Burnout 3: Takedown

"Warning: Highly addictive."

Since I first heard there would be a third Burnout coming out, I was salivating with anticipation. This game lives up to my hopes in almost every category. It's fast paced, arcade racing at its best.

At heart, the concept is simple: Risk=Reward. You earn more points and fill your boost meter faster by driving down the wrong side of the road, narrowly avoiding crashes, drifting around corners, etc. Added to this installment is an emphasis on "takedowns:" The fine art of crashing your opponents. This not only fills up your meter fast, but adds segments to the meter (up to 4).

How does that break down? Let's take a look:

Graphics: 10/10

Burnout 1+2 were a bit choppy, but Burnout 3 is a sleek machine. the cars are smooth, reflections are stunning, sparks fly, and car parts literally fly off (In Road Rage mode). A ton of tiny touches make this game what it is--Glare on the road, the scenery as you pass (or crash) by, the subtle blurring of your vehicle as you hit the boost--And all are done excellent. I can't see a PS2 title getting any better visually. The visuals even hold up on the online mode.

Sound: 7/10

I'd give sound a much better rating without the soundtrack. The crashes are crisp, the details are tight, and you can even hear your rivals sneaking up on you (if you can call anything with a high pitched engine and the boost kicked on sneaking). The problem is, the soundtrack just bothers me. A lot. It's mostly angsty emo songs. The game's not quite the same without music, so you're pretty much up a creek on this one: Either you like the very narrow selection of music, or you don't. Unlike games like Need For Speed 2: Hot Pursuit, there isn't much variety, nor is there an actual option to shut off individual tracks. Burnout was better off before licensed music.

Gameplay: 9/10

Again, a finely tuned machine. The controls are simple to learn. Mastery takes a bit more, though the game doesn't feature a really steep learning curve. Accelerate, brake, boost, steer.

The one flaw I find with the gameplay is "Aftertouch:" The knack of steering your car after it crashes to control the wreck ("Master the Disaster," as the game puts it) and take out other rivals. I might not be as disappointed, but for all the hype about this new feature. In Aftertouch, you hit the L1 button to enter slow-mo and guide your car. Probelm is, you have little control, little time, and a horrible camera angle that seems to pan ad hoc. This can be annoying, especially since the high intensity of the rest of the game is broken up by aftertouch.

Game Modes: 8/10 There are a lot of options, but I felt the online modes were somewhat lacking, especially with the lack of a better road rage option. Single Player modes include race, road rage, crash mode, elimination matches, and special events which require you to complete a certain track in a certain amount of time. Even once you complete the World Tour, there are still unlockables, and online/multiplayer. Race against your friends in many of the same modes as single player. Online mode is not an essential, but it will add another level of fun to the game.

Fun Factor: 10/10 I love this game. It's thoroughly addicting. Just when you think you have it all mastered, they bring it up another level with faster cars and narrower margins. On top of it all, there's online.

Note: As of the time of this review, online is still having its problems. Even without online, it's an awesome game. Should they fix these problems, it will make it even more fun. Such problems include: Frequent spontaneous drops from games, communication errors, and headset chat being garbled. You should definitely not be buying this game solely for online play, however.

Online modes make it even more challenging, as it's much harder to take down a human opponent. With the option of 6 people racing at once, you could find yourself in a frenzy to get takedowns against an opponent that is much smarter than computer AI. The human factor will expand the replay value immensely.

Overall: 9/10 The flaws in this game are tiny and will have little effect, if any, on the overall enjoyment of the game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/15/04