GameSpot's E3 2005 Editors' Choice Awards

Best Driving Game

Burnout Revenge (PS2, Xbox)

Developer: Electronic Arts
Publisher: Criterion
Release Date: 09/01/2005

At E3 2005, arcade racers ruled the roads. And when you think of arcade racers, one franchise above all others leaps immediately to mind: Burnout.

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Widely considered to be the best and most exciting arcade driving franchise out there today, EA and developer Criterion did not disappoint with their showing of Burnout Revenge, the sequel to last year's critically acclaimed Burnout 3: Takedown. Perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly, Burnout Revenge was hands-down the best driving game throughout the entire show. Sure, we were tempted by next-gen titles like NFS Most Wanted and Full Auto, and we sure do love us some Mario Kart DS, but hey, do any of those games have crashbreakers?

Burnout Revenge's E3 showing was a fine mixture of new and old, displaying practically all of the new features Criterion will be packing into this year's game, while still showing everyone that even though some things may be different, deep down this is still the Burnout we've all come to know and love over the years. You still drive very, very fast and wreck into cars very, very hard.

Official Movie

Cars crash, fly, and explode in Burnout Revenge.

Watch It »

We also very much like the direction Criterion is going with the changes made to the Burnout formula in Revenge. For starters, the fact that you can use traffic as an advantage, rather than it just being a constant obstacle, is pretty awesome. Coming up full speed behind a family sedan and launching it forward into your opponent is just a very satisfying feeling. Also, the subtitle of Burnout Revenge isn't just a fancy name, as getting revenge on your opponent drivers is a big part of this game, and as such, you'll be able to throw down crashbreakers during any race in order to extract revenge on any nearby opponents. We like blowing things up. We like blowing up those who have wronged us even more. Oh, and by the way, revenge is a two-way street. The rivals you takedown will hold grudges against you and come after you with even more fervor, the more you make them crash.

Revenge is a dish best served vertically.

All the modes Criterion showed at E3 looked great, from the normal races, to the new version of the crash mode, to the brand-new traffic attack mode. More amazing than just the breadth of content, however, was just how polished it all was. The portions of the game that Criterion had on display looked practically done, and while we know that isn't true, we probably could have just taken this demo with us and played it endlessly until the full retail game hit shelves. While we do have a few concerns here and there--such as how the traffic seemed to lack much in the way of weight, and how it was just a bit too easy to pull off crashbreakers and to extract instant revenge during a race (as opposed to actually having to build up to it)--we still had an absolute blast with Burnout Revenge at E3, and eagerly await our next chance to get our hands on it.

Finalists

Full Auto (Xbox 360)
Mario Kart DS (Nintendo DS)
Need for Speed Most Wanted (Xbox 360)
Pursuit Force (PSP)

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