to be believed” say OPS2M and yes you will be taken back by the phenomenal rate the game throws polygons at you. However, from the 30 courses available there are only 6 different backgrounds most of which look quite similar and are no match for the beautiful Gran Turismo courses on PS2.
The types of cars are varied and look very nice maybe on par with or just below GT3. When you crash, your car will fly off into houses or traffic and will fall apart quicker than the wedding cake drunk Uncle Louie fell on. The cars look great when flying around the course and even better when capsized outside the local hotel which is why the graphics score an impressive 8/10.

Sound:
The crashes, skids, horns and boost noises are all there and do their job adequately. There is different race music for each of the 6 different track backgrounds, none of which are annoying or irritating. The volume and the pace of the music pumps up when you’re boosting, which is a nice touch too. An above average 7/10.

Lifespan:
Compete in races, police chases or my personal favourite Crash for Cash where you aim to cause as bigger pile up as possible. There are 2 different racing championships where you can unlock new courses and cars. Unlocking everything isn’t easy. For some items you have to win every race in a series of say 6 or 8 to unlock a 1 on 1 race with the better car that you have to beat to try and get. Each of the 15 Crash for Cash levels has a gold medal target amount for you to acquire too.
Even when you win all the 70 or so gold medals that Burnout 2 has to offer in its range of modes you’ll still be striving to beat your best lap times or crash for cash amounts so the lifespan is potentially endless. Desperately swerving between 2 trucks at incredible speeds does not get old. Lifespan gets a 10/10

Multiplayer:
Everyone knows playing with a friend is much better. There’s nothing better than trying to drive on the opposite side of a main road weaving through traffic with your friend on your ass trying to stop you in a police car. In a race you are forced to take more gambles facing a friend of equal ability as their boosts and gambles would be more frequent than the computer, unless you have really boring friends. The graphics aren’t as hot in multiplayer but still way above average for the PS2. Multiplayer gets a 9/10.

Rent/Buy:
The Bottom Line is if you like speed and you like mayhem than you should buy this game because no driving game has ever done it better. If you’re poor than rent it then…..don’t return it.

I tried to be unbiased but I could honestly not fault this game at all and it receives the prestigious overall 10/10!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/03, Updated 07/30/03