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Caffeine for your XBOX.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 28 / 32
Date: September 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I love the Burnout series, and it just seems to get better with each new reincarnation, Revenge is no exception. Instead of calling it Burnout 4, the name "Revenge" is implimented with the idea to get revenge on the other drivers if they take you down. It's a great new addition to an already fantastic series.

The game is faster, a lot faster. I can't believe the sense of speed in Burnout Revenge. Running at a blazing 60 frames per second at 200MPH is certainly a site to behold. No popup, no slowdown, just smooth blazing fast speed.

The most enticing new aspect is the ability to slam cars going in the same direction as you. One reviewer in here says it takes away the "charm" stating "to me the biggest rush in burnout 3 was going 200mph flying in between cars and knowing that one little mess up was going to send me flipping and slamming wildly into the wall." That's a good point, but you can still have that feeling when you choose to go in the opposite lane as on-coming traffic still can take you out just the same.

This trash every car idea was even turned into a full fledged mode called "Traffic Attack" that is strictly for smashing up cars. The goal is basically to destroy as many cars as possible within the alloted time. You get precious seconds added the more cars you smash consecutively. It's very fun mind you, but it's actually quite easy to get gold in this mode.

Opponents are very aggresive in Revenge. Cars will sideswipe you around like there is no tomorrow especially if you just sit there without defending yourself. If you get taken out directly be an opponent, you can acquire added bonuses for taking revenge on the car that knocked you out. The more revenge bonuses you get, the more goodies you'll tally up in the process.

Expect a lot more tracks in Revenge. While a few seem to be reminiscent of past Burnout games, most of these tracks are new and made from scratch. The game looks a bit darker this time around, and the tracks are longer and more grueling than ever. Still expect to attack downtown traffic infested cities, desolate crowded freeways, streets of Roman sites, wintery interstates and isolated country scenes. I still would have liked to see the "weather" factor return for Revenge and the ability to change the time of day, but that' just a little nitpick.

All the modes are back, Road Rage, single player, crash, and the new traffic attack which really adds some fun. Full multiplayer between 2-6 players is impliments online with all the modes offers. I haven't got a chance to play online yet, but you can bet your boots this game is just as fun playing online as it with yourself, and probably even more so for other gamers. If you have XBOX Live, you defintely should take the game online to rule the streets. The cars are still not authentic licensed vehicles, no Beamers, no Corvettes or Porshes. But the "creative" copies of actual cars look fantastic and they all look so cool, you wish they were actual cars. Licensed cars would have great with all the brand names, but most have a problem with trashing them in a video game, so this is how they go around it, they make up their own. And thanks to this being an "EA" game, if you have a Madden 06 save on your XBOX, you automatically get the "Madden Van" at the beginning of the game. E.A., always thinking of one more way to advertise their gridiron monster.

Burnout Revenge is better than all the Burnouts in the past. More modes, more cars, more tracks, more speed, more frenzied racing. It's the fastest racer you'll ever play and anyone, even non-gamers would probably have a blast with Burnout Revenge. A must have for XBOX owners.

Revenge Is Indeed Sweet

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: September 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Ah, wonderful Burnout how I love thee. After picking up 2004's arcade racer of the year I was incredibly excited about hearing Burnout Renvenge to be released later this year. I became (and still addictied) all year round with the game, I have well over 8,000+ takedowns total & just love the hyperadiction nature of the game.

Burnout 3 Takedown changed how you look at a high paced, aggressive, balls-out fun racing game. The insane speeds & perfect framerate (Criterion the developer has never dissapointed me with a bad framerate) combo'd with the addictive nature of destorying your opponents & send then flying accross the road never fails to amuse.

Now with Burnout Revenge, the thrill has gone to new heights. One incredibly wonderful new feature is checking traffic. In the previous Burnout games, dodging traffic while trying to surivive and gain boost on the track was always a challenge. With BO:R the traffic you once feared is now a powerful weapon or shield, basically you run into other cars (some vehicles like buses, big-rigs will still make you crash) and boost them into your rivals, think of them like unguided missles at in your hands. Also the A.I. in the game is a ton more vicious than in Takedown which was just rubberband than anything else (rubberband is just the AI following you and just trying to kill you, no real strategy to dodge).

