Burnout 3: Takedown
Say hello to the best arcade racer ever made.
Published: September 20, 2004
When you play a couple hundred games a year, you get a sixth sense about some of them, or at very least an acute feeling of satisfaction when a game is just plain right. Burnout 3 is one of those games. Everything it does, it does with aplomb, from kicking out graphics that just shouldn't exist in this generation -- let alone on the PS2 -- to delivering a sense of speed, yet offering controls that allow you to keep up with the increasingly brilliant level design, to offering an suite of online modes that will make you fall to your knees in thanks of broadband. This is the very definition of a must-have game.
It's amazing to see the series' progression from something that resembled a showcase for Criterion's RenderWare platform (that ended up being better presented in a little game called ) to a solid game in its own right to one of the best games made in the past couple years, perhaps in the history of video games. Each successive installment added better graphics and more features, but Burnout 3 just does an amazing job of presenting the whole shebang and refining the concept to perfection.
Burnout 3 is about two things: speed and destruction. The race aspect (where you cross the finish line first) of the game feeds the former, while the crash sections (where you try to rack up as much damage as possible by causing massive pile-ups) fuel the second. Shared between the two are the same basic concepts: driving dangerously (riding in oncoming traffic lanes, narrowly missing cars, getting air, and drifting or powersliding) will get you boost to fill your burnout meter slowly, but scoring takedowns -- forcing your opponents into walls or cars or psyching them out so they do it themselves -- will not only fully charge your boost, but it'll tack a bit more of the meter on for longer stretches of boost. Of course, if you crash yourself, you'll lose that extra bit of boost meter.
Boost equals more force for better crashes and more speed for getting to the finish line first, and it's this simple yet utterly addictive concept that unites the two previously separated sections of the game in the World Tour mode, where you'll jet from the US to Europe and the Far East to compete in 173 progressively unlocked events, from the aforementioned straightforward Race and Crash modes to Grand Prix races (where placing high in multiple races nets you points towards an overall standing), Eliminator events (each round the car in last place is eliminated until only one stands), Face-Offs (a one-on-one race where you'll win the competing car if you take the checkered flag) Road Rage races (by far my favorite, where you have to takedown a certain number of cars within the time limit) and Burning Lap races (where it's a race to boost the whole way around the track to get the best lap time).
The Road Rage in particular is a massive rush, mainly because the AI in your opponents is so aggressive; you're constantly battling to put them into a wall without heading that way yourself. It's an absolute blast, and was a perfect way to introduce the two biggest additions to the gameplay since the previous games. Takedowns are a blast, show off how robust the damage models on these cars really are, and train you on how to best max out your burnout meter for the boost you'll need stockpiled for the later races in the game. Well, that and it's just plain fun to slam some guy into a wall and watch the resulting mayhem in slo-mo.
That same slo-mo can be used to your advantage if you happen to eat it. Holding down the R1 button after crashes activates Aftertouch mode, where you can control the direction of your crash. Slide your wrecked heap into an oncoming opponent racer, and you'll take him down and get an aftertouch takedown bonus, giving you the same boost to your burnout meter that you would've gotten had you taken them out normally. It's an incredibly fun way of turning a crash into an opportunity to take out opponents who would otherwise pass you up.
The only downside (and really only major fault I can find with the game) is that you can't control the camera while aftertouching, which can mean you're often left without a clear view of opponents coming down the track, though the game engine will remove obstructions like walls and overhanging tree branches so you have a less obstructed view, but it's not enough control, and can't fix instances where the camera gets stuck looking straight down or where your car takes up the entire screen.
Crash mode has undergone a similar upgrade, albeit a more nuanced touch-up. Scattered around the arenas now are icons that offer up cash, multiplier bonuses or half-score penalties. The multipliers are easily the best (and it would seem later on, only) way to rack up the necessary points to get a gold medal (golds get you better cars, as do burnout point totals accrued by pulling off the aforementioned dangerous driving moves, and racking up takedowns and piling up damage in crash mode all nets you unlockable goodies).
With so many different races, all the unlocked cars (which, save for the special cars like fire trucks and Formula 1 cars, more or less control the same, just look different and occasionally sport slightly better speed or weight for easier takedowns), and the constant changes of venue, the game manages to stay fresh from beginning to end, which speaks even more about how well Criterion was able to tweak the formula to keep the new tracks at once familiar and part of the old ones, yet offer enough variety to keep even the most ADD-addled kid (or adult) entertained.
