Developer: Criterion Games
Publisher: Acclaim
# of Players: 1-4(2 simultaneous, 3-4 alternately)
Online Support: No
Supports: Analog Control, Vibration, Memory Card
ERSB: Everyone
Also On: Xbox, GameCube

Introduction

The original Burnout was a pleasant surprise from Playstation 2 owners. Mixing basic arcade style racing with amazing crash animations and physics, the game pulled off being innovative and pretty simple all at once.

The game had it’s problems, though. The frame rate was not up to par with other racers, and the graphics weren’t much better. Gamers complained about the lack of varying terrain and tracks, as well as easy AI. Criterion Games has fixed most of these, and improved on nearly everything. The result is a game that’s a blast to play, by yourself or even with 3 friends.

Presentation

Burnout wasn’t a letdown in the presentation area, and the sequel only improves upon it. The menus are very simple, probably the easiest menus around aside from Gran Turismo’s point and click system.

Past the incredibly user-friendly menus, the game is full of awesome cut scenes, animations and replays. This game plays heavily on the crashing aspect of the game, and these replays and cut scenes pound the concept into your head. With each wreck you’re given a good amount of great camera views, cut scenes to everything from a compact car to a tanker slamming into something, all topped off with an 8 o’clock news style circling helicopter view. Sometimes you want to slam into a semi just to see the crash in action, it’s that good.

Graphics

The best feature of Burnout 2’s graphics is the crashes. Every single part of them is top notch, from the breaking of the cars to the way they slide around and fly through the air. Nailing a semi at 160 mph unleashes all sorts of graphical goodies, such as your hood flying off and floating about 60 feet high, or a wheel or two rolling along the ground for about 20 feet.

Then you get one of the pre-mentioned cut scenes just when you think the wreck is over, of a huge bus locking it’s tires and sliding 30 feet before slamming to another car, shattering it’s front end as well as every window on it. The crashes are Burnout’s main appeal, and Criterion wisely made them stand above everything else in the game with the help of great graphics.

Another great feat for the PS2 version is the frame rate. The original Burnout was pretty sluggish during major action, slowing down a bit. Part 2 fixes that and runs at a constant 60 fps. That’s very important in a racing game that requires a lot of twitch reactions like weaving in and out of traffic.

Other areas, such as backgrounds, are good as well. They don’t compare to games like GT3 or Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, but at 60 fps they’re flying by so fast you won’t notice them much anyways. The traffic cars look loads better than they do in games like NFS or Test Drive.

Sound

As with the graphics, the prime of Burnout 2’s sound is heard while you’re wrecking into things. Smashing glass, crushing metal, honking horns. You won’t be disappointed with the sound.

The background music varies from j-pop to heavy metal. All very action oriented and fit in well with the games "pedal to the metal" vibe. The sound effects are very good, from squealing tires to backfiring engines to roaring of the motor. The best sound effect is probably the turbo kick-in. Anyone who’s watched The Fast and the Furious should be familiar with the neat "whooooosh" sound this turbo makes when you kick it in.

Gameplay

The Burnout franchise has a fresh approach to racing. There’s the normal things you have to do. Most of all, finish first. But why not do it in style, crashing and causing tons of American dollars in damage along the way? There’s where the fresh approach comes in. Sometimes you need to score a lot of points in damage to take home the gold. Sometimes you need to thread the needle and race on the wrong side of the road. You need to because of another unique feature in Burnout 2, the turbo system.

Turbo is simple and to the point. Hitting the R1 button unleashes a speed burst that allows you to blow by the competition or extend your lead. It’s how you earn that turbo that is cool. You get turbo by doing certain things. You can drive on the wrong side of the road to fill your turbo bar. You can narrowly miss a car to add a bit to your turbo meter. Every time you hit a jump, your meter rises depending on how much air you get. You can also gain turbo by sliding around sharp corners. All these techniques you will need to master, because the AI of both the opponents and the traffic is top notch. Thankfully, you’ll need to finish a nice training mode before you can play the game.