Making takedowns is a tad togher than before, in BO:3 just a simple push into a wall could make them fly into the oblivion, the cars are much more reasilient to damage and will take more effort to crush. If you happen to be crushed by another AI opponent, you can either do a afterdown takedown like in BO:3 of unleash one of the most desructive abilities you have to offer. In most game modes, you car is like a ticking time bomb, when you have been crahsed, you can activate the Crashbreaker Eliminators which will send everything around the explosion into the far beyond and gain you more boost sections to your bar ( In BO:3 by taking down more cars, your boost meter expanded and you could go faster an faster, and vice versa with your own crahses).

Some new and old modes have been put in, the Cop Pursuit mode from BO:2 is back and is as frantic as ever, with a cop trailing behind you, use the traffic as a weapon to slow down the cop and spped your way to victory, or you can also be the cop tracking down and destroying your rival. Traffic Attack is pretty much crashing in to traffic and scoring as many points as possible before the time is out, its fairly easy to get Gold medals but a fun mode nonetheless, plus a couple more I won't metion, you'll have to see for your self :D.

The track selection is very wide and lots of great new courses, BO:R has more wide open areas for fighting among cars which, also with the multi-tier tracks & shortcuts will be leaving you with a thumping heart rate & big grin on your face. Online is pretty much the same but its better and ranking & finding people to play (and the server is much more stable than when BO:3 launched, people were disconecting & making games were near impossible until EA fixed the servers). The ranking system is similar to games such as Rainbow 6 3 & Halo 2, as you get better and better, the searching system will find more people of your skill level, while some may like it other might not if you have a lower level buddy who just got the game and might not be able to join, but not a huge deal.

The soundtrack is better than last year's but still not very impressive, some artists like Andy Hunter, CKY, LCD Soundsystem, MxPx are the usual EA Trax fair but with the Xbox version I have you can still use you own soundtracks. Nothing like smashing your friends while listening to to Queens of the Stone Age, Motorhead & The Hiss, good times.

The graphics on both system are almost the same, the PS2 has better lighting and more spark effects while the Xbox has better car models & draw distance, not a huge deal which one you have, but the game is beautiful, running at a solid 60fps (the higher the fps, the more stuff can be moving, exploding around you without slowdown).

So why a 5/5? Its just as easily impressive from when I picked up BO:3, its hyperaddictive nauture just passes on to this sequel. Both games are worth having in your collection.

If you loved Burnout 3 or just looking for an incredible arcade racing game this season, there is no better choice than Burnout: Revenge.

Amazing game - totally updated and better than ever

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 14
Date: September 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you check my other reviews you'll see that I really didn't like the updates and additions in Burnout 3. I loved Burnout 2 but B3's gimmicky icons and unfair AI made it frustrating to play beyond belief. Sure it looked nice; much better than the aging Burnout 2 but they fixed things that weren't broke.

Along comes Burnout Revenge and it's almost like the publishers realised their mistakes. Gone are the Nintendo icon collectables in crash mode and some good wholesome fair and fun gameplay is back. Of course it now looks better than ever - streets ahead of B3's water-down XBox graphics. Playing this game at 60fps on a big screen TV travelling at Burnout's trademark a bazillion miles an hour is a joy.

So what did they change? What did they fix? Major and minor stuff. Gone is the incredibly cheating AI of B3. Sure they stick close (and cheat a little!), but they're not 20 seconds behind only to suddenly appear in front of you because you're doing so well. Gone are the bonus icons of crash which I detested so. Gone is the simplicity of Road Rage, where a simply nudge will knock a takedown out.

What they have added first is the single most joyful addition - 'checking'. Or 'ramming any traffic going in the same direction as you and using the car as a weapon'. This makes the WORLD of difference when it comes to getting up to the high speeds. You now have a choice. Stay in your lane and check - you may be able to go faster, or alternatively risk it in the oncoming lane and gain considerably more boost. This makes the levels actually have strategy - especially on the improved multilayout levels, where you may have 3 or 4 secret tracks embedded within.

