Burnout 2: Point of Impact

"Repetitive racing, easy tracks, bland AI, no skill required. Yep Burnout 2 has all the makings of a bad racer."

One day at Best Buy, I played a demo of Burnout 3. (Yes Burnout 3) I had lots of fun, because of the "takedowns" you can do, which basically has you sideswiping an opponents car and making them crash. This added more strategy to the game, and made it more fun. So I bought B2 hoping it would be a cheaper version of B3. But, it wasn't.

Graphics:8.9

The graphics do look pretty good, they're nice and slick, and everything looks real smooth. However, the traffic cars all look quite a bit alike, which is weird when you see 5 identical cars in a row.

Sound:6.5

The in-game music is awful and boring, and they play the same songs over and over again. Trust me, you'll want to use those custom soundtracks. The cars sound pretty nice when they're speeding down the street, but that doesn't make up for the shortcomings of the other sound.

Gameplay:5.8

This game was fun. For the first 5-10 minutes. Then you realize that the whole game is bland. The game basically has you holding down the gas button the whole time, and steering through turns. That's it. No strategy at all. And don't worry about the AI, because you will easily outrun them, and once you do, you'll never see them again. You could try drifting, and gaining boost and whatnot, but there's no point, and it doesn't make the game more fun. The gameplay is boring, and has no redeeming qualities at all. The game is way too easy, no matter what. And the Crash mode tells you to make a big crash and get money for it, or something. The crash plays out in slo-mo, and it seems that none of the other AI drivers have breaks. There could be a huge pileup 50 yards in front of them, and they don't even swerve.

Replay Value/Fun Factor:3.5

Unless you are a die hard racing fanatic that lives for racing, you won't like this game. Why would a game that's not fun in the first place have any replay value? Well it doesn't.

Overall:5.7

This game is just plain boring.

Pros/Cons

+Really fast driving
+Pretty good graphics
+Only 20$

-Dumb AI
-Boring tracks
-Easy to win, no challenge
-Crash mode is not all that fun
-Almost all the cars handle pretty much the same
-Repetitive racing
-When it comes down to it, it's just not fun

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 09/20/04