Burnout Revenge is a stand-out achievement among both the racing game genre and video games as a whole.
This game could quite possibly, be the most accessible racing game ever created. On it’s shoulder Burnout wears this badge proud, from the moment you boot this game up, you get the feeling that this experience is likely to be like no other racing experience before. Let me divulge further.
How many games can you show off to your entire family? This is including your Mother, and in my specific case, a girlfriend. The premise behind Burnout is so unusual for a game of this type, that it immediately grabs your attention. You mean I get to thrash other cars, and even (in some cases) get rewarded for crashing my own car? Yes indeed. This game has something for everyone.
The standard race modes are all there, yet all with that special flavor that makes Burnout so unique. A regular race to the finish line is suddenly a battle royal as you fight for road supremacy, grinding opponents into guard rails, smashing them into walls, and in some very excitable cases, oncoming traffic. Who knew this would be so damn fun? Other modified race styles include, eliminator, road rage (where your object is to take out other cars), and traffic attack. All of these modes are implemented very well into both single player and multiplayer experiences, providing fun on multiple venues, so to say.
The single player game, A World Tour mode, lets you go through various levels of intensity (1 to 10), and from each you can select a locale. Within each is a variety of races, of all different styles. Some unlocked by default, others you unlock by completing said races. Tons of unlocking fun is to be had, as completeists will strive for five stars in every event, and attempt to check off all of those specific tasks on list, such as for instance, getting a vertical takedown on whatever race track. With this world tour mode, comes a pretty convoluted menu system however, and sometimes you with you didn’t have to sift through so many ranks of options just to get to a particular event that you feel like participating in. Not too much gripe here, though.
Perhaps one of the most unique game modes Burnout Revenge has to offer, is the dubious Crash Mode. Your mission, if you choose to accept it: Create the biggest pile up of traffic and destruction basically, cause the highest amount of damage in money that you possibly can. On paper, this sounds awfully ambitious and intriguing. For the most part, it is executed without flaw.
You start with this golf meter, and it in turn is the judgment of how fast you start off the line. You basically try to jam up as many intersections as possible, hitting as many cars as possible along the way. Explosions multiply the damage counter, and overall, a very straight-forward mode with plenty of opportunity to experiment. This is probably what is going to catch on-lookers eyes and bestow them with the sense of intrigue, and evil intentions as well, perhaps. The only real gripe I personally have with Revenge’s crash mode, is that it’s lacking several things that the previous installment of Burnout had (Burnout 3: Takedown). But all of it really boils down to this… There are no power-ups. No multipliers. This is insanely upsetting to me, a crash mode veteran, I was particularly looking forward to this mode, and was sort of disappointed because of this glaring omission. But overall, still quite fun. Level design is impeccable. The speed is incredibly fast in this game, which is why you should all be thankful they include giant yellow flashing arrows to aid you around those wide turns… And with so many alternate routes it’ll make your head spin, many opportunities about to trick your opponent into smashing into something. Which brings me to the star of the show.
Takedowns! This makes the world taste better, truly. And this years theme? Revenge. Takedowns are as usually viscerally satisfying, visually satisfying, and to some, erotically satisfying. But Revenge adds a new element called… Well, Revenge. Where when you are taken out, you then have a rival. And are more encouraged to get him/her back for it. While this is very cool in theory, it adds little to the experience, and when the camera switched to the view of your rival (after he takes you down), it prevents you from using aftertouch, and crash breakers, on un-suspecting opponents driving by your heap… Disappointing, indeed.
The true innovation (to myself at least) on the subject of takedowns, is Traffic Checking. Basically, any car going the same direction, can be rammed from behind, and assuming you aren’t trying to ram a Greyhound, tanker, or stationary vehicle, the car will ricochet of you, and hopefully into a fellow competitor (Oops, did I do that?). While the mode itself of Traffic Check is nothing to gawk at, just the addition to this tactic in all modes turns the entire Burnout world upside-down. For a Playstation 2 Game, this is quite easy on the eyes. This team is hot on the trails of Sony’s hardware, and they definitely know what they’re doing behind the wheel. Sound is solid, which satisfying crunching and grinding noises, usually occurring right before you get smashed into a wall… But that’s beside the point.
Many things I could complain about... The lack of camera angle selection, the loading times, the spotty (sometimes glitchy) collision... But none of that even maters. This game, is on the bleeding edge of something revolutionary. Another solid installment or two of this lovely franchise, and we’ll be enslaved by the awesomeness that is Burnout. All hail its mightiness. Bow before this title or perish in the depths of the raging sea.