Also added is crashbreaker *during* races and takedowns. They even fixed the random camera angle during aftertouch - you can actually strategically use after touch to takedown one, two or even three cars behind you thanks to the smart camera. Then you set off a crashbreaker and all hell breaks loose.

Crash mode is back and better than even. Sure they have the 'takedown' car - a bonus car which offers lots of money, but it only has to crash; you don't have to hit it directly. So now you're free to experiment - no longer looking for the 4x bonus icon. And boy are the crash levels HUGE. I mean city huge in some places - they take place over multiple levels, tops of buildings all the way down the street. Hundreds of cars. And since you can check during crash mode you can set off multiple simultaneous crash systems by using a car as a battering ram. Crash mode is 1000 times better over B3.

Sure I have a few niggles with the game. In Crash mode you no longer control the speed of your vehicle during the crash. You set your speed at the start a la golf game controls. There's also crowd noises - cheers boos etc which I didn't like. But these niggles are more a case of me looking for faults than simply sitting back and enjoying an amazing game.

I could go on about the great progression system, the fantastic award cut sequences or the new race modes (Crashbreaker Eliminator for example). But I won't.

Burnout Revenge has redeemed the Burnout franchise. If you liked Burnout 2 (or even 3) then be prepared for a whole new experience with this game. Wonderful.

Great game but its lost a little something

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: September 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First off I would like to say that this is a really fun game. If you've played burnout 3 then this is very similar. It still has insane speed, outrageous crashes, and lots of different ways to play. I'm not sure if I just got too used to burnout 3 but I really didn't enjoy all the changes that were made to this game. Crash mode is probably my favorite part of the burnout series. I loved trying for the highest score in burnout 3 and searching for the sometimes elusive 4x all the while trying to create as much destruction as possible. Unfortunately crash mode has been revamped. Instead of hitting the gas in the beginning, you have this stupid "golf swing" meter to decide how fast you take off. Some may find this fun but I was really annoyed that I couldn't just take off and had to get my "swing" just right in order to go fast enough to clear a large cliff. They've also added wind as a factor so now you'll have to fight the wind as you fly off the ramp to your crash destination. I'm sure some like it but in my opinion this is supposed to be an arcade type game and I don't want to have to worry about wind or reving my engine via a stupid golf swing meter. The only new part of the crash mode that I did like is that there is now a target car that you need to crash to get bonus $$$. The problem is that when they give you the initial overview of the course it doesn't show were that target car will be. overall in my opinion crash mode went from a blazing hot perfect 10 to a ok, this is fun 8.

The other major feature that has been added is the ability to ram cars going the same direction as you. Now I will admit that raming a car and watching it go flying into a bus and creating a huge pile up can look great but to me the biggest rush in burnout 3 was going 200mph flying in between cars and knowing that one little mess up was going to send me flipping and slamming wildly into the wall. now I can just plow my way through traffic like a supercharged bulldozer. I wouldn't have minded if this was just a mode added into the game instead of a feature that has been incorporated into every mode in the game. It just took away that white knuckled feeling that burnout 3 had. Its not like I hate this game and I know I'll spend many hours working my way through all the modes but its always disapointing when a sequel isn't as much fun as the prior version. Instead of it going two steps forward I feel like this is one step back.

Slow down already!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: September 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

So I'm a huge fan of Burnout: Takedown, and I'm initially eyeing this release as suspect - it's either going to be the same game, or they're going to add some new element that's going to suck.

But no, basically they've made the best arcade racer, ever.

While Takedown gave you a sense of speed, this game makes you feel like wetting your pants. It feels so fast, it's crazy.

The additions to the race modes (traffic attack and racing with the detonation feature active during aftertouch) work well. Being able to slam into traffic from the rear was a bit hokey to me for about 11 seconds, then it was just that much more coolness thrown on top of everything.

The music is largely unimportant, at least takedown had a track or two that stood out. I'm still giving it 5 stars cos the XBOX version allows you to have your own tracks.

