With all the speculation over EA and deals, Gaming Headlines thought it was time to give one of Electronic Arts’ games a look over. Over the last few weeks there have been deals regarding EA the NFL, AFL and Ubisoft, we thought it was only right to give EA some credit and not slate them as many ‘gamers’ have. So onto the Burnout 3: Takedown review.
Burnout is a well know franchise on the market and has been out for some time now with Burnout and Burnout 2: Point Of Impact appearing on Playstation 2, Xbox and Gamecube, but Takedown has brought the series to a whole new level and was one of the best racers released in 2004.
Straight from the title, the ‘Takedown’ part has something to do within the game. Takedown allows players to take out opponents by using numerous methods such as slamming them into walls, forcing them into oncoming traffic or even nudging them into the centre of roads where there are barriers! Resulting from this, players will gain boost which is located on the bottom left of the screen. Taking down opponents will extend your boost metre by up to four times the original amount, and will be increased by taking down opponents, missing a crash, driving on the wrong side of the road and moving out of the way of traffic at the last moment possible!
Having not played neither of the prequels (final version at least) it was impossible to compare them but Burnout 3: Takedown offers over 170 (173 to be precise) challenges ranging from simple racing, time attack and crash mode. Each offers a different taste to the overall experience. Each mode has a specific number of challenges to complete. Each with a time/score to reach, depending on the result of this, you will be given a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal; or nothing if you fail.
The main mode which is the ‘Burnout 3 World Tour’ takes place over three regions, Europe, Far East and USA. Even though it’s set in three regions, most of the places look identical; well the scenery does, (come on you’re not going to recognise the scenery travelling at 150+mph are you now?) The world tour will have each of the following on your tour around the world; Crash, Race, Road Rage and Time Attack all of which can be found in the ‘Single Event’.
Each event requires you to complete something, whether it may be a ‘takedown’ spree in Road Rage, get a certain amount of money from a crash in Crash mode, complete a lap of a circuit in a certain time or just simply come first in a race; all of which are extremely fun and fast. In each mode you also get to navigate where the car goes by holding onto the A button (when it appears on-screen) and directing it to the point you want it to land; doing this in Crash mode helps you get to multipliers such as the x2 and x4 which really does prove relevant as in some cases you can’t reach the ‘Gold’ target without a multiplier.
Upon completing each of the events, you’ll get a reward which is more than likely a new event opened, along with the events players will get the chance to unlock vehicles via different methods; completing events, getting a certain amount of takedowns and gaining a certain amount of money. Though you’ll be mostly rewarded by completing all 173 of the challenges.
The game plays very well and fast. Cruising with your finger on the A button whilst holding the R trigger and dodging travelling at 150+mph and sometimes even over 200mph there is no slowdown nor is there any glitches as you would expect from travelling at over 200mph in a vehicle – and then there is the crash! The graphics are as smooth as butter, making them visually one of the best games on the Xbox. The cars are detailed, as are the level designs, the way the cars smash and even in some cases continue in the Road Rage mode look very realistic and really look the part.
The sound’s in the game are yet another high light for this fantastic game other than the gameplay. Through the game you will be commentated by an American who will always speak before you enter an event. Each vehicle has a different sound making it easier to know what vehicle you are in if you’re viewing from inside the vehicle – the engine on a Fire Engine will be louder than an engine in a normal car. The game features tracks from many artists and has a more rock genre than any other genre of music, saying this, it really does suite the game very well. Alternatively along with the default tracks comes the customisation of tracks which have been put on your Xbox and can be selected via the sound options making it an even greater game than that on the other two platforms; Playstation 2 and Gamecube.
Now to what is vitally the ‘best’ part of the game! Taking the game online via Xbox Live which is really impressive. Fast, fun and carnage are the best words used to describe it. As in the World Tour and Single Event, players will be able to race, and crash. Although these are both fun, the best part of playing on Xbox Live is the Road Rage mode in which there are two teams and ‘Blue team races and Red team chases!’ This is highly fun and addicting as the Blue team gets a head start, but don’t be fooled, the host of the game can have the red’s team boost infinite, making it harder for the Blue team although it can go either way depending whether the boost is on or off.
While Xbox Live brings the game alive there are really some major problems with the servers. As EA brought the games to Xbox Live they also brought their own servers too which has caused some major problems; not with just this game either. Problems on the game are people not being able to join in their friends games via their friendslist and having to look through the lobbies, to people getting kicked out of the game. This really does put the game down, although this is the only area in which is poor.
Overall Burnout 3 offers a fast experience and fun ride to all gamers out there. With the world tour consisting of 173 challenges (100 of which are in Crash mode), the game will take some time to adapt to. The further you go, the harder it gets, as shown when you get put in an F1 car and have to do the fastest lap; come on then if you’re smart, dodge the traffic!
Arron Hanley
