GET REVENGE ON RUSH HOUR: THE GAME THAT ENCOURAGES DRIVING LIKE A MANIAC (Burnout Revenge (PS2))

Member Name: mjw92

Product:	Burnout Revenge (PS2)
Date:	22/06/08 (80 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great content, music, multiplayer aspects

Disadvantages: loading time

The burnout series is about hardcore, exciting and what I would call typical arcade style racing. Burnout Revnge, the fourth game in the series didn't let itself down, and was an awesome game to play!

The overview of the game is that you have to complete different events to get star ratings and the more stars you have the more events you can play. There are ten ranks to the game to unlock each with different tracks and events.

As for the gameplay, you have the standard racing controls, so it's easy to use, understand and adds to the "Pick up and Play factor." The controls are responsive, very suitable and I would say one of the best racing set-ups I've played with, because they allow the cars to grip and both slide at the same time, but exactly when you want each one. The soundtrack for me is another plus, with great music and it's customizable so you choose which of the 37 songs play, with artists such as yellowcard, fall out boy and maximo park.

As for the game content, there is tonnes to keep you busy, so I'll break it down:

Race Events:
You have a variety of tracks to do many race events on. You have the classic very competitive normal racing (ie basic circuits), you have eliminators, where last place is eliminated every 30 seconds, lap time (where you have to beat a certain time to get a gold) and two of my personal favourites Track Attack (hitting as many cars as possible) and Road Rage, taking out as many race cars as you can.

In my opinion, the quality of these events are amazing, the races are suitable for varying difficulty levels, as they start off simple and get increasingly frustrating. Also, the game has a new feature which helps the racing: it's called "Checking Traffic" which allows you to shunt small cars going the same way as you out of the way and this is encouraged. It is a great feature which allows the traffic attack mode and it really helps take out the frustration on rush hour car jams and other games where they just plain slow you down. The hardest bit though is still yet to come, as in order to get the highest rankings, you don't only have to win, you ahve to win in style by taking out rivals, getting air and facing oncoming traffic (which you can't hit) and the more of this you do the more skill rating you get, which allows you to get a perfect rating on an event. I could ramble on for hours how great this makes the game but moving onto...

Crash Events:
Yes, the brilliant crash is back, where you are faced with a junction of traffic and you have to strategically crash your car to cause as much damage as possible. I don't like these events as much as race events, because I'm not as good at them, and to me they're just not competitive enough. However they are still great fun and involve another new feature of the game: CRASHBREAKER!!! A Crashbreaker is your revenge on a rival or other cars, as when you crash and have enough boost, you explode your car from the heart of it and this explosion can cause more damage and knock out other vehicles.

Signature Takedowns:
Another great feature which extends the game's lifecycle: with a special award being given if you take down a rival in a specific point on a track, some are easy others harder, but a great feature.

Challenge Sheets:
For every circuit there is a challenge sheet with 8 special challenges, wich when completed unlock a special car. These challenges can be very difficult, so only the most advanced players can beat them all.

Multiplayer:
And finally like every good driving game should have there is an opportuntity to play against your mates for a touch of victory or revenge. It has had me and my best mate screaming in agony, excitement and tension before so it really does get you going!

Ok so that was the gameplay now for my opinion.

Firstly, the game events are something special. I haven't played a game like it, that gives me so much adrenaline so that is a major positive. Also, it's ok just cruising the game, getting 3 and 4 stars in races, but it adds a whole extra dimension if you try and get all your events to 5 star quality.

Otehr positives are about the difficulty level as most games get it completely wrong and make it either too easy or too hard, but I would say this game has got it just right, with circuits that suit one playing style and circuits that require a whole new drive.

I do have to comment though that there are a couple of negative points: firstly, compared to other games, the events take quite a while to load, so at times you do need a bit of patience. Secondly although there are tonnes of events, there are only 8 tracks, a greater number, maybe 12 tracks would have made the game so much better.

Overall, the game has so many good points I can't not give it 5* for content, though due to loading time it only scrapes a 5* overall. But it is a great game and for the number of hours it's had me aggracated, excited, put through the motions, it is well worth buying or renting.

Summary: great game