Burnout 2: Point of Impact

"The game that made me REGAIN the respect I had lost for Arcade Racers"

It was only a few days ago that I got this game with another game, and I have to admit, I was looking forward to playing the other game instead of this. When I tried Burnout 2: Point of Impact out, that whole idea changed. As I played and progressed, the game that I got with Burnout 2 collected more and more dust. Days went by and I could not satiate my hunger for speed and an adrenaline rush that could only be provided by pressing and holding R1 and driving against oncoming traffic. My heart always stopped when I came head on with a semi truck, sending my car careening down the side of the road in a heap of twisted metal. This is the only game that has ever made my hands sweat...

Story-NA/10

There's no story to it. It's a racing game. Duh.

Graphics-8/10

The graphics in this game are superb. They aren't Gran Turismoesque (how many games have graphics like that, anyway?), but are very presentable. The roads are smooth and not pixilated, yet they aren't just one solid color. The lighting is also great in this game because you can actually get blinded by the road reflecting the sun's rays in your eyes. The street signs are almost life like, you can see sparks come from the sides of you car if you ride the guard railing, and the environment is slightly interactive. For instance, you can run over saw horses and send them bouncing into oncoming traffic. When an opponent crashes, you can actually hit the debris and fragments of his car as you rush past it. Although the car models aren't that great when it comes to realism, it is compensated for when you see the stellar accidents take place. They can range from mere fender benders to mammoth career enders. The damage models have greatly improved since the first Burnout: Your bumpers break off, the windows shatter, wheels fall off, the bodies sometimes get squashed, and the trunk and hood break off too. When accidents take place, the camera captures it in a cinematic style, which in my opinion is great because you won't have to miss what happens if you prefer the bumper camera view. In Crash mode, which I won't delve into for anti-spoiler purposes, the crashes are shown in slow motion capture so that you can see every bump and bruise inflicted on you, your car, and the traffic cars.

Gameplay-9/10

Although the game can get a bit rough at times, the gameplay and learning curve is easy. The speed sensation of the game when getting a burnout is addicting and the idea of rushing into oncoming traffic is nearly an undying recreation. As I have said before, Burnout 2 was the first game that has ever made me perspire profusely from my hands. The game is so unpredictable because of the traffic that that's one of the reasons why I play Burnout 2 so much-You never know what will happen. While racing, you will notice that the opponents actually are smart and the developers worked hard on the AI. They do a great job dodging traffic and accidents that you even cause. Even though making the computer opponents is a hard job, that's only half the battle. The other half is making the AI act like a human-not a perfect racer. In many games in the past, I would notice that the computer somehow or some way would be able to dodge the most inevitable misfortunes. In Burnout 2, though, this is not the case. Your opponents WILL crash at one point or another...sometimes even more than thrice in a short race-which leads to my next point about the gameplay. The car accidents are so fun and non linear that you will want to crash into the same part of the track many times just to see what your car will do differently. The ability to cause pileups makes the game even more interesting because even if you crash, the race is not over for you because the opponents behind you will have to come past the pileup you caused. So basically, your accident can actually help you in some ways by screwing a close opponent to you up.

Now, for the negative part...

The con about the gameplay is that the career mode is way too short and will only keep you busy for a few days. Luckily, there are other activities in the game, such as Crash, Pursuit, and of course, multi player.

Audio-7/10

Although the developers seemed to care a lot about the audio by making the game Dolby Prologic II friendly, it was apparent that they spent most of their time on the sound effects rather than the music. Don't get me wrong when seeing the score-the sound effects are fine. In fact, I consider them better than the sound effects in most other games. What really made the score for audio drop, though is the music. The music is totally unfit with the mood of the game. Rather than being the heart pumping techno that should be in a Street Racing game, they threw in some Rock and Country-sounding music. This almost ruins the mood of the game, considering the fact that the music gets louder when the burnout boost is initiated in your car.

Replay Value-10/10

Although the game itself is short, the concept of the game is fresh and lively enough to last you for a pretty long time. With challenging AI, ghastly (in a good way) accidents, beautiful graphics, and unique modes to choose from, this game will be hard to let go of. It's the perfect game to impress friends and relatives with.

Buy or Rent?

Buy. The game is only $20. It's a steal. If it was still worth $50, I still would urge anyone to buy. Renting is a waste of money because in the end, you will end up buying it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/15/04