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Burnout

July 18th, 2002 Jason Rybka Leave a comment Go to comments

When Burnout was first released for the Playstation 2 the results were below average, it had several problems, graphically, and with the Gameplay. Now Criterion has fixed some of the problems that plagued the PS2 version, and has created a pretty good port to the XBOX.

Graphics

Out of all the categories, the graphics department is where Burnout has been upgraded the most. Actually Burnout is the first official game that supports HDTV!!!! Although I have not been able to test this special feature for Burnout but it looks like it from what I have seen that it really helps the games overall graphics a great deal. With the HDTV to the side, Burnout is not the prettiest thing we have ever seen.

The cars are fairly detailed, although we have seen much better from some of the other racing game. The courses also lack in detail, because they look rather plain. Where Burnout really shows what it’s made of is in the crash replays. Especially the first few replay’s you see, you will be pretty amazed. It is a lot of fun to watch.

Gameplay

There really isn’t that big of a selection for the number of game modes, but Criterion makes good use of the ones they did put in. The majority of the game will be played in the championship mode, and the arcade mode. There are also some special modes in which you can unlock throughout the championship mode..

The Championship mode is where you will spend most of your time throughout the game. The one thing I really liked about the way the career mode worked, was that to move through the mode you have to win races. Finally a game where you don’t have to do all the worthless mini-games that usually hurt the game. I liked how you could race, then win the race, and move on to the next one.

While racing in these mode be prepared for some serious headaches. If you haven’t figured it out yet, you race with other cars on the road including the ones your racing, so there is going to be plenty of times where these cars get in your way. When you run into these cars you lose money as well your place in the race. At sometimes these cars are just plain irritating, but when you think about it, it’s what really keeps the game interesting.

Burnout is really an easy game to control. Burnout is not a realistic racing simulation by any stretch of the imagination, so turning and weaving in and out of lanes could never be easier. You can make the sharpest turns at the highest speeds with no problems.

Audio

Another big upgrade that Criterion added to the XBOX version of Burnout was the addition of the 5.1 surround sound support. This was an excellent addition to the already great sound effects of burnout. Although the 5.1 support was mostly used in the crash sequences, and it was amazing.

Replay Value

There are two different outlooks on how I see the replay value for Burnout. If you find that an arcade racing game is your style then this game can last you quite a while with it’s Championship mode, along with all the special modes you can unlock. If you are more of the simulation racing person then this one won’t keep it’s flare for very long.

Overall Score

Overall Score: 8 out of 10 (not an average)

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