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Burnout 3 Takedown

March 3rd, 2005 Jason Rybka Leave a comment Go to comments

Burners of the world unite! EA brings you Burnout 3: Takedown, the
third installment of the legendary Burnout series. Don’t waste your time fighting
traffic, DESTROY IT! Driving wrecklessly and taking big risks
is the name of the game here. This game is nothing like the arcade racers you’ve
been used to playing, this is simulated vehicular manslaughter at it’s finest!

Get ready for a world tour of driving destruction! Combine aggresive high speed
racing with crash slamming action to boost your way to the top. Take out the
competition across 3 continents in more than 60 race events, or smash everyone
in sight in intersection blocking crash event pile ups. Then move online and
compete with up to five other players. Drive as dangerously as possible to earn
crash $ and burnout points to unlock more than 60 vehicles, trophies, front
page headlines and much, much more!

Gameplay

Single player gives you 6 different dangerous race types: race, grand prix,
eliminator, face off, road rage, burning lap and special events that can be
unlocked by winning multiple gold medals, plus bone crushing crash events (100
of them)!

  • Race: Plain and simple, do whatever it takes to finish
    first, and believe me the AI in this game is about the most aggresive AI you’ll
    ever meet in an arcade racer.
  • Grand Prix: Earn GP points for qualifying in a series of
    usually 3 races. Your placement at the end of the race determines how many
    GP points you gain. Your goal is to get the highest combined score for the
    series of races to claim your medal.
  • Eliminator: Stay ahead to win. The driver in last place
    at the end of each lap is knocked out of the race until only the winning racer
    is left.
  • Road Rage: Take down as many rival racers as possible in
    the time limit. Hit takedown targets to win takedown medals. In this mode
    your car takes damage whenever it crashes until the "damage critical"
    message appears. One more crash and your car is nothing more than fire and
    ashes, and the event ends.
  • Burning Lap: Beat the bronze, silver, or gold time in one
    lap to earn medals.
  • Special Events: As mentioned above, earn as many gold medals
    as possible to be invited to exclusive special events.
  • Crash Events: Hit as many vehicles as possible, racking
    up oodles of crash $. Different vehicles have different values. Eash crash
    event has a crashbreaker target, the number of vehicles you have to wreck,
    that allows you to detonate your car with the B button when it is met allowing
    you to score more crash $. This mode also includes boost, money, and crash
    $ multiplyer power ups to really score, but watch out for the heartbreaker!
    This power up will half your crash $ total, and void and multipliers you may
    have picked up in the process.

Driving as aggressively as possible is what it’s all about here. Weave through
oncoming traffic, risk near misses, drift around bends and catch air over hills
to earn boost and fill your boost gauge. When it turns into an orange flame,
press the A button for a supersonic nitro boost! Steal your opponents boost
by shoving them around while flying down city streets at insane speeds.

Takedowns are where you can score the most boost. Smash your opponents off
the track or into and oncoming 18 wheeler and watch the insane slow motion tumbling
of your poor opponent! String 2 or more takedowns together to really rack up
burnout points, which are used as is crash $ to unlock more vehicles and events.
But watch out, your opponents will be after the sweet taste of revenge with
a takedown avenged!

One of the really cool features in Burnout 3 Takedown is the aftertouch function.
After a crash or while airborne from a ramp, hold the A button down to switch
to "slo-mo" impact time and use your left thumbstick to guide your
car into other vehicles, or even your race opponents to score an "aftertouch
takedown"!

Then check your rewards to see how much of a maniac you really are by checking
out the trophies, signature takedowns, and crash headlines you have earned.
Also enter the garage to see the new cars you have unlocked that you can now
cause mayhem with!

Control

The controls for Burnout 3 Takedown are basic and straightforward, as well
as very simple to get used to and jump right into the action.

The right trigger is gas, the left trigger is brake (useful for scoring
major drift point when cornering), and the A button acts as your Nitros
Boost. The A button also doubles during crashes and jumps as your ‘Aftertouch’
action, allowing you to slow time and steer your vehicle towards oncoming racers
to score an aftertouch takedown, or in crash mode to direct your vehicle towards
some of the more valuable pickups, like the x4 cash multiplier.

All in all the controls work very well for the game, it took me only one race
to realize the A button was not an ‘e-brake’, as it is in most racers, and the
only problem you’ll have is not hitting something while travelling at 200+ MPH,
the sense of speed in Burnout 3 Takedown is about the best I’ve experienced.

Xbox Live

Take the action online with race and road rage, plus 3 other types of multiplayer
modes.

  • Team Crush: Team up and find the best route to the biggest
    crashes! 2 player only.
  • Double Impact: Fight for crash $. 2 player only.
  • Party Crash: Try to cause the biggest crash $ wreck with
    up to 8 players.

As with other EA Xbox live games, you must connect through the EA servers after
you login to your live account in game. Personally I feel EA has made a very
unintuitive, clunky online interface, but their interface in Takedown is a bit
better than some of their other interfaces I’ve seen. This is the biggest drawback
I find to a nearly perfect arcade racing experience.

Graphics

This game really gives that intense feel of speed with a nice blurring effect
when you get the MPH’s pumped up there! The car models all look really good,
but oncoming traffic is not as nicely detailed. I have no way of measuring the
exact framerate in this game, but it seems locked in and doesn’t give a hint
of slow down, even with multiple vehicle pile ups occuring. The slo-mo aftertouch
effects are simply brilliant, with sparking parts shedding off the vehicles
for a very satisfying game play experience.

Burnout 3 Takedown Screenshot

View
All Burnout 3 Takedown Screenshots in the Gallery

Burnout 3 Takedown Screenshot

Audio

Sounds are great in the wrecks, engine noises seem a little tinny and not as
good as in EA’s Need for Speed Underground 2.

The music soundtrack is something EA really has nailed, they’re getting some
of the best new bands out there to really pump up your heartbeat while racing
for all of you adrenaline junkies. Franz Ferdinand, New Found Glory, My Chemical
Romance to name a few. If your not into that the game does support the Xbox
custom soundtrack feature.

Replay Value

There’s an 18 wheeler flat bed barreling down the highway head on at you with
replay value in this game! Trying to make your crash events even bigger than
the last one constantly brings me back for more action. Road Rage mode online
has become a weekly grudge match between me and my good friend Mr. Xboxsolution.
If you’re into arcade racers, the first time you pick this one up you’ll play
until you fall unconscious!

Overall Score

Overall Score: 9.5/10 [not an average]

Additional Comments

This is one helluva good game! Bone jarring impacts, oncoming traffic flying
through the air, takedowns, crash junctions, this game is just shy of being
perfect. Some of the most awesome, if not the best, crashes you will ever find
in a racing game. If you’re into racing games, get this one. It’s that good!

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