Continued from page one

Grinding people into walls, smashing them into traffic, anything that can be done to hurt the competition is highly encouraged and the quickest way to get to the finish line. This helps to keep players together and dependent on one another for high speeds, as well as making the battles for first much more fierce then any other racing game. That directly leads into the other novel idea of the aftertouch ability, giving control after a crash to allow the player to steer the broken mass of metal in an attempt to stop other players from driving by. Any such contact is an automatic takedown that will stop the other opponent in his tracks and give an additional boost meter to the once-loser.

The Burn meter can now also be activated at any time - no more waiting to fill it up 100% before usage. The Burn combos of Point of Impact have been removed, but it's doubly good for multiplayer. Burn only increases the top speed of a car by about five miles an hour yet it gives an incredible edge to acceleration. This helps to balance out the drivers and not give too much of a lead to the better players - though nothing takes the place of skill and learning the track layout. Using boost right before slamming into another player will give an almost guaranteed takedown while liberally emptying the Burn meter will mean you that you have less control and will lose that extra acceleration right when you really need it.

That comes primarily into play during online Road Rage, which pits two teams of up to three each against the other to see if the blue team can cross the finish line before the red team destroys them all. Since the red team has access to unlimited boost and constant usage can often lead to needless crashing, a modicum of control is needed in order to do well. However, that becomes exactly the opposite of Road Rage in single-player or split-screen, as there the players are up against re-spawning opponents that always remain in the vicinity. There's never a reason not to use boost during that portion since the destruction is at an almost constant level of intensity and the extra power of the Burn meter makes it that much more thrilling.

As mentioned before, the Crash mode returns and it does so with grand style. This is one of the simpliest gameplay types that absolutely anyone can pick up and play, yet it remains interesting enough that it can easily capture the attention of players from any level of skill. You are presented with a vehicle and either an intersection or a strip of road and the object is to create the highest level of insurance damage possible. Takedown introduces icons for both power-ups and power-downs that can boost a score as much as four times, halve it instead, give unlimited boost, or dole out extra points. A great mode for controller-passing parties, it also allows up to eight players to take turns online or two players to compete or co-operate simultaneously.

To say that online play improves the game is like saying that sound waves make it easier to hear noises. Sure, knocking around AI cars is great fun, but nothing, I mean nothing, matches the beauty of pounding a car driven by an actual person off the road, sending him into a fury fueled by revenge. No rubberband AI and non-cheating opponents immediately mean that the game is that much better, and it being almost totally lag-free and perfect inside races (occasionally the EA lobby had some problems, but that seems to be ironed out now) just helps it go that extra mile towards being one of the greatest racing games ever.

Not just a game for one specific crowd, Burnout 3 is so amazingly good that everyone should own it, whether or not he even likes racing games. Crash mode alone is addicting even for people who don't play games in the first place, and Road Rage is one of the greatest aggressive driving setups ever. Flying along at 200 m.p.h. while the amazingly detailed cities fly by in a blur of color; cars bursting with sparks and shredded parts; sports cars rebounding off buses as if springs were attached: Burnout 3:Takedown displays with every passing moment the ingenuity and sheer variety that should be expected from new releases. With each addition to the series, new modes and new ideas are brought into play and executed with great finesse. Takedown is no exception and deserves a spot in everyone's library.

· · · Christopher Rubin