Burnout 3: Takedown

Burnout 3: Takedown marks the third installment in the Burnout series, and naturally offers some major improvements over the last two games. Not only are graphics better but gameplay has had some been upgraded to make both online and offline game play modes more fluid and life-like. Burnout is different from your typical racing game, as a lot of the focus and fun comes not so much from 'racing', but the metal twisting agony of a big crash. Furthermore Burnout 3 ups the ante once again by offering multiple single-player modes in addition to multiplayer and online games. Hopefully this preview is able to give you a quick overview of some of these new features and advancements you can look forward to in the game.

First of all, there are an astounding 70-plus vehicles in the game, in 12 different classes including European exotics, American muscle cars, mid-size sedans, sports cars, compacts, buses, and semi trucks. There are also over 20 tracks, spanning 3 continents, USA, Europe and Far East. When you start up the game for the first time only USA will be available but as time passes and you race, you will be able to unlock the other areas.

One of the major improvements in the gameplay of Burnout 3: Takedown is the fact that the artificial intelligence is now much more aggressive than ever seen before. This is done to mimic the actions that real opponents will take when playing against them online. To quote Alex Ward, Director of Design from Criterion, "We decided to refocus the offline design, to make sure the online and offline games sit together. So it's an aggressive racing game offline and it's about battling and fighting and fighting your way through traffic and winning the race, and online it's the same thing, the only difference is the opposition, the A.I., is real." There will also be a revenge meter where opponents will remember that you took them out and will try their best to make your life a living hell. Speaking of the online mode, all offline game modes will be available online, except for the 'Eliminator' game, due to technical issues.

Boost has been altered and revamped this year to make it more valuable, and the fact that you will need to use it if you plan to win races makes it very useful to have. The Burnout meter has four segments which will fill up by driving on the wrong side of the road, weaving through traffic, takedowns of opponents and generally risking your life. Along with boost comes a new addition to the Burnout series, that being 'aftertouch'. Once you get into a crash, you can press and hold the left trigger to slow down time while using the analogue control stick to guide your car while in the air. While you may only be able to move very slowly in mid-flight, this aftertouch feature comes in handy when trying to guide your mangled wreck of a car into power-ups, other cars and road signs, and basically get much more points.

The crash mode has had some improvements. There will be 100 different crash junctions which can be played single player, co-op with friends, or head-to-head. As well as the already mentioned aftertouch, power-ups have been added to spice things up a little. The boost power-up will give you an instant full boost meter, enabling you to reach speeds you've only dreamed about. x2 and x4 multipliers to improve your score, and the instant 'crashbreaker' which will make your car explode... instantly! The other way to get a crashbreaker aside from picking it up as a power-up is to reach the amount of cars which are involved in the crash as indicated on the bottom of the screen. Once you have done that you can press the right trigger to make your car explode. There are a few negative power-ups which you want to dodge also, one of them being the stealer, which will flip your and your opponent scores at the end of the crash. The other power-up which would be best to avoid is the heartbreaker, and as the name suggests, it doesn't sound good. In fact, it will cut your score in half.

Road Rage will be one of the modes which will take everybody by surprise and become a household favourite. Which is an upgraded version of Pursuit from Burnout 2, although instead of driving a police vehicle, you can choose one of the 70 vehicles available, and you must try to take out the other racers in the game while attempting to keep your car in one piece. You will gain damage over time from driving into things and other cars driving into rather than one crash and it's all over. Eventually the car you're driving will explode after too much damage and the aim is to go for as long as possible, or until time runs out.

The Burnout 3 soundtrack is quite impressive really; it features 40 songs from artists such as Jimmy Eat World, Yellowcard, New Found Glory and a notable mention to one New Zealand band, The D4.

Burnout 3 is Available on PS2 and Xbox, developed by Criterion Games and is published by Electronic Arts, and is currently scheduled for a September 14th Release in New Zealand. You can pre-order it today from all good gaming outlets for RRP $99.95.