Burnout Revenge  Preview for Xbox

- Tim Mellish, " Cloud890 ", Senior Editor

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

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Title: Burnout Revenge .............................................. System: Xbox .............................................. Genre: Racing/Driving .............................................. Publisher: Electronic Arts .............................................. Developer: Criterion Software .............................................. Release: 11/11/2005 .............................................. Online: Yes .............................................. ESRB: Rating Pending .............................................. The Burnout series is an anomaly in the racing genre. It took the most frustrating aspect of racing games, the crashing, and made it not only fun but also a useful tool in winning races. Burnout and Burnout 2 were ok games. They were entertaining but lacked that amount of polish and presentation that separate the ok from the amazing. By the third installment of the series, Burnout 3, Criterion finally got it right thanks in part to EA, who helped the game reach a wider audience and receive the credit the series deserved. Burnout 3 was and still is one of the best racing games of this generation and still holds the title of recreating the fastest sense of speed. It won numerous Game of the Year awards and thanks to the high replay value this game looks to keep its momentum going well into the end of the Xbox life span. So the question of “Why is Criterion even making Burnout Revenge?” is a very good one. Burnout 3 was almost perfect in every aspect of an arcade racing game. How does one top perfection? Bungie attempted to do this with Halo 2 and did not succeed (in my opinion). Like Bungie, Criterion is taking the core gameplay component perfected in Burnout 3 and attempting to tweak it to create a more enjoyable experience. Whether it will be is questionable. Most of the information that can be gathered about Burnout Revenge is from screenshots and trailers. Both these provide enough information to paint a somewhat clear picture of how Burnout Revenge will play. The most obvious difference between Burnout 3 and Revenge is how much more narrow the tracks of Revenge are. In Burnout 3 it was not uncommon to come across eight or more lane wide tracks. In Revenge the tracks are maybe two or three creating a much more confined racing experience. It obviously removes some options as to how to handle a certain situation and one has to wonder if a narrower track is a really good choice. The next major gameplay change in Burnout Revenge deals with crashing. In Burnout 3, one hard collision with any car, truck or semi on the road resulted in a massive, almost Matrix-like crash that was both entertaining and crucial to winning races. Crashes could be controlled via a Max Payne-ish "bullet-time" feature known as "after touch". In Burnout Revenge one crash won’t send you hurling. That’s right, unlike all the previous Burnouts, Burnout Revenge allows for a player to slam hard into a car and still keep driving. A car that's hit will go flying, which is entertaining to watch. The big question right now is how fundamentally different the gameplay of Burnout Revenge will be thanks to this gameplay tweak. Will a that's hit be used as a projectile shot forward at other opponents? No one will know this until the game is actually in playable hands, unfortunately. Also, the other big concern is whether this will make Burnout Revenge less intense and more on the easy side than previous Burnout titles. The nagging fear of getting hit is basically removed from the gaming experience. This might result in a step back for Burnout fans and perhaps a step closer to fans of Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsports. Finally, one new experience in Burnout Revenge is the addition of ramps. Although only shown once in the trailer, it has been implied that a new vertical element has been added into Burnout Revenge. This is very good news. Burnout 3 screamed for ramps but only had them in its fun-filled crash modes. Now with Burnout Revenge, players will have the ability to blast up ramps, adding to the craziness. Burnout 3 was an amazing game and, while different, Burnout Revenge also looks to be quite good. Although there are some gameplay tweaks that may make some fans avoid the title, overall the game looks great. Look for it this Fall for the Xbox.

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