The Art of Driving

Author's Rating:

Pros: Fun, fast, addictive gameplay

Cons: Should have been more tracks.

The Bottom Line: 
So fast you`ll be crying for mercy. It`s the ultimate rush.

Author's Review
Burnout is an arcade game, but don`t be fooled GT3 lovers, because this is... yes, it is more fun. Okey, so it doesn`t have official car licenses, but it really don`t need it either. Because this is the fastest most nerve-shattering experience you`ll ever get from a videogame. That`s what it`s supposed to be and that`s what it is.

Burnout demands all your attention, all the time. Your palms will get sweaty and you have to make split-second decisions, or hit the wall. Now, hitting the wall means crashing, as you probably already know. And usually that ain`t fun, but Burnout gives crashing a whole new meaning. You see, when you hit the wall, an obstacle, a car, bus or truck, you get to see your car fly trough the air in slow motion. And it repeats itself three times from three different angles. It works absolutely perfect.

Now, you might have heard that these crashes get a bit repeatative and annoying after a while. I would like to use the word frustrating, they are never boring. In Burnout you have a time limit, and you have to drive trough checkpoints to expand your time. This isn`t in any way a new feature, but it`s a way to bring tension and frustration into a game.

The best part of Burnout is the new "Burnout" system, while you are driving you have a Burnout-meter at the bottom of your screen. When this meter is filled you can use the "Burnout"-button, to get a Burnout. And when you push this button, the screen goes into a blur and your car suddenly goes so fast that you`ll have to fight not to pee your pants. But to get a Burnout isn`t all that easy. To fill your meter you`ll have to drive wrecklessly. Drive against oncoming traffic, slide around corners, or just nearly miss the other cars.

There are 14 tracks in Burnout, it seems like a lot variation, but it really isn`t. They`ve just reversed the tracks. Some are "night" tracks and then there are a couple of marathon tracks. But it really don`t matter anyway, as you`re just staring into the vanishing point, trying to decide where to turn next, hoping that you`ll get a chance to blink your eyes. You really don`t have time to take a glance at the track.

The music is actually very good and varied. And it`s context sensitive, which means that when you`re about to crash or when you`re time is running out, the music becomes more suspenseful and "scary". There is a music-player at the options menu, so that you can listen to all the music there.

When it comes to lifespan, it`s really up to you. There are seven championships, there are lots of challenges, like driving through a race without crashing, it is immensely hard. But it relies totally on your skill, it isn`t hard just to be hard. You can also save your crashes and watch them whenever you`d like.

Burnout is a fresh, fun, fast, heart-attack concieving, bugger of a game, you should seriously treat yourself to this one. Highly recommended.