Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Burnout 3: Takedown

Written by Matt Swider on July 12, 2004

Hands-On Preview: EA is publishing Takedown, giving Acclaim the shakedown.

Criterion Games may use the name Burnout, but it hasn't experienced anything like that in developing the third installment of its successful arcade racing series. To me, Burnout and Burnout 2: Point of Impact provided the sometimes stale genre with a little pickup thanks to high speeds and a whole lot of road rage. However, I quickly came to realize that Burnout 3: Takedown would not only further demolish the racing competition, but also cause its two predecessors some major dents. All of this was demonstrated at the E3 booth of Electronic Arts, which is publishing the prized racer instead of Acclaim. The move doesn't mean diehard fans will be bummed out with Burnout 3 because the same fast and furious gameplay remains intact along with new features such as online play.

Burnout 3 cruises at insane speeds and retains the same out of control concept: The more dangerously you drive, the faster you can fill your boost meter and accelerate. Performing reckless driving acts like driving on the wrong side of the road, drifting around corners or coming awfully close to hitting other cars would ensure first place in the first games. However, it'll take more than burning rubber and almost running yourself off of the road this time around. The УtakedownФ part of the title represents the ability to use your car as a weapon in order to take other cars out of the race. It's a vital element of both the race mode as well the road rage mode dedicated to the idea. With all of this additional destruction, the game creates a large amount of crash sequences; a staple of the Burnout series and something that Burnout 3 bears more than ever.

The mesmerizing crashes have always been realistic and ridiculous at the same time. Burnout 3 is no different in its look, though, it now allows players to steer through a crash slowdown sequence. This gives them an opportunity to steer out of a potential crash or just take some one else down in the process. However, it's put to use the best during the infamous crash mode in which players plow through an intersection in an attempt to cause as much damage as possible. So there's a little more to this evolved mode besides hitting the first car and watching a multi-car pileup take place.

The overwhelming crash effects of Burnout 3 can't be compared and the same can be said about the game's speed and graphics. And, although I found other fast-paced or slick-looking racers like OutRun 2 on the expo floor, the level of detail didn't stand a chance next to Burnout 3. Criterion Games was able to keep the series at 60 frames per second even with what seems to be double the detail of their last game. To say the least, you're in for a shocker when you hit the boost button and the blur effects kick in.

A lot of the detail seems to be in the car models and damage done to them. This, of course, means that none of the cars are licensed since no automobile manufacturer wants a virtual crash test featuring its cars. But, it doesn't matter because you can still mangle over 70 imposter models on 25 accident prone streets around the world, from countries in the Far East to highways right here in the good ol' US of A.

Although there seems to be a new layer added to everything within Burnout 3, the one thing that hasn't changed is the controls. The game still runs on the simplistic scheme of X for accelerate, Square to brake and R1 to boost. This makes it an easy game to pick up and play, especially in cases where inexperienced friends enter into a multiplayer game for the first time. In addition to a split-screen race, road rage or crash match against friends, there's also the online mode that supports voice chat on both PS2 and Xbox Live. I can already tell that the online road rage mode is going to be full of fierce elimination competition and that the online crash mode is going to be full of surprises with head-to-head competitive and cooperative play.