Description
Burnout reinvents high-risk racing with the only high speed,
high-energy, pulse-pounding arcade style street racer on Nintendo GameCube.
Based on real-life crash dynamics, Burnout’s action will leave you sweating,
short of breath and totally in shock. Hyperventilating is part of the fun.
Review
Like your racing games fast, furious, and full of
spectacular smashes? You're in luck. With Burnout, Acclaim removes all
pretense of providing a serious simulation and instead serves up a delicious
dish of pure arcade fun. The title features two key selling points--the
speed of the action and the spectacular crashes. To facilitate these, the
setup couldn't be more straightforward, as the aim is simply to be first
past the post. You can increase your chances by driving more dangerously,
although that comes with obvious pitfalls in the shape of those
aforementioned smashes. Let's just say that to get through the game you're
going to have to take your chances.
Contrary to the serious approach of racing simulators like
Gran Turismo 3 for the PlayStation2, this is foot-to-the-pedal stuff, and
it's tremendously good fun to play. And when you do put your proverbial foot
down, get ready to move, for this is a blisteringly fast title that
deceptively requires more concentration than at first appears. The downside
is that this won't appeal to those who like their racing games nice and
serious, nor to those looking for anything particularly innovative. Burnout
has few qualms about marrying the multimedia power of next-generation game
systems to a game engine that forsakes bells and whistles for speed,
destruction, and sheer good fun. Fortunately, in this case, it's all the
better for it, making it yet another four-wheel treat. Highly recommended.
--Simon Brew
