Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Burnout 3: Terrifying in how much fun it is



One of my and my girlfriend’s favourite games to play together on our PS2 is Burnout 3: Takedown.  It’s fun, it’s addictive, and it’s challenging, which is always a good mix.  It is a rare game in that it is still fun to play if you don’t win or don’t play properly.  Its entertainment value, however, is perhaps one of the most sinister parts of the game.

 Burnout 3 is a racing game with a twist.  It’s all about danger.  You get more boosts in the race for driving dangerously and for pushing other cars to their doom.  They have an entire game mechanic in place, including slow-mo cameras, for the act of crashing.  Our favourite part of the game (because we’re both pretty rubbish at actually racing) is Crash Mode.  In it, there’s no concern about road safety.  Your goal is to crash your car into traffic to cause as much mayhem and damage as possible.  There’s a commentator which seems to suggest that this is a full-on sport, which is confusing as it’s doubtful that anyone could survive actually participating in it.

As the title states, one of the most terrifying things about this game is how much I enjoy it.  Driving as fast as I can, hitting a ramp, smashing into an oil tanker, and then using the slow-mo explosion mechanics to bounce around an exponentially increasing circle of carnage.  What’s not to love?  Your points are based on the dollars worth of damage that you do, and seeing that number top $1,000,000 for a single crash is very satisfying.  And of course, you can select your car, so things like the Fire Engine suddenly become very enticing indeed.

It’s an excellent game for what it is: hilarious destruction.  If you’re looking for anything serious, look elsewhere, but then again, who’s looking for that?  I’ll take my cars extra crispy!

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