Burnout 2: Point of Impact

"The best Racer I've ever played!"

One day while strolling through the city center, I had a quick look in EB games, to find Burnout 2 on special. Why not? I got home, tore the wrapper off the box and shoved the disc in my PS2. I was amazed. Read on...

Burnout 2 is definitely the smoothest, fastest, most thrilling Racer I've ever played. If Need for Speed Underground is the King of Street racing, then this is the Emperor. Starting off in the game, you must sit a licence test, called Offensive Driving 101. Basically, you are encouraged to do everything that you wouldn't do in real life on the road: Slide around corners, drive on the wrong side of the road, or play chicken with oncoming taxis. These are not nearly as hard as the tests found in Gran Turismo, though, so you will find yourself getting a Gold medal on your first or second try.

Gameplay: Gameplay is very smooth, packing dozens of traffic vehicles on the road. You will often find three times as many civilian cars on the track as other racing games, making the races very action-packed and challenging. The championship is not that hard, with a very arcadey 'Pick up and Play' style of play, but is challenging enough to not get boring. The steering system is very tight and twitchy, making it easy There are a few frustrating occasions where you'll want to pick up your PS2 and chuck it off the empire state building, because of a half-asleep truck driver running a red light, cutting you off and sending you into a lamp-post. You earn boost by driving against the law and creating havoc on the city streets.
Overall grade: 9/10 - Superb - (Unrealistic, but Smooth, challenging and easy to learn)

Controls: Controlling your car is super-easy, using a classic control style. Pressing and holding R1 will let you use your boost to pass the opposition and the Circle button toots your can horn. The controller vibration is top-notch, letting you fell every stomach turning crash very well. Steering your car is easy, with ultra-responsive controls that are easy to get used to.
Overall Grade: 10/10 - Near Perfect - (Very responsive and easy to use)

Graphics: OPS2 magazine said that graphically, the game has to be seen to be believed. I totally agree with them. It is amazing that 30 odd cars can be fitted onto the screen without any slowdown whatsoever, and all in perfect detail. It is unfortunate to say that the textures are often bland and flat. Looking at the snowy mountain before a race feels like something from your sister's barbie playset. Inside a tunnel or city background textures are fine, but once you get into the open, it isn't pretty. The cars look alright, but aren' t up to standard with the quality of NFS: Underground or Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec. Maybe a bit of reflections would do the trick.
Overall grade: 9/10 - Superb - (Very busy environments and very detailed cities)

Sound: Burnout 2's audio is a bit of a mixed bag. The music is very well done and sounds very clean. There aren't very many songs to listen to here, so it is a bit disappointing after playing NFS Underground or Tony Hawk's Underground. Thankfully, you'll never get bored by the superb, pumping tunes that you do hear. The sound effects are pretty average. Sure, it sounds nice when you skid around a tight bend or create a huge pile up on an intersection, but the engines are much too quiet. I want more Boy-racer type screeching and roaring. The cars sound too much like Radio Controlled cars that you pick up from Walmart, instead of roaring $50,000 speed machines.
Overall Grade: 7/10 - Pretty nice - (Decent music, but the cars aren't don't have enough grunt)

Game modes: There are four main single player modes and two main Multi-player ones. I'll start with Single player. The championship mode lets you vs. get new cars and tracks by winning races. The championship format isn't all that flash, because you can't restart or quit races once you've started them. In single race mode, the player races 2, 3 or 5 laps around a circuit. In time attack mode you go around a track endlessly, trying to beat your previous record and racing your ghost. The best one of all is Crash mode. You hoon up to an intersection and try to cause as much insurance damage as possible. You can tip tucks and buses, send taxis airborne and rack up millions of dollars of damage. This is fun for ages, trying to beat your previous damage total. Unfortunately the crash mode is a little too easy.
Multi player has a split-screen single race mode and a two player crash mode. The crash mode is boring in two player, but the race mode is pretty fun, especially for a late night gaming party.
Overall Grade: 9/10 - Superb - (Crash mode is heaps of fun)

Summary: Burnout 2 is a smooth, innovative, fast and satisfying arcade racing experience. Here are the totals:
Gameplay: 9/10
Controls: 10/10
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 7/10
Game modes: 9/10
Happy gaming!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/02/04