Burnout 3: Takedown

"Easily the Best Arcade Racer this Year"

Burnout 3: Takedown is improved in every possible way you can think of.

-+Gameplay+-

This is where the game truly shines. It's one of the best arcade racing games ever made. It has 17 game modes and over 65 cars. The stats are deep, it shows how much you've completed the game. Earn all gold medals, complete races, win trophies, do tons of takedowns...etc. You can gain boost in a second. There are many ways to get it. Drive dangerously, do some drifts or takedown the opponents. The sense of speed in this game is so awesome and breathtaking! It's right next to F-Zero. Crashes are greatly improved and will put you on the edge of your seat. You won't get a chance to blink your eyes!

Burnout 3 World Tour Mode- Thats the season mode of this game. It has over 70 Races and 100 Crash Junctions. Yes, you heard it right. If you want to be the true champion, gain gold medals in each race. You can unlock tons of new cars and tracks here by reaching certain number of takedowns, burnout points and winning races. Some classic cars from Burnout 2 are also back. The game just keeps getting more addictive as you get further.

Crash Mode- It's 100x improved this time. There's a crashbreaker now (press B button to explode your car in middle of the traffic) and you can actually move your car now while in an accident. It's a bit more challenging this time. The better the risk, the more points you get. You also unlock more cars here by gaining crash points.

Road Rage- Here..you can destroy your opponent's cars to death. Cars have realistic damage ONLY in this mode. In all other modes, they don't get damaged. You only see those insane accidents and cars exploding into pieces. You will have lots of fun in this mode alone especially online against other players.

This game has tons of replay value and it will take many hours to complete it 100%. It took me almost 30 hours and that's very impressive. Usually arcade racers don't last this long.

After done with all this, there is ONLINE PLAY. That's another big plus. You can go against up to 6 players online and have infinite fun!

So are there any flaws with gameplay? Nope, it's nearly perfect. There's only one minor problem and thats the enemy A.I. It's a bit hard to defeat them sometimes because they barely ever get accidents. It's not a big problem because whenever YOU get accidents (which happens a lot of times), you start right up from where you left. NFS:U had a big problem with crashes. While your car is in slow motion, your opponents get far away and complete almost a lap. This doesn't happen in Burnout 3! Also, there are no maps when you're racing. That's actually a good thing. You don't need to see them and it doesn't waste space on screen.

Controls- Controls are all fine. Hold R trigger for acceleration and L Trigger for brake. A button is for boost. That works great but unlike other Xbox racers, Burnout 3 doesn't allow Right Thumbstick for Acceleration.

9.5 out of 10

-+Sound+-

This is where it gets a minus! The soundtracks in this game aren't that good. If you've a PS2 version, you're stuck with them. But thank god, there's a custom soundtracks feature in Xbox version so you can put some better music. The DJ in this game is very annoying too. After a while, it gets very repetitive so turn him off in Options menu. All other sound effects are great though!

8.5 out of 10

-+Graphics+-

Simply Stunning! It looks way better than burnout 2 and the sense of speed is much improved. Just like NFS:U, you'll see lots of blur effects. Environments are highly detailed and most races take place in daytime. The backgrounds are in 3D graphics unlike most other racers. There's frequent loading (especially on PS2 version) but don't worry, it's short. Crashes are more insane and better looking. The frame rate is perfect (60 FPS), no slowdowns!

10 out of 10

-+Conclusion+-

This is a Must-Have game for racing fans! If you're not much into racing, you still need to check it out. At least give it a rental. I highly doubt you can finish this in a rent though so it's worth the 50 bucks you pay. If you've Xbox Live, then you got infinite replay value there. If you don't have it, this game will still keep you busy for a while.

I give it 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/12/04