Burnout is a extreme, exilerating, and intense arcade racer. Set in relality, and on public streets, this is street racing at it's finest, the races are in the vain of car chases. You and four opponents race through public traffic, in the city, on the busy highway and through peaceful laid back europein roads.
As you race you'll discover the more recklessly you drive the more you fill your boost meter, when it reaches the top your adrenilin is pumping and you can drive at higher speeds for a short time. With this increased speed you will lose some control over your car so you have to smart about when and where you use it. If you manage to use all your boost in one go, you 'Burnout!' and get a half full meter as a reward. If you manage to do this in the on coming lane the whole time you are rewarded with up to 3 more full uses of boost.
Also as you drive you are bound to crash in to at least a couple of pedestrian cars. Crashes cost you about 4 or 5 seconds off your check point timer. They also cost you half your boost meter. The crashes are spectacular, window glass shatters, metal bends and deforms, all in the most realistic car crashes ever in a videogame. After you're shown a replay of the crash, you get a new car and you keep going. If you crash too much you may not be able to pass the check points to get more time to finish the race, if you run out of time you lose the race.
There are 5 main tracks, three located in a pseudo USA, and two in a pseudo Europe. Each of the five main courses has at least one alternate, weather it be in reverse or at a different time of day. Then there are the marathons, USA marathon is the longest, it contains the three USA based tracks in one long circuit, it take almost 20 minutes to finish. The Euro marathon is shorter, it combines the two Euro courses in to one long circuit, this track takes about 12 minutes to complete. There are also reverse night versions of these two marathons. So there are about 14 tracks to tackle.
At the start of the game there are 5 cars availible, but as you complete champoinship mode(the heart of the game) in which you take on sets of three race grand-prixs. As you complete these grand-prixs you unlock more features in the game. Face-Off, is the unlockable mode where you unlock cars. In it you 'face-off' with another car, and if you win you unlock that car. There are 4 face offs to win taking the total cars to 9. Survival mode is another unlockable mode, in this mode it's you against the traffic on any track of your choosing, excempt in this mode you can't crash, if you crash your done just like in real life. There is also a time trial mode, where you can challenge a bunch of preset lap times. There is also a single race mode for people who like to have a quick racing fix (this is the mode you'll come back to, this and the 2-P mode).
But the most fun mode of the game is the two player mode. Here it is the same as the other racing modes(you can even put on survival rules once it's unlocked, as well as up to 2 computer racers.) except racing amongst the traffic is much more fun with another human. There is nothing more fun the taking out your friend, and winning the race or having a tight battle where you both just slip through a tight situation. It's currently one of the most fun two-player modes on GCN right now(other than Smash Bros. Melee's) and definately the most fun racing two player mode.
In the end Burnout is a really fun racing game, it is exciting, moves at a blistering frame rate, and has unbelievably tight gameplay controls. Melded together with the boost element and the realistic crashes creates one of the most unique racing experiences on any system right now. This game should not be missed by anyone, rent it or buy it, it doesn't matter just play this game. The only thing is that the main unlockable portion(read: champoinship mode) of the game is a little short, the score would be a little higher if there was alittle more to it, but this is only a minor problem, there is still plenty to do after the game is completed. But hopefully the sequel will fix the longevity problems.
8.9 out of 10
Review by Tom Aitken...
Burnout is a extreme, exilerating, and intense arcade racer. Set in relality, and on public streets, this is street racing at it's finest, the races are in the vain of car chases. You and four opponents race through public traffic, in the city, on the busy highway and through peaceful laid back europein roads.
