Burnout: Revenge (PS2)

For those not in the know, Burnout was one of the first game s to include extensive car damage. Unlike other games which featured lights smashed or windscreens cracked, Burnout went all the way - bumpers were torn off, tyres squealed and the cars were quite simply destroyed. The second game, Point of Impact, introduced a new Crash mode where players simply drove into a traffic-packed junction and caused the biggest pile-up they could. The third in the series, Takedown, allowed players to make their rivals crash and should players crash themselves, they could steer their wreck into rivals using the Aftertouch feature. Crash mode was redone as well - if players wrecked enough cars they could detonate their car using the Crashbreaker feature. Following on from this is Revenge.

Perhaps the most radical change is the ability to 'check' the traffic. Anything relatively small - like cars or vans - driving in the same direction as you can be pushed away from you, to get them out of the way. The moment you make contact with a car it bends and crumples with a satisfying smash and spins away, perhaps rolling over into another car, or even a rival racer to get a Traffic Takedown.

This newfound ability allows for tactics to come into the world of Burnout, - depending on where you hit the car, it will go in another direction, perhaps into more traffic constructing a blockade for rivals to win Takedowns. Traffic checking also introduces the new Traffic Attack mode, which simply revolves around checking as much traffic as you can to get cash. With each lap a multiplier increases, and the amount of destruction and cash you can create is incredible - cars spiralling everywhere, perhaps onto a road below or rolling into a bus and exploding. What would appear to wreck Burnout - a game about driving dangerously and dodging the traffic - has in fact made it far more enjoyable.

The second most radical change a lot of people will notice is that takedowns are far easier to get than they were in Burnout 3: Takedown. The tracks have been radically designed for takedowns - only one track was designed for takedowns in Burnout 3 as this element did not go into the game until the last minute - with more walls and barriers sticking out from the track edges and even ramps in the tracks to score another new type of takedown - a Vertical Takedown: land on the roof of a rival for points.

Rivalry is an intense part of Revenge, and carries the game forward. The single-player World Tour mode progresses forward via the means of an Aggression Meter - if you drive aggressively you will progress faster. This means taking dangerous manoeuvres, scoring takedowns and getting revenge on those who took you out before - hence the game's subtitle.

Aside from World Tour, there are - disappointingly - no other single player modes. The Single Race mode present in all 3 past Burnouts has been removed, which means you can't quite dive in as fast as you could previously. This can be an annoyance at first to past players, but very quickly you adjust to this new style of play and simply choose your favoured event from the structured event menu system.

Many of the modes present in previous games are all in Revenge, from Road Rage to Crash. The modes have all been revamped slightly too, to give the game a fresher feel. Some races now include the Crashbreaker - an explosive in the car, previously Crash mode exclusive - which means you can explode your rivals too should you wish to.

Crash has been massively overhauled. A meter now appears at the start and hitting the 'sweet spots' in the meter gives you a faster start; miss the spots by too much and you'll either stall or blow the engine. After you start, you can choose where to drive into to launch yourself - checking traffic to start a pile-up early - and using Aftertouch to get more cars after you crash. Wrecking enough cars activates the Crashbreaker, and with repeated hammering of R2 you can create a bigger explosion. Even after it's been detonated, the Crashbreaker can be used again and again if you keep wrecking more cars - which makes for devastating fun.

Graphics are extremely impressive; it holds its own on each format with each car - from shiny sports machine to banged up 4x4 - intricately detailed, even when it's just a sharp piece of scorched metal. Damage is enough to make people cringe for the worry of their driver - of which there are none, to avoid a higher rating - with the car's body being able to bend in 3 different places and bumpers and wheels and even doors can be torn off and flung aside.

The sound effects are your screeches, bangs and booms - typical Burnout fare. The music is not so good - less bearable than Takedown's - and unless you're a massive fan of college rock the chances are you wont have heard of anyone except Maximo Park, Bloc Party and the Chemical Brothers. Some songs can be listened to, but the playlist is also shorter than the one in Takedown which means you'll probably hear some songs more than once in a single sitting - but that we can blame on EA's corporate blarging.

Online is still featured and is managed very well - any buddies you have can all play a game as a single party with a few presses of buttons and the game is fast and slick as it is offline. The only criticisms that can be made of the online is the rather large presence of shrieking ten-year-olds.

Multiplayer mode is fine - Race makes it with Crashbreakers on some courses, Road Rage and Traffic Attack feature and there are 3 variations on Crash mode too. The lack of a Single Race mode is still a slight annoyance, but Criterion can be forgiven for that.

In the end, Burnout Revenge is a great package. Nudging traffic about and sending rivals into the nearest oncoming bus is great fun and playing with friends makes it even better - and makes it last even longer. It's like a snuff film for Gran Turismo fans; beautiful cars being bent and destroyed in every way imaginable - even off of huge cliffs - but who cares when it's this much fun?

Graphics - 5/5
Gameplay - 4.5/5
Sound - 4/5
Lifespan - 5/5
Overall - 5/5

Burnout 4 has still got the same fast pace, and furious driving as the previous games, but has even managed to improve on an award winning formulae. Essentially, the games focus is the same, race to win, complete objectives and unlock cars and tracks.

The graphics are crisp, and environments feel even bigger than their predacessor, with numerous routes to take in each race, giving you different glimpses of each area. You can drive through the coutry lanes, over mountains, through inner city area's, except, now there is even night driving as an option.

However, the great thing about this game is the play. Why the name, "Revenge," because this game is all about taking out other cars. Now you can hit the traffic (without being smashed,) providing its going in the same direction and isn't huge. This means you can smash traffic into your opponent's. Also, because of the numerous routes, you can even take opponents out from above! Extra modes to this include rush hour, where the objective is to smash every car you see on the road (providing its in the same direction and not too big) and changes to existing modes such as elimination, where rather than last on each lap goes out, its last every 30 seconds, meaning this isn't a long hard slog like it used to be. Crash mode has rapidly changed too, where now you have a meter which you need to tap at the right time to accelerate off at the start. Too late and you'll blow the engine, too soon and you'll stall. However, what i really love is the increased difficulty which means harder cars to make crash, and levels which have no boundries on mountains (meaning going over the edge if you fancy shortcuts!) Cars all focus on weight, and speed with some funny additions such as the burger van. The overall layout has changed too where you earn stars on each race which increase your rank. Every time you go up a rank (from reckless to dangerous) more races are unlocked for you, rather than a world map screen.

Thankfully, the music is good, with over 40 sounds by bands such as Funeral for a Friend, and others included on the disc, but you'll need to lower the sound effects if you want to hear the music as cars are distinctly louder!

Putting it bluntly, this game is near faultless, its fast, and fun and a great addition for any PS2 owner. Get it now!