Burnout 3: Takedown review:3 stars (Hot fun title has many glaring faults!) - Burnout 3 has been out for quite a while now and has been garnered a stint on the Greatest Hits line now which is great with a $20 price tag on it. I had heard nothing but ultimate praise for this game and had never played a previous version but $20 bucks was too hard to pass up so I bought it. First off for those interested. At $20 this game is definitely worth it.

The first day I played this game with several friends and we had a blast. Unfortunately there was only one course, one crash junction, and 3 identical cars available. This was frustrating to say the least as we wanted an enjoyable multiplayer game but seeing as how we had to spend several hours unlocking things we tired easily.

The game at first impression was great. Amazing speed and graphics, a lot of fun, and smashing each other up seems like it would never stop being fun. Well once my buddies left the game soured on me.

Single player is a drab experience. The first 30 or so events are a lot of fun and somewhat challenging with good racing and excitement. Problem is by about 30 events you have seen everything the game has to offer. They boast a whole ton of race modes in the description however many of them are the same thing. You really have time challenge, race (6 players or vs. 1), rage (destruction derby), and crash mode. Multiplayer has numerous options but most are only a variation of the crash game and the rest are only available online so I wouldn't know about them.

Crash mode was great fun. I love the wanton destruction and the after touch ability made getting the cash and powerups fun and challenging. Problem was there are an insane number of these in the game. We're talking like 70+ different junctions. I mean smashing into traffic is a lot of fun but try it 30 or 40 times in a row and you will get bored. Plus some intersections are not only difficult just downright stupid. To achieve gold you have to have the patience of a seamstress to constant replay over and over again as you try and blow yourself up and reverse directions to get 4x multipliers. Worse are the load times! Why so many and so long??? When I replay a level that just loaded why does it take forever and go back through all the original screens? Could have been done better.

When it comes to racing the most fun you will have will come early. The most enjoyment I had was the first 20 or so races. They are the most interesting to fight with the competition and really see some good crashes. Problem is the lack of diversification in races makes it really monotonous later on and as the competition gets better you just get frustrated more often. And as for unlockable cars. Yeah there are 70+ in the game but they are all the same! I mean for every class there are about 7 or 8 cars and they are either one of two body models with slightly different paint schemes and virtually no difference performance wise. Seeing as how you can change the color of any car the need for more of the same model in different paint scheme was unnecessary. Plus having to constantly win new events to unlock the same car over and over bored the heck out of me.

As you progress through the game and finally get better cars you will find the game starts to become almost unplayable. As speed increases the screen blurs. Add this to crazy backgrounds, intense light effects, and hard to see cars, tracks can quickly turn a person with 20-20 vision into a sniveling blind man. There just is too much going on in the environments for a person to be able to handle the high speeds of some of the cars. You will be smashing into obstacles and oncoming traffic all the time and swear you never saw it. Things like intense sun glare on the pavement hide civilian traffic almost to the point of stealth for instance. Worse is in some levels the crash physics are not always equal. On some tracks you can careen around the track at top speed clipping walls or other obstacles almost head on with no effect and in others if you so much as touch a wall it will crash you. This was my ultimate frustration. After 50+ gold medals I have the physics down pretty well in races only to have my time trial thwarted by rubbing a wall and going into an elaborate crash. This will frustrate anyone looking for the game to be constant over the course. It also makes the annoying time trial missions virtually impossible with some cars. These missions require you to run at top speed, almost constantly boost engaged without crashing once. Some tracks allow you one or two mess-ups but most of the advance courses require you to run a perfect lap. Add in that you can't see traffic or obstacles, boost blurs your vision, and the crash engine is not always equal. Makes these races a virtual frustration of agonizing proportions.

Overall I found the novelty value of this game great. It's basically Tony Hawk with cars. High-speed arcade fun with a lot of annoying quirks. The music is nothing special. I could have cared less about most of it but some songs are decent. The graphics I'd say are slightly above average. Mostly the crash scenes add to my assessment but standard-racing scenes won't blow your socks off. Control is functional. There is a decent physics engine so it has some realism to it even though it's an arcade racer and that was nice. Story wise or evolvement was an utter disappointment. Screaming and swearing through one race just to unlock another one 173 times over with about 10 different cars (car types not individual models) doesn't have the kind of lasting appeal I expected from this title.

I would say Burnout 3 will deliver to the hardcore fans who loved the originals and newbies will like it for a bit but those average gamers looking for some fun may want to stay back and rent this title for a weekend as it will keep you entertained for a while but annoy you forevermore.
5 stars (Takes Down The Competition!) - The racing genre is perhaps the hardest for developers to produce good games for. After all, it even seems hard to continuosly innovate a genre that is all about running laps around a track. Thankfully, EA's Burnout 3: Takedown has so much innovation it keeps itself alive play after play.

Graphics- 10/10
From textures to particle effects, (Which, by the way, are the best I've ever seen in a game) they aced everything.

Sound- 10/10
The music fits the game perfectly, as well as the sound effects do.

Control- 9/10
This game has great control, but just not much better than most games. (That is, unless you have a wireless steering wheel)

Story- N/A
While this game doesn't have a story, it just doesn't need one!

Gameplay- 9/10
My only problem with gameplay is that road rage mode is so fun, you won't play the other modes!

Overall- 10/10
This game is just different enough to make it a winner! 4 stars (I really give this game a 4.5) - This game is really fun. I especially like the multiplayer. Buy this game!
Burnout 3: Takedown Features:
Video Games
Xbox (x box)
Microsoft
Racing
Flying
Cause wanton destruction in a game mode dedicated to demolition
9 race modes including Single Race, Tournament, Lap Eliminator, Burning Lap, and Road Rage
2-16 players, 7 online modes, 70+ vehicles, 40+ tracks, 3 continents, and tons of crash technology
Take risks and battle your foes as you navigate oncoming traffic and near-misses, catch air, tail-gate, and drift to earn boost
Slam cars into walls and traffic or pile them into the back of an 18-wheel semi for Burnout Points

Burnout 3- Takedown is the Video Game version. The full version can be purchased by clicking on the "CLICK HERE TO ORDER" button below for around 19.95USD.