Burnout Revenge Review (Xbox 360)

At this point, there is little debate as to whether or not the Burnout series is among the best racing games ever. These games deliver a fast, easy to get into, and satisfying thrill that few games can match. Burnout Revenge continues that trend and stands as the best entry in the series. The Xbox 360 version of the game also stands as the best version you can buy. Gorgeous graphics, additional cars and events, and all of the fancy Xbox Live features make Revenge on the 360 oh so sweet.

Graphics and Sound

There are a handful of differences between the Xbox and Xbox 360 versions of Burnout Revenge, the most obvious of which is the improved graphics. The environments are sharper looking and the cars are shinier and better looking than ever before. It is also worth noting that since the graphics are that little bit clearer than before, it is easier to see far down the road and avoid crashes than in the past. The graphics overall aren’t quite up to “next-gen” standards since this is a port from less powerful systems, but it definitely looks very good. One thing of note is that the game can appear to be very dark on some TVs. You might have to turn up the brightness on your TV a bit to appreciate everything.

The sound has also been improved from previous versions of the game. Many of the sound effects have been tweaked or changed to give the experience that little extra bit of “oomph” and the adjustments really pay off. Crashing your car has never sounded this good. The music is the same as the other versions of the game, but thanks to the custom soundtrack feature of the Xbox 360 listening to your own tracks is a breeze.

Gameplay Changes

The game is still as fast and furious and fun as ever, but longtime series fans will notice a couple of things immediately. First off, getting takedowns in the 360 version of Revenge is much more difficult than in the other versions. On the Xbox, you could give opponents a little light love tap and they would crash almost immediately, but on the Xbox 360 that isn’t the case. The AI seems to be a little bit smarter here and tries harder to stay out of your way but it also does a better job of avoiding the wall when you do hit them. Now you have to make better use of the traffic on the course as well as obstacles on the track to take your opponents out. At first this change can be somewhat frustrating, but you get better at it the more you play and it also seems that the takedowns come much easier when you move up to faster and faster cars. Ultimately, I think the harder takedowns make the game a bit more strategic and more satisfying to play so I think the change is good.

The other major change is that the “golf swing” start in crash events (where you had to press buttons at the right time to get a good start) is now gone and instead you just press one button to get a perfect start. Good riddance, I say.

General Gameplay

The beauty of Burnout Revenge is that the racing is so fast and smooth and intense. One of the main attractions of the Burnout series is that you can slam into your opponents and cause them to crash which gives you boost so you can go even faster and cause even more destruction. Burnout Revenge adds another layer to the gameplay by giving you the ability to check the civilian traffic and essentially use those cars as weapons. Traffic checking is limited to small to medium sized vehicles traveling the same direction as you so you can’t just slam into everything in sight, but it gives you another way to take out your opponents by slamming traffic cars into them. It also has the added benefit of making the races even faster and less frustrating than they have been in the past because you only have to worry about oncoming traffic. Something else that has been added to some races is that you can now use a Crashbreaker (a big explosion after you crash that was used in Crash Mode in Burnout 3) during races. This is a fun way to take down two or three opponents at a time during races and really make a comeback.

Race First, Crash Later

Another key change to the gameplay in Burnout Revenge is that the track designs are considerably better than in past games. The tracks are now full of shortcuts and ramps and alternate paths so you have quite a few options as to how you get around the track. The ramps add a fun element to the game because now you can crash down into opponents from above which is just really, really cool.

All of these changes and additions combine to make an immensely satisfying racing game. In the past, the crashes were really the focal point and the racing took a back seat to just seeing your car break up into a thousand pretty pieces. In Burnout Revenge, however, the focus has shifted onto the fast paced racing aspects and I, for one, am glad to see it because you can only wreck your car so many times before it starts feeling a bit repetitive. You’ll still crash a lot, of course, and it still looks pretty, but Takedown is here to race.

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