The fact that the Burnout series was able to make it into sequel land in a world where masterful racing titles like Gran Turismo 3 exist says something for its addictive game play. No, the cars and racing environments are nowhere near as pretty as those in the GT series, nor do the music and sound effects insight such videogame love in the hearts of players. But with Burnout, Acclaim tossed aside the principles of racing that purists tout and carry like picket signs and injected their racer with healthy portion of lovingly tight control, ridiculously fast paced romps through city traffic and a whole lot of dramatic fender benders. To no surprise, this equals fun every time.

Breakdown

After a quick tutorial, Burnout unleashes you on the crowded streets to rip holes in rush hour traffic. Playing the championship modes lead you through a succession of unlocking new tracks, acquiring new vehicles and bonus levels. Races are punctuated by a list of tactics that fill your burn meter and give you a controllable boost (much like nitrous oxide in Midnight Club) and, if you are not quick enough on the steering wheel, some of the most devastating collisions this side of Bad Boys II. Adding to the games destructive nature, there is a crash mode where the only objective is to smash the hell out of other cars for bonus points and an unlockable police car chase sequences where you chase down a fugitive and ram his car into surrender. Overall, the dearth of game modes keep the game from becoming boring too quickly and the gigantic race tracks are always fun to replay.

Graphically, Burnout 2 is an obvious upgrade from the pretty drab scenery and car models of the first game. The unlockable vehicles are much nicer than anything seen on the first game and the city environments are fuller with more pronounced natural and fabricated roadside landscapes. While still pale in comparison to the pretty and imaginative tracks in the GT series, the tracks are much longer than in GT and more wide open in scope. Framerates keep up with the action easily but objects and vehicles pull in from the zenith pretty quickly and sometimes seem to appear right in front of you. This is less a fault of any draw distance problems and more likely a result of the ridiculous speed. And no game holds a candle to the crash mechanics which have only got better since the original game.

The most important aspect of Burnout 2's appeal is its amazing tight, yet unrealistic control. Without such control, the game would be virtually useless since navigating high volume traffic, avoiding collision and whipping around the curvy tracks would be impossible. The Gamecube controller handles the job best, especially when using Manual gear shifting (which is best for quick accelleration). A variety of wreckless driving moves, like near misses and flying through the air, will fill your boost meter giving you incentive to live dangerously even when there is no need to.

A sonic upgrade was also in order with heavier more fitting tracks in this sequel. The most notable audio change is the change in the music when you use your boost. It moves closer to the foreground and becomes more phrenetic as you struggle to keep the car under control.

Burnout 2 is a worthy sequel, inching the series closer and closer to defining the genre for the generation. The Xbox version, generously dubbed “The Director’s Cut”, is slightly better with more cars and tracks to unlock and tighter vehicle/environmental structuring but that’s basically it. Any version you get will be equally as fun and addicting to last you until the follow up is released.

Posted: July 25, 2003