Instead you'll need to maneuver your vehicle's carcass around for best results. Burnout 3's crash mode has also been completely redesigned to take advantage of aftertouch, so you'll have to do more than just wreck into the right spot this time around. The fact that Burnout 3 makes crashing-which is usually the most undesirable part of competition in a racing game-a completely enjoyable part of the game is remarkable. Basically, it functions as a recovery move.
If you're successful, you'll earn an aftertouch takedown, which refills your boost meter and prevents you from losing any bonus meter segments. While this slow-motion look at cars getting mangled is beautiful in and of itself, you can actually make light adjustments to your car's trajectory using the left analog stick or d-pad, which is something the game calls "aftertouch." By applying aftertouch when you crash, not only can you stack your car into trucks, tankers, and other cars-just for the heck of it-but also you can attempt to knock into your opponents during a race. When you crash, you can drop the game into a slow-motion mode called impact time, which makes for a very interesting and even innovative dynamic where the pacing of the game can drastically shift for a few moments if you crash. The other big gameplay mechanic in Burnout 3 makes the crashes much more exciting and interactive.
For an easy-to-play racing game, Burnout 3 actually gives you a lot to consider. The downside is that you'll expose yourself to some pretty dangerous situations to earn all this boost, and crashing will eliminate much of your boost, chop off one of your bonus meter segments if you have any, and, more than likely, cause you to fall back one or two spots in a race. When you knock another car out, not only is your boost meter filled, but also it's extended up to a maximum of four times its original size. Takedowns, as you might imagine from the game's subtitle, are a major part of Burnout 3. But the quickest way to fill your boost meter in a regular race is to make your opponents crash. When you pull such risky maneuvers, you're rewarded with boost. Driving dangerously comes in the form of driving in the wrong lane, getting close to (but not hitting) other cars, catching air, drifting around turns, and so on. The courses in the game are open-road tracks on winding freeways and city streets, and, naturally, the streets are populated with a good amount of traffic. The game features simple, extremely responsive controls, so you can accelerate, steer, brake (around corners), and boost for a burst of speed.
These changes and added features drastically improve a series that was already very impressive.īurnout 3, like the previous games in the series, is mainly a racing game that rewards you for living dangerously. Burnout 3 expertly combines the two main elements of the series while also adding some great, new gameplay modes, a career mode that ties all of these different modes together, good split-screen support, and online play that supports up to six players on the same racetrack. The crash mode in Burnout 2 was totally separate from the main racing game, but the puzzle-like challenge of wrecking your car in the right spot and at the right time caused the most spectacular, most damaging multicar pileups, which represented an amazing addition to the game. In fact, the crashes were so cool that they were spun off into their own mode of play in Burnout 2. It delivered a sense of speed that most games lacked, and it also showcased some pretty spectacular crashes. The original Burnout, released back in 2001, was a great arcade-style racing game. Still pictures can't do Burnout 3 justice. It ranks among the best racing games ever made. Put it this way: Even if driving games aren't normally your thing, Burnout 3 is still right for you. With the release of Burnout 3: Takedown, developer Criterion Games makes the choice surprisingly easy. With all these vastly different styles of driving games to choose from, it might be hard to figure out which type is the right one for you. And, more recently, there are games that focus on the import tuning scene. There are the open-road, "choose your own route"-style of racing games, which usually give you an entire city to race in. You've got the hardcore simulations that attempt to model cars and driving as accurately as possible.
But now there are even more subsets to choose from. Driving games were either attempting to simulate actual driving, or they were eschewing realism in favor of a more accessible, more instantly gratifying game. As driving games continue to flood the market, the genre seems to be splintering apart further and further.