Burnout Revenge

"If you never played Burnout before, this is the best place to start"

Burnout Revenge for the Xbox 360 is a re-release of the already excellent Xbox version with a few extra bells and whistles. The Xbox version is already marked down to $30, but this one has the trademark “next-gen price” of $60. So will the added extras make up for the $30 difference? Unless you want to get your Burnout thrills in hi-def, then probably not.

This review will primarily focus on the additions and modifications for the 360 version. The main game has stayed mostly the same and to get my thoughts on all the gameplay features and controls, then check out my review for the Xbox version by clicking here. Since the white and black buttons on the original Xbox controller were only used to change music tracks on that version of Revenge, those controls are now assigned to the bumpers on the 360 controller. Other than that, everything functions the same as before, and works just as well. On a side note I was hoping for a boost in number of drivers on track to at least eight, but no such luck here.

EA didn't add any new modes of gameplay but they did some modifications to the online play and Crash mode. First off, the developers added 10 new exclusive Crash junctions for the 360. Next, the awkward boost meter that determined how strong your initial boost was in Crash mode has thankfully been removed in the 360 version. Now all vehicles start a crash junction off with the strongest boost. Also when previewing a junction the camera rewinds back to the beginning a lot faster than it did than the Xbox version. All this combines for Crash mode to progress about two to three times as fast as it originally did. Unfortunately, they did not bring back the helicopter that pans your mass wreckage and slowly adds up the total of your crash to increase the drama to see if you achieved the gold medal score or not.

Next up online play has received a major overhaul. EA is still using their servers to host the online play, but now the menus have a more streamlined feel to them like most other Xbox Live games and are nowhere as cluttered up as their old lobby menus used in Takedown and Revenge for the original Xbox. It is far easier to hop into matches now and I do not run into severe bouts of lag that often, only about every 9 or 10 races. EA has also introduced a clip sharing system where players can record up to several seconds worth of footage of their offline races and crash events and send them to friends. At first I thought this was a great feature to see how my friends achieved insane scores in Crash mode, but since you can only record up to thirty or so seconds of footage, it becomes pretty useless. However, you will at least use it once to receive the all important achievement points.

Also introduced for online play in the 360 version is the online rivals system. Whenever you are taken down by an opponent the game will point out and emphasize that rival and will highlight his name whenever you are near him. The rival system also keep tabs on how many times you have wrecked him in a row before he finally gets “revenge” on you. At first I thought this was kind of gimmicky, but then it grew on me as it did feel good when the game gave me that recognition for finally getting back at my rival. Another cool effect to the online rival system is the servers will always know who your rivals are, so if you hop online for a race a few weeks later and run into an old rival, you will get a friendly reminder at the beginning of the race to take him out!

Now since Revenge on the original Xbox was one of the sweetest looking racers on that system, it was pretty hard to make it look that much better on the 360. For what it's worth, the loading screens got jazzed up a bit and are no longer the static black screens of old. On my standard definition television, I can tell there was a little bit of polish, such as now seeing paint chippings off of vehicles during races and other little special effects. When I popped it in on my friend's HDtv in 720p mode there was another tiny boost in graphics, but nothing that was oozing of “next-gen.” Just think of the graphics getting a touch up for the 360 and nothing more. Regarding audio, the car effects got a boost and sound more amazing than ever and EA Trax has been slightly altered with some new songs, and I think it is safe to say this is the first EA Trax title I played where I didn't immediately switch to custom soundtracks.

If you are stumped on debating which version to get of Burnout Revenge, you should probably choose the $30 Xbox version. The slightly sharper visuals and online enhancements just aren't worth the extra $30. However, if you haven't experienced Burnout before, then the 360 version is the perfect place to start.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/21/06