Burnout Revenge

"Burnout Revenge is an example of what could have gone wrong with Burnout 3"

It's hard to imagine Burnout Revenge without first remembering Burnout 3: Takedown. Burnout 3 launched the Criterion/Acclaim/EA racing series into overdrive, and set the legendary game into overdrive. Burnout 3 was one of the most played games on XBOX live a year ago because of it's great "Pick-Up-And-Play" quality, and this was largely in part of EA's contribution to the series. In late 2005, EA and Criterion released Burnout Revenge, the game that would almost wreck the series reputation as a fast, simple arcade racer.

Gameplay: 9/10 - Burnout Revenge is the fourth installment of the Burnout Series, and EA's second foray into the action. The game is addictive and simple, and features a large selection of race types.

The main idea of Burnout Revenge is to drive fast, and like a moron, in order to gain boost, in order, of course, to go faster! Driving dangerously in ways such as in the wrong lane, battling with other cars, and doing random things to traffic. If you screw up on these simple commands, you wreck your car in the most spectacular feature of the game, crashing. Crashing is both spectacular, and annoying, as it's a graphical affair with pieces of your car and other cars flying around all over the place. Of course, the quickest way to fill your boost bar is to make other people crash. Slamming people into walls, traffic, off cliffs, and the like earn gracious amounts of boost. As for race modes, the normal culprits are here, such as Single Race, last years blockbuster hit, "Road Rage", a new format of Eliminator, Burning Lap, and, everyone's favourite, Crash Mode. A new mode debuted this year, which was called Traffic Attack, but I'll get to that later...

As in almost every sequel, new features are added to make the game better. There is no shortage of new features. The first, and main feature, is the Revenge System. Anytime a rival takes you out, his indicator will turn red, and you'll get an extra "Revenge Takedown Bonus" if you go and wreck him back. It's a neat system, but it gets old very quickly, and it's almost a waste of time to base the entire game around one silly feature that is almost non-existent in later races. Probably the biggest feature this year that EA basically didn't even mention in some P&R stuff is traffic checking. Now, any small traffic that is going the same way as you can be shunted ahead and into opponents. Once again, the new feature virus strikes again, as the ability to Check Traffic makes the game way too easy, and it does fly around a little weirdly, as mentioned in the Gamespot review. The worst part of this feature, is that it has it's own race mode, "Traffic Attack", where you check traffic to earn money like crash mode. Burnout Revenge also changed crash mode, and the renovations include a new "Madden Kick Meter"-like turbo start mode, the ability to earn multiple crashbreakers , and, the fact that all of the 38 (quite a step down from the 100 of Burnout 3) crash junctions are massive, with many different paths to perfection. In all, Crash mode is a great step up, but I expected a lot more junctions. As for the eliminator mode, the last place racer is eliminated every 30 seconds, not every lap. This makes for some great racing moments in Burnout Revenge. Crashbreaker has also debuted in racing this year, and it makes for some explosive racing. Even if it seems very lop-sided, you can't exactly catch your opponents every time you try a crashbreaker in a race. For the final new feature, shortcuts have been introduced, and are marked by blue lights. These routes are short, and usually filled with jumps, and if you get lucky, you can sometimes land the new "Vertical Takedown".

The only single player mode in Burnout Revenge is World Tour. World Tour is nearly identical to that of Burnout 3, and it really doesn't change at all. Your driving skills in World Tour are ranked from 1 to 11, and you progress through the one-dimensional ladder each race. The cars and tracks have a little bit of variety, although there are very few tracks in the game compared to last year. Also, the cars have no real changes, and some of the later ones you unlock are just modified versions of previous ones. Multiplayer comes in the form of Split Screen and XBOX Live, and having only tried splitscreen, the action is very smooth (Can You Say 60 FPS?), but because of the awkward views, the oncoming terrain becomes a little hard to see. As for the talk about no Single Race mode, it sadly is true, you must replay World Tour events for enjoyment. Unlockables come in the form of Challenge Sheet Secret Cars and Signature Takedowns, but it must be noted that the stats sheet of Burnout Revenge does not actually calculate 100% game completion properly. So, you truly don't need actual 100% for the ultimate ride in the game, the Revenge Racer.

Graphics: 8/10 - Burnout Revenge looks sweet. The cars reflect light nicely, even the smallest roadside object looks polished, and the crash details look amazing. One major flaw, is that on almost every American-Based track, there is a yellow tint to the sky. Yellow is a very drab colour, and makes me feel tired every time I play those tracks. I know it's weird to be mentioning a psychological effect in a review, but go drive across the prairies one day in the late afternoon with nothing but farm fields, and you'll see what I mean. Other than that annoying "Bumblebee" effect, the graphics hold out pretty well.

Sound: 8/10 - The sound in Burnout Revenge is average. The car sounds are kind of weak, and there isn't really anything to blow you away. The soundtrack consists of 8-10 really good songs out of about 36. To round out the sound, the gunshot you hear when you hit the boost button is astounding.

Final: 7.4/10.0 - Burnout Revenge is a game that only hardcore burners would enjoy. Many Non-Online gamers will be turned off by the lack of single race mode, and the lack of variety in World Tour Mode will keep this one a short-lived experience. With all of the flat features, the lack of many Crash Junctions, and a big letdown all together, Burnout Revenge falls greatly in comparison to Burnout 3: Takedown. However, it still is Burnout, and people will still play it, no matter how much of a letdown it is.

Rent Or Buy: RENT - Rent this game! If you have online, take it for a test-run and then decide. However, if you don't have an online connection, you're best to stick with a trial period...

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/26/09

Game Release: Burnout Revenge (US, 09/13/05)