Great sequel

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: October 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

EA have done a bang up job with Burnout Revenge. Although gameplay has hasn't changed that much and only minor improvemnts were made this is nothing short of spectacular. I would have to give this 4.5 out of 5 2 thumbs up all the way

Adjustments made, but sometimes unnecessary

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Burnout Revenge. The next incarnation of a great series. I couldn't wait to get my hands around the XBox controller and race a few computer cars and friends. Well, I got what I wanted. The problem, however, is that I got a LOT more than I wanted. And all that extra pushed me right into the pit, and contentedly so.

All of the good elements are still in this edition. The sense of speed is unmatched; adrenaline still flies through you as your car weaves in and out of other cars/traffic (a rare occurence here) to be first across the finish line. The car models are sleek and shiny. The crashes are nasty and involve other cars. This game overall looks really good. Maybe too good, but more on that later.

I soon discovered the first annoyance: Racing along at 190 miles an hour, miscalculating a turn, and flying towards a guardrail and.... No crash! Instead, a dead stop! No violent wreck that produces a sports-car comet with debris-tail. That would be at least acceptable. You go head-on into an obstacle, you crash. Such is the Burnout way, right? Not this time. The clock ticks away and you have to hold down the brake to slowly back out of the corner you're now stuck in. This is a common occurence with this game, and I'm frankly surprised it is so obvious. Deduct a fair amount of fun points there.

Now to the looks part. Burnout Revenge is eye-candy. It's a beautiful array of rich scenery and (nerve-racking)light effects, which I guess are supposed to add to the ambience of the experience but only end up hindering the path. Which is, to say the least, very distracting. Rarely can the driver clearly see the road ahead (save for a few tracks) until it's too late and he's about to slam into something. If the point of a race is to win, or have fun trying, this is not the way to do it. There is simply WAY too much going on at one time visually to try and have a serious, competitive race and expect to progress markedly. Couple this with the fact that no CPU driver really ever crashes unless you bump it off the road. So much for race mode. Crash mode would surely be fun! Uhh.. kind of.

New to Crash mode are an utterly pointless half-moon power-guage start thingie, which if not done right every time will somehow blow up your motor on the Starting Line, and the shameless plug of a Carl's Jr. Mobile Diner(?). Here, the crashes are more challenging, and the payoff is spectacular, but you'll need a lot of patience. Tweaking the Crash mode with this "startup meter" was a mistake. Who really cares how you start? You are there to careen towards traffic at an insane speed and cause insurance damage, not make a pretty start!! Give me a 5-second countdown and let me step on the gas! Also, if you want a preview of the crash route you're about to embark upon, and it shows you the complete route, you have to sit through the WHOLE thing as it winds back up to the starting line, and THEN you get to start. All in all, crash mode still playable, but lose the product placement and the startup gauge. Both needless.

New mode: Traffic attack. Another step in the wrong direction. Until now, the protocol of Burnout racing is DO NOT hit other traffic except for the cars you're racing.. Now it's suddenly OK to hit traffic going the same direction as your car. All of this while fighting to keep a clock going.. Whatever.

Summarily, this game feels rushed. The new "shortcuts", provided you can steer into their path, are a toss-up as to whether or not they'll actually help you in the race. Every opportunity to get ahead of the others is met with some building or piece of map that juts into your path at the wrong place, causing a crash. Frustrating it is, especially when you're finally passing that car ahead of you! There's no room to boost freely and enjoy pure speed and traffic-weaving.
Whomever tinkered with the formula adjusted the wrong spots. Burnout Takedown is easily a better and more fulfilling game. Takedown isn't so flashy and is more engaging, and in less time. I dislike excess tedium in any game, especially a racing one. Burnout Revenge needs to take more pages from its big brothers. Only then would it be more enjoyable. This game has its good points but they're few and far between. San Francisco Rush did it better. I hope someone else has a good time with this installment.

One of the BEST xbox games available!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: December 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Right when I thought burnout 3 was the best racing and crash game that could be made for the xbox they went and released burnout revenge. The graphics in this game are some of the best I have seen on an xbox. The amount of variety in this game on a single user, multi-player, and xbox live is incredible. If you havn't played this game you are missing out on one of the best xbox titles.

