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Burnout
2: Point of Impact (PS2) |
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Review by: kain50bc
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Reviewers Score:
9 / 10
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Posted: May 01, 2006
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I first played Burnout 2 on a demo
disk. Needless to say, it did it's job, the time limit curbing what
enjoyment I gained from it and practically forcing me to buy the game
(in a neat little 4 pack of games for $80). I usually despise racing
games, but then this is no ordinary racing game.
Graphics: 8/10
Well, after what I've seen Criterion do in the third Burnout game, and
what Sony Playstation's can do with any game, I must say it's a good
effort for an early game. The cars look pretty good but the race tracks
look very average in my opinion. You can change the course conditions
before you race but aside from rain, nothing changes very drastically.
And my final irk with the graphics. All the cars that make up the
traffic have their headlights on, which I assume is to highlight where
they are at night, or if you're driving in first person view. It's a
good idea, but considering sometimes they don't come on until you're
right in front of the car it makes it hard for dodging.
Sound: 7/10
There's not much to say in the sound department. Standard range of
racing noise, including acceleration, crashing, horn honking and tyre's
squealing. The music however is great. It's been tuned so that while
you're in 'burnout mode' the music changes from being sort of quiet and
peaceful to being really hyped up. And back again once burnout mode is
finished. The catch with the music though is that you can't select what
you want to listen to and that it gets terribly repetitive.
Gameplay: 10/10
What did I say above? No ordinary racing game? So what is it then?
Demolition Derby?
Criterion have cleverly combined the fun of racing with the fun of
videogame violence to make this very challenging. You have your racing
mode, racing three other cars in a certain amount of laps to come first.
But you can gain bonuses along the way. Scoring near misses, driving on
the wrong side of the road, drifting and getting airborne all add to
your burnout meter. Once it's full, you hold down R1 to enable Burnout
mode, where you go about ten times faster and all bonuses contribute
about triple more than normal. If you should fill the meter up again
before it drains you continue going in burnout mode, which is called a
combo. This can put you far ahead in the lead, but as you all know,
faster means harder to control. You can also do a time trial in this
mode.
Next is crash mode. The objective of this is to strategically crash your
car in traffic to cause the maximum amount of damage caused. The more
cars you involve in the accident, the higher multiplier is added to your
score. Hitting trucks and buses earn you more than hitting sedans and
pickup trucks. It's also extremely fun and good for stress. Burnout mode
is always on in this.
Finally is pursuit mode. You take control of a car and have to damage
another car with your before it reaches the end of the track. Hitting it
will not cause you to crash but there is still plenty of traffic around
for you to hit. This time, burnout mode is on for as long as you are
behind the other car.
The only problem with this game though is that racing operates on a
'rubber band' effect. Meaning the further you are ahead, the faster the
computer cars behind you will go. And if you crash there isn't much
chance of you gaining the lead again, no matter how many combo's you
get.
Multiplayer: 9/10
Crash mode is the optimal choice for Burnout 2 gamers. Just competing
against one another to see who can cause the most damage is a lot of fun
and it can be done over and over, despite only having fifteen different
stages.
Rent or buy?
Buy definitely, you get your money's worth.
Overall: 9/10
The best racing game for people who can't control a rally car. No brains
involved. |
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