Burnout Revenge



Introduction:

With the release of Burnout Revenge, the sequel to the critically acclaimed Burnout 3: Takedown, EA attempts to build on the success of the previous game. With a big change to the gameplay and a few minor tweaks to each game mode, Burnout Revenge seems to offer enough to be a successful sequel. Let’s take a look at what Burnout Revenge has to present.

Gameplay:

The main difference in the gameplay between Burnout Revenge and Burnout 3 is the addition of the ‘Traffic Check’. When you check traffic, you are essentially ramming into any car or small truck going the same direction as your vehicle. Cars you hit can be deflected into the other lane for ‘Skill Shot’ points or thrown into enemies to perform ‘Traffic Check Takedowns’. Checking Traffic has only a small effect on your speed, and in addition, it adds to your boost meter. This new ability adds quite a bit of excitement to the game, but it changes the gameplay in a big way. Now, less emphasis is put on dodging obstacles, and there aren’t as many times that you will have to avoid other vehicles. You can still show off your maneuvering skills by driving in lanes with oncoming traffic, which cannot be checked. This is another way to add to your boost bar, but why bother when you can just plow through stuff?

The single-player mode of play is still World Tour, but the mechanics of this mode of play have changed. Now, the entire campaign is centered on your Revenge Ranking. You can be ranked from 1 to10, and you advance ranks based on your performance in race events. You can earn up to 5 stars in every race based on the aggressiveness of your driving and the medal achieved. Advancing ranks opens up new tracks, cars, and events.

The new mode of play, Traffic Attack, is focused on checking traffic. Basically, it involves fighting a countdown timer while you ram into traffic. Each car you hit adds time to the countdown, and you continue for as long as possible. I must say that I am not a big fan of this particular race event due to its pointlessness, but luckily, Burnout Revenge improves upon already established events.

‘Road Rage’ is back and as good as ever. This event includes performing takedowns of your enemies in a set amount of time. Your time is extended every three takedowns, and the more rivals you take out, the better. If you happen to be taken out by the aggressive AI, this vehicle becomes a ‘Revenge Rival’. This is one guy that you should be sure to take out, because you obtain a ton of boost for getting even with him. As you would expect, traffic checking plays a role in this mode of play as well. Along with ‘Vertical Takedowns’, ‘Signature Takedowns’, and ‘Revenge Takedowns’, you can also perform ‘Traffic Check Takedowns’. This just involves checking a car into your opposition, but even though it sounds simple, it takes practice. Some of these takedowns can be quite cool to watch. In addition to this, you can take out other vehicles in certain races with your ‘Crashbreaker’. ‘Crashbreakers’ detonate your vehicle and demolish anything in the surrounding area. This capability is available in certain events (including more than just Road Rage), and as you progress through ‘Revenge Ranks’, you will participate in more races that have this enabled.

In addition to ‘Road Rage’, all of the popular modes from Burnout 3 make their return. This includes: ‘Crash Events’, ‘Eliminator’, ‘Burning Lap’, ‘Grand Prix Race’, and ‘Race’. ‘Crash Events’ have been tweaked in a number of ways. First off, your start is much different, and it involves dealing with a meter similar to the kick-off meter of EA’s football games. You must land the bar on the two sweet spots of the meter to achieve an acceptable start. Failing to do so can cause you to stall or start off very slowly. The other change to ‘Crash Events’ is that you must inflict a certain amount of damage before being able to use ‘Crashbreakers’. The areas used for these events have been upgraded as well. Now, you can set up your crashes in large areas with paths to approach intersections from above via overpasses.

‘Eliminator’, ‘Burning Lap’, ‘Grand Prix Race’, and ‘Race’ are pretty much untouched except for the fact that you can check traffic. These events are offered with or without ‘Crashbreakers’ enabled, and they are still as fun as ever. For those who don’t know, ‘Eliminator’ is an event that eliminates the last place player after a set amount of time. This is repeated until there is one remaining driver, the winner. ‘Burning Lap’ is simply a time trial of a track with no opponents to race, and ‘Grand Prix Race’ is a series of races. Most races in these events feature neck-and-neck driving that keeps you on the edge of your seat till the very end.

Notable changes have been made to the tracks in Burnout Revenge as well. This year, as well as not facing the threat of crashing into cars traveling in your direction, you will no longer have as many crashing threats from turns and narrow passages. This is due to the fact that the tracks seem to be much more forgiving. You are subtly guided through narrow passages and ramming the edge of a turn has no effect other than a slight slowdown. Granted, there are still areas of the track set up to make you more vulnerable to crash or be taken out, but it still seems as though the track provides less of a challenge.

The main enemy in the game, with the absence of traffic and track threats, is now the AI. Your rivals serve up enough of a challenge to keep the game fun. They are very aggressive and love to slam you and try to take you down. You find yourself gunning for revenge on these guys plenty of times during the race, and it is very satisfying to take them down.

Overall, the gameplay in Burnout has shifted towards more excitement with the loss of the skill required to navigate the tracks and the traffic on them. Some people will complain about this, but I feel that even more will find themselves adjusting to the new style of play and becoming addicted shortly afterwards