Burnout 3 was my pick for best racer at E3, even surpassing Sega's long-awaited (and most impressive) OutRun2. Everything about the last game has been kicked up a notch, with more of what makes the series great: a sick sense of speed, plenty of turbo boost, and ridiculous over-the-top crashes. Fans of the first and second games in the series will be familiar with the controls instantly; they are essentially the same as they were in Burnout 2:
A little blurry, but you get the idea: the controls are basically unchanged from previous games.
We went hands-on with a new style of play called "Takedown Mode," which is a sort of combination of the Championship Mode and Crash Mode from the previous games. As in Championship, you pick your car and race against the competition to earn medals. The Burnout boost-powerup system is back; you still increase your turbo meter by driving against traffic, narrowly missing other passing cars, powersliding, and catching air. But there's one key difference. Now you're rewarded with huge Burnout bonuses for sideswiping cars into oncoming traffic and guardrails until they crash and burn--taking out your competition and earning a boost at the same time!
This makes all the difference and kicks the fun factor up ten-fold, because you no longer have to avoid the other racers for fear of a time-consuming crash. As long as you're the one who pushes them into the wall or into another car, they go up in flames and you not only take a lead--you get a full or near-full burnout meter that will help you catch the next target ahead. Medals for Takedown courses are awarded in terms of number of cars taken down... In the Tokyo course, seven takedowns earned a Gold, five got a Silver, and three snagged a Bronze. It's a simple system, but it doesn't mean that it's all about crashing into your opponents. In order to get above seven takedowns for that top medal, you have to race skillfully and catch up to the guys at the head of the pack too.
It's the little touches that add to the polished appeal of Burnout 3: text messages (like "Rubbin'!") that appear onscreen after crashes and heated racing manuvers, the ability to quickly skip a crash animation and get right back into a race, and a sense of speed and crash impact that has to be seen to be believed. Graphics are improved enough above Burnout 2 that you might wonder if the game still uses Renderware or a new custom graphics engine (it's still Renderware, but it's the most recent version).
At Microsoft's Xbox booth, the friendly Criterion developer on hand provided a wealth of details on why Burnout 3 will blow the doors off prior games in the series:
Features the intense new Takedown Mode, sure to become a fan favorite.
Seven or Eight modes total, including several "exciting new modes" that weren't even revealed/playable at E3.
ALL MODES WILL BE PLAYABLE ONLINE. Even crash mode!
Six players can compete at once online, and the framerate will remain locked at 60 frames per second (according to the developer).
Online rankings will be recorded as with Burnout 2--and this time it shouldn't necessitate removing memory card support for the Xbox version (a point I voiced my displeasure with very vocally).
Crash Mode will have 30 to 40 separate courses, with multiple objectives on each one. Possibly over 100 Crash missions.
Burnout 3 still uses Renderware, however this time it's the latest release version 3.7, which allows for graphics that noticeably surpass Burnout 2.
Xbox and PS2 versions will feature the exact same content this time, and the PS2 version is supposedly much more closer in graphical quality to the Xbox release than it was in Burnout 2.
Criterion's aiming for a release date of September 2004 on Xbox & PS2 (no GameCube version).
All in all, Burnout 3 really does look like it's going to peel rubber all over Burnout 2, which itself was a great game and a big improvement over the original Burnout. The addition of online play alone should take the game to the next level, but Criterion has delivered more than enough new content and inventive modes to make it a must-buy for any racing fan--even in single-player mode.
To really get a sense of Burnout 3's speed and insane crashes, check out the video clips below:
DOWNLOAD VIDEO (4.6 MB):Burnout3_crash.AVI
-A wicked crash through an intersection.
DOWNLOAD VIDEO (5.1 MB):Burnout3_crash2.AVI
-A slight sideswipe with a wall or opponent can still stall you out if you hit at the wrong angle.
DOWNLOAD VIDEO (3.2 MB):Burnout3_crash3.AVI
-A head-on blast into oncoming traffic!
DOWNLOAD VIDEO (6.9 MB):Burnout3a.AVI
-This clip shows how fast you can get back into the action by hitting A after crashing. You'll still loose a step on the other racers, but don't have to wait long to start trying to catch up. Keeps the action flowing!
DOWNLOAD VIDEO (19.2 MB):Burnout3_takedowns.AVI
-A nice example of the Takedown Mode sideswipe battling dynamic. Get 100 points for sideswiping each enemy car into a crash, as well as a nice boost meter bonus!
Are those vids the same as the ones posted on ps2.ign.com or are they completely new/different ones. And can anyone tell me what I need to download to be able to play them? I got the DIVX codec and everything...
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True Crime: Streetz of E3
E3 Hands-On: Burnout 3
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