The best racing franchise this generation

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: January 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Who would have thought when the original Burnout was released that the series would blossom into a top-selling franchise, with four entries in one console generation? Over the four installments, Criterion kept the basic formula of wreck-heavy street racing, but comparing the first game with the newest, Burnout Revenge, it's hard to believe this is the same series.

No matter which game you prefer, fans of arcade-style racing games would be hard pressed to find a better, more enjoyable series than Burnout. Each title introduced something unique, improving the formula without making previous titles obsolete.

The original Burnout focused on traffic-weaving, included the challenging Survival Mode, had a quirky soundtrack, and featured tracks that took over ten minutes per lap. It was a welcome, bare-bones game that is still fun to play today, although the sequel improved the formula dramatically.

Burnout 2: Point of Impact introduced Crash Mode (PoI's is still the best in the series thanks to the ridiculous dollar damage amounts and post-wreck helicopter flybys), focused on playing for score (which never gets old), gave the game a major technical facelift, and allowed for custom soundtracks on the Xbox. My personal opinion is that this is the best driving game ever made.

Burnout 3: Takedown changed the focus to making opposing racers crash. The icon-ridden Crash Mode was a mistake by Criterion, but the World Tour was a fine addition. A good effort, but in my opinion, the weakest in the series, despite the addition of online play.

Burnout Revenge is the last we'll get for this console cycle. It added traffic checking and crashbreaker races, while thankfully going back to PoI's more basic Crash style and track design (adding alternate routes, shortcuts, and jumps). It's the most kinetic, fastest, chaotic racing game ever made, and features the same precise control and technical excellence that is the series' calling card. Criterion packed a ton of content onto this lovely disc, and seemed to listen to fans' complaints about Takedown, despite being owned by controversial software giant Electronic Arts. A fitting way to bid farewell to a series of consoles that birthed the franchise.

In fact, Revenge brings up an interesting question: beyond next-gen technical improvements, how can Criterion improve upon what's already been done? I personally think the series peaked with Burnout 2, so a return to that style of gameplay would be welcome, but since Burnout 3 was a best-seller, I think takedowns are here to stay. However, I suspect the Criterion genuises will surprise us all.

I own more Burnout games than any other franchise this generation, and each one excels in its own way. I wasn't even a big fan of racing games before this series arrived. From the thrill of a perfect lap in the original's Euro Marathon to the joy of landing a vertical revenge takedown on Revenge's Angel Valley, I've had a lot of fantastic memories thanks to this series, online and off.

A hearty THANK YOU to Criterion for all their amazing work -- see you guys next gen!!

One of helluva racer

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: October 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First things first, the Burnout series has always been about one thing: the crashes. Not the actual game crashing (though it has occured twice ironnically) but the cars in the game grinding and shunting against one another. There are five different racing events which include race, eliminator, road rage, crash, and traffic attack. Race and Crash are what I digged the most, the high adrenaline and exhilirating action of Race is unbelieveable. Cars can top 209 mph, with nice blur effects thrown in. This game allowes you to ram other non-racing cars into your oppenents. The game is easier than Burnout 3 but the tracks are much better and prettier looking. Crash mode is a Burnout series trademark, the basis is to get your car ot cause the biggest pile-up as possible, and sometimes you have to work around which spot to hit and such, then afterowrds you are awarded a medal depending on how much vehicle damage you did. And crashbreakers are back and badder than ever. In Burnout 3, you could only use them in Crash, now they are available in all the other modes (After reaching a certain rank). Crashbreakers are when you explode your car much like a kamikaze to destroy oppenents or cause more vehicle damage in Crash mode. Speed plays a major part in this game, you have boost bar which you can increase or fill up by doing certain "risks". Multiplayer for the Burnout series was never intersting nor any fun so stick with the single player aspect of the game. This game receives 4 stars overall for being glitchy at times and it won't take too long to reach the "Elite" rank. Still, this thing is hard to put down once you get into it.

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