To be fair this game would have got a bigger score if it was the first in the series. However allot of the basic game mechanics are taken from the previous installment; these have been improved upon but essentially have been done before. With racing games you often you find the first two races are easy and then very steeply the difficulty gets harder and harder. With Burnout 2 I found that the difficulty was well balanced; the later levels are still hard but the levels before them help you to increase your skills. The graphics are a big improvement on the first title, although in my opinion graphics should always come second enough attention has been paid to make a nice gaming environment. The sound, for once, actually makes a contribution in a dynamic way to the gameplay; as soon as you hit the boost button the music tone changes to a rock tune that still manages to stay in time with it the previous track. Control wise it is slick and responsive (which is good because you get points for dodging cars at close quarters). Some cars have novelty horns or cool features which is a nice touch and is cool at any standard. Would have liked to be able to turn off the police siren though, it can get annoying. There is enough diversity within the different modes of the game to keep longevity for your money. Crash mode is most entertaining 'it does exactly what it says on the tin'. Two player is fun, but usually one player is much better than the other just because once you know how to play and keep your boost bar up you can stay ahead of human opponents easily, computer opponents; as with allot of games, cheat on the later levels. But only because they can't beat you otherwise. The tracks themselves are really diverse and exciting, some incorporate highways filled with cars (lots of dodging, fun) others, long winding country roads. Later levels incorporate the two. But those aren't your only terrains to choose from. The later levels are really long and don't forgive mistakes, but even if you loose, you just dust yourself off and start over not caring that it's the 50th time you've retried that level; you have to get first place. The feeling of speed isn't forced which is a change to convention. The slight blur when you hit the speed boost is a nice touch too. Overall Burnout 2, is very cool and an essential purchase for any PS2 owner. But only if you enjoy a great arcade racer with an added twist of going really, really fast. Excellent game, shame they didn't get it right the first time.
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Burnout 2: Point of Impact was published by Acclaim and Developed by Criterion game and it was released on September 30 of the year 2002. Since then EA took over and made two awesome games in Burnout 3: Takedown and Burn... Read Full Review
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