Burnout Revenge Review

Burnout Revenge

Burnout Revenge
Playstation 2
Release Date: September 14th, 2005
Racing
Review by La Dack Nikita

"We are the lazy generation..." Does it give you a headache? Does it make you want to start killing a kitten? Well, luckily, none of that crappy, "catchy", annoying music is in Burnout Revenge. On second thought, there is, but it doesn’t repeat the chorus 30 damn times.

Burnout Revenge is the fourth entry in the Burnout racing series. It is by far the best, I will tell you that right now. This game would get a higher score if it was released instead of Burnout 3: Takedown because they're pretty much the same game, but Burnout Revenge has a lot more to offer: First off, the menu selection is a lot easier to read, no more looking through country icons; the cars are better, more realistic, and you can now use any car for any race; the top speed has been increased; and so on. Crash mode is a lot different now; there are no Bonus multipliers. Getting a high score in Crash Mode is a big challenge: you have to time everything right and make sure you get the right weight of car. I didn’t like the new crash mode at first, but after playing it, it is a lot better. The courses are really fun. There are now alternate routes, and a lot of places to crash. You can bump traffic, which I did enjoy, and bumping traffic added a new feature called “Traffic Attack” where you earn money by bumping cars in a certain amount of time. The music is better this time around. I have not encountered a song that annoys the f*ck out of me. Some of my favorite bands are on the soundtrack, such as The Bravery, Bloc Party, Maximo Park, LCD Sound system, and Ok Go, among others. I really don’t think they should use all of this licensed music though. I really miss the days where games had original soundtracks, but hey, it could be worse, at least EA hasn’t put rap in yet.

I know the crashes are a major part of the Burnout series, but I am tired of them. I have all this adrenaline, burning through city streets, then I crash, or make a Takedown, and there is a 5-10 second cut scene. It really breaks the mood. Burnout is the best racing franchise period, so picking at this game won’t matter, because it can’t be stopped. Go rent it or buy it, it can’t be missed.

Final Score:
Gameplay: 9.5/10; The cars all handle great, the boost is good, I just wish drifting was a little better.
Sound: 8/10; Better licensed music, but please give us original music.
Lasting Appeal: 8.9/10; There is enough content to keep you coming back over and over, and the online mode tops it off.
Graphics: 9.5/10; It goes so fast, I have no idea how it can look so damn sexy.
Overall: 9.2/10 (Great)