Burnout originally appeared in late 2001 on the PS2 and caused a bit of a kerfuffle, what, with its encouragement of reckless driving at high speeds through busy traffic, just for kicks. Quick, close the arcades! Ban all fun! And hold your horses, because Burnout turned out to be about as threatening as your average pre-teen trick-or-treater on Halloween. The version available for the Xbox is no different to the ones already available for PS2 and GameCube. For those not familiar with what go ... more >>

Burnout originally appeared in late 2001 on the PS2 and caused a bit of a kerfuffle, what, with its encouragement of reckless driving at high speeds through busy traffic, just for kicks. Quick, close the arcades! Ban all fun! And hold your horses, because Burnout turned out to be about as threatening as your average pre-teen trick-or-treater on Halloween. The version available for the Xbox is no different to the ones already available for PS2 and GameCube. For those not familiar with what goes on in Burnout, let us fill you in.

Burnout is an arcade-style racer with the emphasis on high speeds and spectacular crashes, simple controls, massive powerslides, and eye-catching visuals. Unlike some contemporary driving/racing titles, Burnout’s gameplay feels rock-solid as far as car handling is concerned. Other cars feel rock solid too: each impact counts, and every collision is lovingly replayed in a couple of different angles immediately after it happens, and at the end of the race, you have the option to view them all over again.

There isn’t much game progression evident in Burnout. The number of courses to race is well into the ‘teens, there are plenty of motors to choose from, and they’re all available from the beginning of the game. If you’re looking for a game with a career mode or vehicle upgrades, then look elsewhere. Burnout is all about filling the meter with a suicidal series of near misses, and getting your kicks on Route 666. For some of us, that’s more than enough.
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