Despite very slow load times the only speed you'll remember involves the rubber you'll be burning on the race track!

User Rating: 9.5 | Burnout Revenge PS2
To be honest, I can't really find any fault with this game! Actually I do have one tiny issue, but I'll go in to that later. The Burnout series aren't your typical racing games. The goal is of course to win every race, but it is also to cause the most amount of damage as possible to other vehicles in your environment, both competitors and pedestrians alike. This adds a whole new twist to racing, a no holds barred approach if you will. As per my usual I will start from the main menu of the game and work my way from there. When you first turn on Burnout: Revenge, you have 4 options to choose from on the main menu.

The first option is "World Tour", which is the main single player mode in the game. When you first enter "World Tour" you will see there are ten different stages to complete in this mode. You of course start off on stage one, while the remaining nine stages are temporarily locked. In each stage there are various race events available from up to eight different areas of the world. The different areas are: Sunshine Keys, Motor City, Angel Valley, Lone Peak, Eternal City, White Mountain, Central Route, and Eastern Bay. When you compete in an event there are three different types of ratings you will receive upon completion. First you will receive a rating from 1 to 5 stars depending on how aggressive you were during the event (1 = OK, 2 = good, 3 = great, 4 = awesome, 5 = perfect). To measure your aggressiveness they take in to account things like how many pedestrian cars you smashed (called "traffic checking"), how many takedowns you scored (destroying the cars you are racing against), how much air you got off jumps, how long you used your turbo feature for, how much drift you performed, etc. If you do a lot of this stuff during a race, chances are you will score an awesome (4 stars). The other main rating you get after a race will be a medal they award you. You can finish an event earning either a bronze, silver or gold medal (or no medal if you really sucked it up!). To earn a medal you have to reach a pre-set condition during the event that is given to you before you start. For example, in a crash event you have to cause $7 million worth of damage to get the gold medal, $5 million worth to get a silver medal, etc. The only way to get a perfect rating (5 stars) is to earn an awesome rating (4 stars) and a gold medal. A gold medal, no matter what your star rating, will always bring that star rating up one level. A silver medal will keep your star rating where it is. And a bronze medal will actually bring your star rating down one level. The third and last rating system in the game is very important and it is your revenge ranking. There are ten different ranks you can earn and as you increase your rank (you start at Harmless and eventually work your way to the top at Dominator) you unlock new types of events and the remaining nine stages of the game. So especially at first you really want to try for perfect ratings. After successfully completing each event you will usually get some sort of unlock, usually a new event or a new car. The last things to mention about the "World Circuit" mode are the challenge sheets and signature takedown books. Each of the eight racing locations in this mode (as mentioned above) has a challenge sheet and signature takedown book associated with it. The challenge sheet is a list of eight challenges that, if you complete them all, will unlock you one of the high performance cars in the game. And let me tell you these cars certainly make a difference! Of the eight challenges on a challenge sheet, most of them are easy and you'll get them without even trying. Stuff like, "get three revenge takedowns in one race", challenges like that. However, there are one or two challenges in each challenge book that will seem downright impossible! Challenges like, "win a race without crashing". Not so easy you might find! For the locations you think you may be able to complete a challenge sheet it is well worth the effort as the extra speed these cars provide you really make life a lot easier in the latter stages of the game. When you do successfully complete one of the challenges you will know it as you are awarded a trophy for that challenge after the event. As for the signature takedown book, each of the eight locations has three signature takedowns you can perform, and they involve using the environment in some manner to perform your takedown. For example, I believe it is in Eastern Bay where if you cause a car to crash in to the excavator on the side of the highway that is one of their signature takedowns. Getting these takedowns can be frustrating at times, but usually they come to you when you're not even trying. I don't believe you acquire any unlocks for completing a signature takedown book, it's more just for fun. And that sums up the basics of the World Circuit mode.

The second option from the main menu is "Multiplayer". I didn't get to try this mode out because, as I've stated before, I have no friends. At least none still in the city anyways! But basically you can race against anywhere from 2-6 buddies. This would be a fun racing game to go multiplayer on because it's all about crashing the other guy out! In this mode basically you pick your vehicles, pick your race location, pick the type of event, and then determine the event details (number of laps, number of competitors, etc.). The different events you can race in multiplayer mode include: Race, Road Rage, Traffic Attack, Crash Battle, Crash Party, and Crash Tour.

The third option from the main menu is "Online". Basically see the multiplayer description above and apply it to playing online with either friends or strangers.

The fourth and final option from the main menu is "Driver Details (Profile)". Under this option you have a few choices. The first choice is "Stats". When you first start playing Burnout: Revenge you will create a profile for yourself and any progress you make in the game will be saved under said profile. So, every car you crash, every jump you take, every dollar of damage you inflict, all that progress is recorded and you can view those totals here. The second choice you can make is "Records". If you set a new record for fastest lap on a course or any other such record on any of the events in this game, those records can be viewed here. The third choice is "EA Trax". Here is where you can view and listen to all of the various songs available in the game. You can turn the ones you don't like off too, so you don't have to listen to them ever again! The fourth choice is "Settings'. This is where you go to adjust audio settings, display settings, rumble feature, control settings, etc. The fifth choice is ""Extras". Here is where you can view trailers for other EA titles, various gameplay movies you have unlocked with your progress, and also the game credits. The sixth and final choice is "Profile". I mentioned earlier that when you first start your game on Burnout: Revenge you create a profile for yourself that records all of your progress. This is where you can load, save or delete that profile.