Then of course there's the online modes. Almost all of the single-player events are present here, usually tweaked so as to allow for maximum competition and an ungodly amount of fun; if you don't have a network adaptor yet, this is easily the best excuse to get one. The actual modes themselves aren't all that far removed from their offline counterparts; Single Race lets you run from start to finish, Team Crush allows you to team up with someone to tag-team a Crash venue, Double Impact lets you play against them to see how can cause the most damage, and Party Crash lets up to 8 people get in on the fun.
The final mode, Road Rage, is probably the most fun, allowing players pick either the hunted blue team, which has only one goal: make it to the finish intact, or the hunter red team, who has the option of unlimited boost and a thirst for blue team blood, with the sole purpose of putting them into a wall as many times as it takes to keep them from making it to the end. Straining to make it to the finish while a car with unlimited boost is constantly on your heels or the ability to just go nuts slamming opponents into walls is made all the more satisfying when there's some guy screaming in your ear the whole time you do it... in Italian, no less.
I've already touched on the graphics a bit, but they really are some of the best -- if not the best -- ever seen on the PlayStation 2. Criterion has consistently made engines that keep the PS2 looking as good as the other platforms, and while there are the usual upgrades to things like progressive scan and some basic texture detail, this is an unequivocal example of how slick programming can keep the PS2 neck and neck with the other supposedly more powerful systems.
The little touches are everwhere; soft glows on things like signs and road lines when the sunlight glints off them, thick volumetric smoke during crashes, an astonishing amount of debris during crashes, windshields and windows that shatter and crumble away leaving cracked pieces just like they should, massive amounts of sparks cascading off of wall-pinned or crashing cars... It's almost too much to take in all at once, and it really does defy what consoles this generation are normally capable of. Seeing your car become a mangled hunk of metal, with the body twisted onto itself, or watching as your hood is crushed, doors stuck open, glass shattered and bumper falling off as you scream towards the finish absolutely sets the bar for deformation in car models.
Of course, those little touches mean nothing if the game can't keep up, and aside from the occasional hitch during particularly thick crashes, the game screams along at a buttery smooth 60 frames a second. Small tricks like clever dithering (though the textures are so well optimized, color palette-wise, that it's almost impossible to tell even when the game is paused) and tracks that twist and contort enough to remove the need for large expanses that remove long draw distances most of the time allow the game to shine whether you're screaming up a mountain pass or cruising along the Rivera.
It's the same with the stellar audio. Every effect, from the crumpling metal and shattering glass, to the engine revs and almost ethereal music that plays while in aftertouch slo-mo, sounds clean and solid, perfectly melding with the too-good-to-be-true visuals. The only area where anyone would probably have any complains will probably lie in the music and/or the "on-air" accompaniment from Los Angeles alternative radio station KROQ's Stryker (who you can fortunately turn off once his repetitive comments get to be too much).
The music, 44 tracks in all, show an amazingly constrained range. I didn't think this many sound-alike bands existed on the airwaves these days, but for those digging the Top 40 alternative genre (think primarily emo/punk/hardcore stuff here) and bands like Jimmy Eat World, A New Found Glory, Atreyu, Pennywise, Franz Ferdinand, Yellowcard and Autopilot Off (both of which appeared in SSX3), they'll know what to expect here, and if you do dig the music, almost 50 songs means you won't get tired of one song for a while.
Everything does seem to blend more or less together, however, giving the impression that EA listened to a LOT of local San Francisco radio station Live 105's Fast Forward segments to get a good idea of "what the kids were listening to these days." I myself happen to listen to Live 105 most of the time, so I can't exactly complain, and there are a few track here from bands that don't have albums in stores yet (such as Jimmy Eat World), so if nothing else, fans can get a taste of upcoming stuff. Just expect a lot of nasally, angsty whining above raging guitars and punk-inspired drum beats. If you don't dig it, fortunately, the in-race audio is quite ear pleasing.
