| Burnout Revenge review |
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Gaming has many wonderful things to offer. Perhaps the most significant example of what gaming has that other entertainment media lack is a true sense of immersive escapism, the ability to actually do something that you can’t in the real world. Few games are more specifically targeted at this particular facet of gaming than Burnout: Revenge, where in any given race you’ll more than likely crash an incredibly expensive car at upwards of 150mph and walk away thoroughly unharmed. If you’re feeling particularly aggressive, you might even detonate a small explosive device in the process. No matter, you’ll still walk away unharmed. And then you’ll do it all over again. And again.
It’s worth noting at the outset that for those uneasy with the direction that the Burnout series has been pulled in since the acquisition by EA (that said, down boys, it’s fairly certain that Criterion would have gone this way with or without the help of the corporate juggernaut), Revenge is another dose of bad news. The major addition to the format for Revenge is that, in addition to being rewarded for causing your rival cars to crash, you can now score points by taking out incidental traffic. While great news for those who enjoyed the carnage of Takedown, for the dissenters there’s very little in the way of pure driving required; all game modes rely to a certain extent on the causing of vehicular mayhem.
Of course, this is Burnout’s hook, its very raison d’être, and the skill with which Criterion have taken the aggressive elements of Takedown from a relatively novel addition to the core of the game should not be overlooked. In particular, Traffic Checking ensures that every section of a course is rife with points to score if you can figure out the best way through, while new game mode Traffic Attack, which charges the player with wrecking as many incidental cars as they can, is pure destructive catharsis. Tightened up opponent AI also means that you have to work harder for your regular rival Takedowns, encouraging lots of grappling and jostling for position, keeping things exciting.
Coming some six months after the initial release of Revenge, the Xbox 360 version is certainly sharpened up, and a vast improvement on the relatively shoddy EA ports that were pushed out of the door for the console’s launch, but still suffers ever so slightly from being released around the same time as so-called second generation titles like Ghost Recon, Fight Night Round 3 and Oblivion. The most impressive thing is that the visuals have been successfully upgraded to look at home on a HD setup, though models and textures aren’t quite up to the standard set by the likes of PGR3 and Ridge Racer 6. But then again, there’s an extent to which such quibbling is churlish. Revenge still looks lovely, of that there can be little question, and the more important function of the engine at hand is speed, something that Revenge absolutely excels at. As you graduate through the ranks and unlock better cars, the sense of speed increases accordingly. At the upper end of the spectrum, there is simply no faster gaming experience out there. An outright assault on the senses, the concentration required to marshal the fastest vehicles can be almost exhausting, but certainly enormous amounts of fun.
In terms of other 360-exclusive additions, things are a little thin on the ground, amounting to little more than a couple of new cars and some new Crash Junctions (a blessing or a curse dependant entirely on your liking for this somewhat marmite-esque play mode). Ultimately, there is relatively little point buying Revenge on 360 if you’ve already unlocked all its secrets on a previous format. Perhaps the best reason is the smooth integration with the 360 standards. The Achievements range is pleasingly elusive, tasking players with racking up Perfect scores rather than simply progressing, and all memories of the cursed `Broken Live` have been banished. Online, Revenge 360 is immediate and involving, dropping you into the action quickly and easily whilst keeping track of Revenge Rivals (people who have taken you down and people that you’ve taken down) as well as an overall ranking. There’s also a facility to record and share game clips; always a slightly tokenistic feature, but then again, Revenge does have more scope than most for occasional moments of hilarity that you might really feel the desperate need to share with your friends around the world. Sure, it’s not really a dealmaker, but it’s another well put together feature.
Indeed, the few problems that can be identified with Revenge are in some ways an inevitability with a game like this. For much of the latter part of the game, you’re driving at insane speeds with the Boost button permanently pressed. And in order to keep the challenge up, later tracks are strewn with obstacles and oncoming and heavy vehicles (the kind that you can’t check so much as just plain crash into) in addition to the fact that rivals are governed by increasingly slippery AI. As such, it’s occasionally difficult to escape the sense that the game has a slightly askew take on fairness. As the time limits become increasingly tight (to the extent that one crash will regularly mean the difference between not just a Perfect and an Awesome rating but any kind of medal at all and abject failure), the fact that crashes tend to feel as if they’ve come out of nowhere becomes more and more frustrating.
However, it is just a feeling. Learn the tracks, concentrate that little bit harder, and such situations become avoidable. While definitely more frustrating than many of its stablemates, Revenge is simply so much fun that it compels you to keep coming back and keep developing your skills. And with such a varied roster of events open to you at any given time, from `straight` Races to Road Rage, Crash Junctions and even mini-GPs, boredom is distinctly not a problem that threatens to rear its head anytime soon.
The real question, then, is where Criterion can take the series from here? Sure, there are the inevitable true next-gen visual upgrades that will come with an original focus on the new formats, and it still remains the case that more could be done to differentiate and broaden the car and track lineups. Yet in many ways, Revenge appears the complete take on the current Burnout blueprint. And so, to potential buyers, a hearty recommendation; to the developers, a slap on the back but a whispered warning: Revenge is the very definition of sensory overload and outright escapism. It’s arcade gaming at its finest, without an arcade in sight. The challenge now is to resist the temptation to spoil the mix with unnecessary additions. On current form, however, Criterion seem like the last people in need of outside advice.
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System: Microsoft Xbox 360
Genre: Racing
Developer: Criterion Studios
Publisher: EA
Players: 1-6
Version: European
Reviewed: Apr 2006
Writer: Stuart Smith
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Pros:
- Unparalleled sense of speed
- Solid HD-ready visuals
- Slick online implementation
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Cons:
- Occasionally frustrating
- Bland car design
- Not many 360 exclusives
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Burnout Revenge Video: 5.8MB
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