Seeing as I have gone over the basic construct of the game, I will now describe the various race events that you will encounter once getting in to the World Circuit mode. Here they are:

The first race mode is just that, it is called "Race". What more can I say! You try to be the fastest car and beat your five opponents across the finish line. Most race events in Burnout: Revenge tend to be between two and three laps long, although there are some that are just a single lap. If you come in first you get the gold medal.

The second race mode is "Traffic Attack". In traffic attack you can take as much time as you want but at the same time you have to hurry! There are no competitors in the race with you, it is a solo race. As you make your way around the circuit you have to "traffic check" as many vehicles as possible. And by traffic check they mean smashing other cars! But only small to medium sized vehicles, the big ones like semis and buses will destroy your car. And no oncoming traffic either, that will also destroy you. You must hit the other cars from behind. The race starts off with a timer counting down and when that timer hits zero you are done. You can add more time to the clock by traffic checking vehicles and by performing skill shots or trick shots. Trick/skill shots are when you check vehicles in to other oncoming vehicles. You get a bit of a bigger time bonus for pulling off these types of fancy moves. If you cause a certain amount of damage, dollar wise, you will earn the gold medal.

The third race mode is "Burning Lap", and this is the most frustrating race mode in the game! You race one lap in this mode and to get the gold medal you have to complete the lap in a crazy short pre-determined amount of time. To successfully get a gold medal on this race mode you cannot crash at all, you must use your turbo like crazy, and take as many shortcuts as is possible.

The next race mode is "Crash", and it's not even a race! Basically you steer the vehicle of your choice in to an environment where there is a lot of traffic and you try to cause the most amount of damage as possible. A lot of times there are jumps and other environmental hazards involved in this race mode and there is usually a trick to getting the gold medal, it's just a matter of figuring out the best way to go in to the crash to cause the biggest bang for your buck. To get the gold medal you have to hit a certain figure in terms of the dollar amount of damage done. Outside of "Burning Lap" this is the second most frustrating race mode in the game!

Next up is "Road Rage" and this is probably my favourite race mode in the game. You enter a race against five other competitors and to earn a gold medal you have to obtain a certain amount of total takedowns on these five opponents. It is similar to "Traffic Attack" in that the race starts off with a timer counting down and as you perform a certain amount of takedowns (usually in increments of three), more time will be added to the clock. So again, you don't have to hurry, but you kind of do all at the same time! Your race can end prematurely if you don't perform well though. If you crash or are taken out by an opponent too many times your car will get totaled and you won't be able to continue.

The next race mode is "Grand Prix" and it is another one of my favourites. Basically it is the exact same as "Race" mode, only it's a series of usually three (sometimes four) races. Depending on how you place in each race you will be awarded an according number of points. Whoever has the most points at the end of all races will be the winner. To earn the gold medal you've got to win the points race.

The next race mode is "Preview" and it's very much like the "Burning Lap" race mode, only it's usually a one off event in a location of the game that you haven't otherwise played during the stage of the game you are currently playing when you race in the preview event. To get the gold you've got to complete the lap in a given amount of time.

The second last race mode is "Eliminator" and it's fun but tense! In this mode you race against five other competitors and at the start of the race there is a timer that counts down from 30 seconds. When the 30 seconds are up whoever is in last place at that time is eliminated from the race. Rinse and repeat four more times and whoever is in first place when the last car is eliminated is the winner! This race is tense like I said because you think you're fine but then you crash in to a car or barrier when there are 2 seconds left on the timer and then all of a sudden you're in last and you're cooked! You've got to run clean in this mode or you won't win. To get the gold medal you've got to win the race.

The last race mode is "Crashbreaker Race" and basically it is the exact same as "Race" mode but with one important change, the Crashbreaker. When you crash or get taken out most times there will be a Crashbreaker available to you. Press R2 if you choose to use it and when you do your car will blow up violently, taking with it any of your opponents who are in the immediate vicinity. There is one risk though. If you use a Crashbreaker and you don't catch anybody with it you lose all the turbo you've amassed at that time. To get a gold medal you've got to win the race.

My last comment with regards to the race modes is that the Crashbreaker stipulation later on in the game is added to some of the other race modes. The race modes in question are: Race (of course), Road Rage, Grand Prix, and Eliminator. I find the Crashbreaker feature very useful, especially in an "Eliminator" race because is you get taken out at least you can try and take someone with you and keep them with you at the back of the pack so you can survive!

Now, as for the game itself, it is really well done. The graphics are really good, and the sound (especially the soundtrack, being an EA game) if awesome! The controls are pretty simple. Press X to give the car gas, square is used for the brakes/reverse. Triangle is used to switch camera angles, while circle is . . . actually, I don't recall using circle for anything! Good question. L1 is used to look behind you, while R1 is used to engage your turbo. To gain turbo you do all the aggressive things in the game that you get rating points for like smashing cars, drifting, jumping, etc. R2 is used to engage the Crashbreaker function, when available. And of course you steer with the left analog stick. With regards to how the controls respond, they do it perfectly. The cars all react very well to the commands you give them which, combined with how much fun it is to crash cars and how in depth the racing in this game is, make this one hard game to beat.

On the negative side there was only one bad thing about the game and that was the load times. To loading before and after each event seemed to take forever! And I'm sure that feeling was exacerbated given how short the race events in this game actually were. A lot of the time it felt as is you were waiting almost as much as you were racing! Be that as it may, this game has a huge fun factor attached to it. Combine that with excellent game play and graphics, a healthy difficulty level and a very good length and you've got an overly solid racing game on your hands, the load times are quickly forgotten. This is an awesome car game, very well done.