Kick ass online, an utterly addictive, expansive single-player experience and that pervasive "just one more game" kind of attraction makes this one of the single best ways to spend $50 around. Stop reading this, grab your keys and get your butt to the nearest games store now. There's no reason why you shouldn't be playing this game right now, and if you're anything like us, you'll probably be doing so well into the holiday season. This is racing perfection, pure and simple, and mark my words, will go down in the annals of gaming history as one of the greatest games ever made. Why wouldn't you want to play something this good?
It's amazing to see the series' progression from something that resembled a showcase for Criterion's RenderWare platform (that ended up being better presented in a little game called ) to a solid game in its own right to one of the best games made in the past couple years, perhaps in the history of video games. Each successive installment added better graphics and more features, but Burnout 3 just does an amazing job of presenting the whole shebang and refining the concept to perfection.
Burnout 3 is about two things: speed and destruction. The race aspect (where you cross the finish line first) of the game feeds the former, while the crash sections (where you try to rack up as much damage as possible by causing massive pile-ups) fuel the second. Shared between the two are the same basic concepts: driving dangerously (riding in oncoming traffic lanes, narrowly missing cars, getting air, and drifting or powersliding) will get you boost to fill your burnout meter slowly, but scoring takedowns -- forcing your opponents into walls or cars or psyching them out so they do it themselves -- will not only fully charge your boost, but it'll tack a bit more of the meter on for longer stretches of boost. Of course, if you crash yourself, you'll lose that extra bit of boost meter.
Boost equals more force for better crashes and more speed for getting to the finish line first, and it's this simple yet utterly addictive concept that unites the two previously separated sections of the game in the World Tour mode, where you'll jet from the US to Europe and the Far East to compete in 173 progressively unlocked events, from the aforementioned straightforward Race and Crash modes to Grand Prix races (where placing high in multiple races nets you points towards an overall standing), Eliminator events (each round the car in last place is eliminated until only one stands), Face-Offs (a one-on-one race where you'll win the competing car if you take the checkered flag) Road Rage races (by far my favorite, where you have to takedown a certain number of cars within the time limit) and Burning Lap races (where it's a race to boost the whole way around the track to get the best lap time).
The Road Rage in particular is a massive rush, mainly because the AI in your opponents is so aggressive; you're constantly battling to put them into a wall without heading that way yourself. It's an absolute blast, and was a perfect way to introduce the two biggest additions to the gameplay since the previous games. Takedowns are a blast, show off how robust the damage models on these cars really are, and train you on how to best max out your burnout meter for the boost you'll need stockpiled for the later races in the game. Well, that and it's just plain fun to slam some guy into a wall and watch the resulting mayhem in slo-mo.
That same slo-mo can be used to your advantage if you happen to eat it. Holding down the R1 button after crashes activates Aftertouch mode, where you can control the direction of your crash. Slide your wrecked heap into an oncoming opponent racer, and you'll take him down and get an aftertouch takedown bonus, giving you the same boost to your burnout meter that you would've gotten had you taken them out normally. It's an incredibly fun way of turning a crash into an opportunity to take out opponents who would otherwise pass you up.
The only downside (and really only major fault I can find with the game) is that you can't control the camera while aftertouching, which can mean you're often left without a clear view of opponents coming down the track, though the game engine will remove obstructions like walls and overhanging tree branches so you have a less obstructed view, but it's not enough control, and can't fix instances where the camera gets stuck looking straight down or where your car takes up the entire screen.
Crash mode has undergone a similar upgrade, albeit a more nuanced touch-up. Scattered around the arenas now are icons that offer up cash, multiplier bonuses or half-score penalties. The multipliers are easily the best (and it would seem later on, only) way to rack up the necessary points to get a gold medal (golds get you better cars, as do burnout point totals accrued by pulling off the aforementioned dangerous driving moves, and racking up takedowns and piling up damage in crash mode all nets you unlockable goodies).
With so many different races, all the unlocked cars (which, save for the special cars like fire trucks and Formula 1 cars, more or less control the same, just look different and occasionally sport slightly better speed or weight for easier takedowns), and the constant changes of venue, the game manages to stay fresh from beginning to end, which speaks even more about how well Criterion was able to tweak the formula to keep the new tracks at once familiar and part of the old ones, yet offer enough variety to keep even the most ADD-addled kid (or adult) entertained.
