Burnout: Revenge (Xbox 360)

That's a little pessimistic. Surely you must be able to remember the old adage:

"Winning is not important, it's not losing that counts"

Having played the PS2 version through to "Elite", here's my two penneth on the 360 version;

Racing is much more fun thanks to the extra rez. With the blistering speeds reached in a 209mph car during burnout, being able to decern oncoming traffic and same-way trucks and buses from the other, checkable traffic makes a massive difference. I would almost say the game is easier because of it, but I'll qualify that by saying that it's probably less frustrating, less reliant on last-moment reactions, yet still seat-of-the-pants stuff. The extra rez also means you can clearly see shortcuts with enough time to make a relatively safe line for them.

Not being able to retry an event after achieving your first medal is utterly s**t - especially when you've only managed a Bronze. With the constant stream of unlocked tracks and cars made available after a race, forcing you out of an event after your first placing gives the impression that you're being steamrollered from one event to the next - hindering you from replaying events you've enjoyed or want to better your placing.

The after-race menu is also a bit of a bind, as you can't skip through it. All you need to know is what you've scored, so you can choose to retry (on the occassions it lets you) or get back to the event selection. After the first few times, just don't need to see the animations for placing medal, aggressive driving rating, overall achievement and rank progress.

When you do get to retry, it's disappointing to see lengthy reload times. This was a realy chore with PS2, and I just can't understand why it's still an issue with a 360. Given that our office 360 has an HD, couldn't that be used to cache the damn reset data?

As with the PS2 version, there is still too much emphasis on Crash mode events. This is a racing game, for christ's sake! Still, Crash mode is much less frustrating than the PS2 version, thanks to the lack of the stupid eyecandy "rewind" back to the start. Plus, the 360 version is much quicker to go from a reset, to car selection, to start, which is essential for those Crash events where it seems impossible to get that bloody Gold (and of those there are many).

The overall experience is a huge amount of fun. It is difficult to put down, as you want to see how you'll place in the next race.

Sadly, with the sense of being steamrollered through the game, coupled with the plethora of shortcuts, short circuit races and way too may Crash events, I just didn't "get to know" the tracks quite so well as with Burnout 1 and 2. It wasn't until I was a good 70% through the game that I was able to drive tracks in instinct. This is a shame, because with this version they've deminished what Burnout was about; instinctual, seat-of-the-pants racing.

I'm totally not with that. I WAS at first, but that was juast a case of em preferring what I was used to. But to be honest, I find this re-try and re-try and re-try until you get a gold a bit pathetic. Life's NOT like that. You didn't get Paula Radcliffe at the Olympics whinging that they wouldn't re-start the race for her so she could have another go.

I think they steamrollering is a good thing. I think that it shows that, at that stage in the game, you weren't good enough to get a gold, learn to deal and move on.



No IT"S NOT. It's aracing and crashing game. The crash events are good fun. If you just want to race, get PGR3 (360) or GT4 (PS2).



I felt exactly the opposite. In Burnouts 1&2, I never felt I really learned a track, because the resolution was always so poor that I lacked the visual cues I use. I know the tracks far better in Revenge now, than I ever did on 1 and 2. The surfiet of alternative routes (I don't believe they are all short cuts) certainly does make it more tricky to know them all well, but I feel I know the "main" routes way better.

I wasn't necessarily playing for gold - I just happen to like some races and want to do them again. Being thrown out and having to go through the reload is a ballache.

Infact, I wasn't really all that bothered about upping my rank, as from quite early in the game all of the locations are unlocked. From then on it seems to be a bunch of variations of the same tracks, and the "bonus" of a dozen variations on a dozen cars.

The carrot on the stick in earlier Burnouts was to progress to new locations and open up some pretty large routes. Most ofthe track permutation in Revenge feel pretty tightly centred around the same averall route.



It is now! The Burnout I loved was about racing. Sure, I really like the takedown stuff and I do like Crash mode, but at times it felt as if I had more new Crash events lined up than Race events. I much prefered Crash being a sideline rather than a major part of the game.

I suppose, though, that it's way easier to design a Crash event than it is a whole new route or track.



Perhaps you'd not feel that way with the PS2 version, where those cues appear within a couple of hundred yards! Plus, with the exception of the White Mountain tracks, I just don't get the feel of high speed racing on really long routes that came with the previous three games.

It's clear the series is moving away from it's origins as a Outrun inspired arcade racer, which is no big problem; Revenge is great fun. I just like the long, open route racing from the former games.