Once past the training mode, you’ve got a lot to do. The game tracks the medals you win and the cars you’ve unlocked, which there is quite a few to unlock. There are a good amount of championship races to enter, as well as challenge races, where you race 1 on 1 with a certain car in order to unlock it.

There are also the usual time trial and single race modes. The best modes though, are the ones you need to unlock. Crash mode is probably the games best mode, due to its huge multiplayer appeal. Basically you choose a car and drive it full speed with unlimited turbo into anything from huge intersections to a crammed freeway full of stopped cars, complete with a on-ramp with buses and diesels flying in at full speed for more damage. There’s no greater thrill in the game than sitting down with 3 other gamers and competing for the best crash.(I currently have stumped them all with a 42 million dollar beauty on the freeway) There’s also a pursuit mode, which is pretty fun itself but pales in comparison to Crash or the pursuit action found in Need for Speed.

The basic gameplay of the game is surprisingly solid. Because it’s still so simple you can pick the controller up and have it down in a couple of races. The main flaws such as boring tracks and weak AI have been fixed. Stages vary not only in terrain now but pretty vastly in environments also. The only complaints I have with the stage designs are the Checkpoints and the flashing arrows indicating a place you must turn are a bit hard to see, and the stages need some bigger jumps. I wet myself thinking of the havoc possible by flying into a group of cars waiting at a light 15 feet below you at 150 mph. Oh well, I guess that’s something they’ll put into Burnout 3.

The AI is nasty this time around. Each racer usually takes their own course on the track, rarely falling into the usual act of driving like a funeral line, present in so many other racers. They’ll fly by you and try to ram you into oncoming traffic, while at the same time making the same mistakes you will, slamming into traffic and tearing their cars to bits. The traffic is just as nasty, as an oncoming car isn’t going to just sit there and let you run into it. They’ll weave and slam on the brakes, usually causing you to adjust in a split second or ram into them or someone else. Hell, even after you cause a pileup, the AI in the traffic that’s simply trying to avoid the wreck, like semi drivers jack knifing their trucks, etc, is better than the AI in most others racers period.

The only other main complaint with the game is the lack of variety in the cars. Sure, they all look the same, but they all pretty much drive the same, and/or don’t drive like the ratings show they should. A god example is the first car you can unlock, the Hot Rod. It shows it has the best acceleration and good control but a weak top speed. A Viper on the other hand, has good acceleration and a great top speed, but poor handling. Well, upon racing with them, it becomes apparent to me that the Viper is basically great in everything, while the Hot Rod has poor handling but a great top speed, beating a Viper that’s supposed to be faster. Another thing is there are no car licenses in the game. While I say Viper, what I mean is a car that looks like a Viper. You’ll also find a "Mustang", a "Lightning", and a "Civic", among others. I guess having no licenses goes hand in hand with having such detailed crashes, though.

Overall, the gameplay has remained very simple, but has also remained extremely fun and addicting. It’s probably got the best multiplayer mode I have ever seen in a racing game, and the single player game isn’t bad either.

Overall

There’s enough to unlock to keep you busy for weeks, and the Crash mode never loses interest if you have friends. There’s only one other arcade racer out right now that is as good as Burnout 2 and that’s Need for Speed. The one you want depends on what you’re looking for. NFS is certainly not as multiplayer oriented as Burnout 2, while Burnout 2’s single player game isn’t as deep as the one in NFS.

If you liked Burnout, Burnout 2 is a no brainer though. There’s really no glaring flaw in the game, and it’s another nice change of pace for the jaded racer fan. I think I’m actually looking forward to a new Burnout game more than I am the next Gran Turismo. It’s that good.

The Good
+ Fresh, fun gameplay
+ Lots of tracks, cars and secrets to unlock
+ The crashes, they are spectacular
+ Crash mode, the best multiplayer mode ever
+ Very quick load times
+ Nice training mode for noobs

The Bad
- No real difference in cars, other than looks
- No real weather effects
- No good jumps in the stages
- Not enough areas in Crash mode

The Stupid
? Losing a game of Crash to a gloating buddy because the game ends the crash seconds before a semi tears through the pileup.