Then of course there's the online modes. Almost all of the single-player events are present here, usually tweaked so as to allow for maximum competition and an ungodly amount of fun; if you don't have a network adaptor yet, this is easily the best excuse to get one. The actual modes themselves aren't all that far removed from their offline counterparts; Single Race lets you run from start to finish, Team Crush allows you to team up with someone to tag-team a Crash venue, Double Impact lets you play against them to see how can cause the most damage, and Party Crash lets up to 8 people get in on the fun.
The final mode, Road Rage, is probably the most fun, allowing players pick either the hunted blue team, which has only one goal: make it to the finish intact, or the hunter red team, who has the option of unlimited boost and a thirst for blue team blood, with the sole purpose of putting them into a wall as many times as it takes to keep them from making it to the end. Straining to make it to the finish while a car with unlimited boost is constantly on your heels or the ability to just go nuts slamming opponents into walls is made all the more satisfying when there's some guy screaming in your ear the whole time you do it... in Italian, no less.
I've already touched on the graphics a bit, but they really are some of the best -- if not the best -- ever seen on the PlayStation 2. Criterion has consistently made engines that keep the PS2 looking as good as the other platforms, and while there are the usual upgrades to things like progressive scan and some basic texture detail, this is an unequivocal example of how slick programming can keep the PS2 neck and neck with the other supposedly more powerful systems.
The little touches are everwhere; soft glows on things like signs and road lines when the sunlight glints off them, thick volumetric smoke during crashes, an astonishing amount of debris during crashes, windshields and windows that shatter and crumble away leaving cracked pieces just like they should, massive amounts of sparks cascading off of wall-pinned or crashing cars... It's almost too much to take in all at once, and it really does defy what consoles this generation are normally capable of. Seeing your car become a mangled hunk of metal, with the body twisted onto itself, or watching as your hood is crushed, doors stuck open, glass shattered and bumper falling off as you scream towards the finish absolutely sets the bar for deformation in car models.
Of course, those little touches mean nothing if the game can't keep up, and aside from the occasional hitch during particularly thick crashes, the game screams along at a buttery smooth 60 frames a second. Small tricks like clever dithering (though the textures are so well optimized, color palette-wise, that it's almost impossible to tell even when the game is paused) and tracks that twist and contort enough to remove the need for large expanses that remove long draw distances most of the time allow the game to shine whether you're screaming up a mountain pass or cruising along the Rivera.
It's the same with the stellar audio. Every effect, from the crumpling metal and shattering glass, to the engine revs and almost ethereal music that plays while in aftertouch slo-mo, sounds clean and solid, perfectly melding with the too-good-to-be-true visuals. The only area where anyone would probably have any complains will probably lie in the music and/or the "on-air" accompaniment from Los Angeles alternative radio station KROQ's Stryker (who you can fortunately turn off once his repetitive comments get to be too much).
The music, 44 tracks in all, show an amazingly constrained range. I didn't think this many sound-alike bands existed on the airwaves these days, but for those digging the Top 40 alternative genre (think primarily emo/punk/hardcore stuff here) and bands like Jimmy Eat World, A New Found Glory, Atreyu, Pennywise, Franz Ferdinand, Yellowcard and Autopilot Off (both of which appeared in SSX3), they'll know what to expect here, and if you do dig the music, almost 50 songs means you won't get tired of one song for a while.
Everything does seem to blend more or less together, however, giving the impression that EA listened to a LOT of local San Francisco radio station Live 105's Fast Forward segments to get a good idea of "what the kids were listening to these days." I myself happen to listen to Live 105 most of the time, so I can't exactly complain, and there are a few track here from bands that don't have albums in stores yet (such as Jimmy Eat World), so if nothing else, fans can get a taste of upcoming stuff. Just expect a lot of nasally, angsty whining above raging guitars and punk-inspired drum beats. If you don't dig it, fortunately, the in-race audio is quite ear pleasing.
Kick ass online, an utterly addictive, expansive single-player experience and that pervasive "just one more game" kind of attraction makes this one of the single best ways to spend $50 around. Stop reading this, grab your keys and get your butt to the nearest games store now. There's no reason why you shouldn't be playing this game right now, and if you're anything like us, you'll probably be doing so well into the holiday season. This is racing perfection, pure and simple, and mark my words, will go down in the annals of gaming history as one of the greatest games ever made. Why wouldn't you want to play something this good?
