Ok so I turned on the console, with a minute feeling of dread that the Red Ring of Death (RROD) would rear its ugly head, and was presented with a loading screen. The intro movie is a guided tour of Paradise City and the ways of the road. You get taught about all the events that were in previous games, (Road Rage, Burning Lap, Race etc.) as well as the mandatory "NEW!" event that seems to come with every Burnout game there ever was. This is a good thing however because when you look back over the years the Burnout series really came from nothing. I believe that it was one of my first PS2 purchases and oh dear satan how bad it was. 7 Cars, 3 Tracks, Race, Multiplayer Race or Championship. The only way was up. Then after "The Fast and Furious" was released the game suddenly decided it should be faster, more events were added, cars were so much better looking (albeit exact copies of those in the film) and you didn't crash by hitting the curb anymore which was a great relief.
Anyway, the intro ends and another loading screen pops up. It fades and there you are, in-game. I was quite looking forward to playing Road Rage from the off just to check out the new physics engine powered crashes with the lovely lovely damage modelling. (I mean c'mon! It acts like real metal FFS!) However it seems the free roaming aspect is coming into play more and more and this game is no exception. The events are based at every junction in the game. You enter a crossing or T-junction and a little icon appears to let you know which event this area starts. You perform a wheelspin and the event starts. I'm glad for the developers to be able to boast about having 150 miles of road but the fact is, with no set tracks you can go anyway you like to reach the finish line. Interesting? Yes. Fun? NO! Burnout is not the kind of game where you need to look at a map to reach your goal. For one thing its far to fast, for another thing the map is bloody tiny. You glance down at that little circle to get an idea of where to go next and before you know it your kissing the concrete. As pretty as the crashes are now they are still bloody annoying.
The cars seem pretty good. Each one earns boost in different ways, handles differently and looks like a real-world model but you have to earn each one by winning events or simply by crashing other racers you see driving around the city. If your car gets damaged you can drive it to a repair shop and fix it up. OR, if you want to save time, pile it into a truck. You respawn with a fully repaired car and money and points are non-existant. This also makes the respray drive throughs a little pointless. You can't even choose the colour you want unless you drive all the way to a JunkYard and pick up a new car anyway.
I couldn't help but think that this was all an attempt to compete with the likes of Saints Row or the immenant release of GTA IV and if that is the case it's an awful failure. Burnout is NOT that kind of game and shouldn't try to be.
I like the game, its a good way to waste a few hours away much like it previous brethren. It just doesn't need all this Action/Adventure/Driving game bullshit tacked onto it.
8/10
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