Burnout 3: Takedown (PlayStation 2) review "Burnout 3 though the 3rd installment in the burnout series is not like its predecessors, the reason being that Criterion Games has completely reinvented the series and everything that was associated with the Burnout world. "

Burnout 3 though the 3rd installment in the burnout series is not like its predecessors, the reason being that Criterion Games has completely reinvented the series and everything that was associated with the Burnout world.

This game is like no other racing game available in the market place right now, it is not a clone of the Need For Speed Underground series or like the famous PS2 racing simulator series Gran Turismo (this game is available on the PS2 also). Need For Speed Underground is all about racing in style whereas the Gran Turismo series is all about racing with precision but Burnout 3 has a new mantra and that is Aggressive Driving. Forget style and precision Burnout 3 is all about driving dangerously. Racing game fans and adrenaline junkies are in for an experience of unprecedented speed and action.

The single player career mode is called The Burnout World Tour where you will be spending most of your time. The world tour spanning over 3 regions USA, Europe and Far East is divided into 3 sections namely Races, Road Rage and Crash Junctions. Races are as you might have guessed are race events where you battle 5 other opponents for 1st place. Races are further divided into 2 types, Single Races and Race GP. The goal in both the types of races is the same; to finish 1st and it is this objective that makes Race Events thoroughly enjoyable. Race events aren't only about winning but are also about destroying your competition and we mean that literally and how do you destroy your competition you might ask, simple, by causing Takedowns.

Takedowns are a new addition to this game and a Takedown occurs when you successfully cause your opponent to crash. You can cause your opponents to crash in any way the game might allow you. This game no doubt has the most spectacular crashes to be seen in a racing game for a long time thus making takedowns very addictive and fun. Causing a takedown gives you boost. Boost here works the same way as NOS works for Need For Speed. It gives you that extra increase in speed needed to leave the competition in the distance. There are other ways to fill your boost meter also for e.g. battling your opponents, shunting them, driving on the wrong side of the road and many more. It's up to you how you want to fill your boost meter. But beware its not only you that can cause takedowns but your opponents are equally capable of taking you out. So what happens when you get taken out or crash? Activate Impact Time for a few seconds.

Impact time is the 2nd new addition to Burnout 3. If you get taken out you can activate impact time which allows you to steer your wreck into oncoming racers causing them to collide with your wreck, thus achieving Aftertouch Takedowns. It's extremely satisfying to use your wrecked car as a weapon and cause more crashes.

Road Rage is the 2nd main category of events present in Burnout 3. In road rage you have to achieve a specified number of takedowns within a given time limit on a single track and they can be normal or aftertouch takedowns. All the previously mentioned gameplay mechanics are present here but there's a catch, in road rage your car takes damage. Driving recklessly and crashing too many times will destroy your car thus ending your road rage prematurely.

In both road rage and race events you start with a car from the compact series and make your way up to the super series which is the fastest of all series. There are 10 cars in each series and 6 series to race through on over 30 tracks. Burnout 3 doesn't feature real life cars but that doesn't hurt the game at all because it's an arcade racer not a real life simulator. The compact series cars can go up to speeds of 160 mph and the super series cars upto speeds of 210 mph, no matter what car you are driving, this game gives you a sense of speed unmatched in any other racing game you might have played.

Last but not the least is the Crash Junctions. In crash junctions you have to create the biggest crash that you can. What happens is that you are given a vehicle and you have to slam into as much traffic as possible thus creating a huge pileup of cars, trucks, buses etc. and causing as much damage as you can. There is a damage target in $ which you have to achieve or beat. What's more is that after you crash you can trigger Crashbreaker which makes your vehicle explode and allows you to cause even more damage. In the crash junctions there are power ups that you can pick up which multiply your damage total or reduce it in half etc .There are a total of 100 crash junctions and each crash junction allows you to be creative and somewhat strategic so that you can perfect your crash timings thus hooking you up to this mode for weeks.

In all the 3 events you have to win the bronze, silver or gold medal. The bronze medal is the minimum target required to progress forward in the game be it a race event, road rage or crash junction. But your target in all the events should be the gold medal since gold medals unlock faster vehicles like the formula one race cars, heavy vehicles like a fire truck for crash junctions or classic cars from the Burnout 2 game and many more. All these unlocked awesome vehicles can be used in the multiplayer mode and some can be used in the world tour. Multiplayer mode supports upto 4 players at one time and has variations of the above mentioned 3 main events. Burnout 3 can also be played online if you have broadband because playing this game on the same console in split screen mode isn't a lot of fun since the cars are very fast and it's tough to make out what's happening on the track.
Burnout 3 features 44 music tracks that you can listen to plus the game gives you the option to turn off any of the tracks that you might like or dislike. Given the large number of tracks you will always find something to listen to never feel like there's hardly any repetition of music. The sound effects compliment what already is a great music line up. Cars crashing, shunting each other, activating boost all sound great. Besides sounding great all the cars look great thanks to the excellent graphics of this game. All the locations where you race look beautiful and colorful thus making it a great game to look at.With all that said Burnout 3 is a breakneck, adrenaline-fuelled, awe inspiring racing experience.

Community review by blood-omen (November 16, 2007) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.