This is possibly a problem at my end and not indicative of the game.Īs I said, close but not perfect. So I have yet to get successfully online. Sadly I had allsorts of problems being booted from the server, not getting on at all or not getting a race list. Add to this an often undulating circuit, tightening corners, inclines, declines, competitors, traffic and the sheer pace of the game (and then boost) you will suddenly have your hand-eye ability put into question. Perfecting this is very hard because the game runs at such a pace that you have to get into a slide at the right nano-second or you’ll either scrape the barrier and loose pace, or at worst you’ll hit a solid wall or competitor and enjoy the carnage which will ensue. With a tap of the brake pedal and then back on the gas, it’s a matter of holding the corner (a la Ridge Racer) but not pointing too much at the barriers.
You have to induce oversteer to get around most corners if you want to keep your speed. But perhaps you have to play to understand. I totally understand this is not rewarding in the same way as a quality sim and it won’t take as long to learn. In a non-sim? Is there any point in discussing? Yes there is… it’s not dull handling, it’s not boring it’s not easy or unengaging as simmers would tend to think. Directing your crashed car slowly into the oncoming competitor who wiped you out has a sense of satisfaction unrivalled in other arcade games. It’s like watching Turismo replays, you’ll never tire of it. The energy dissipation shown graphically is just amazing. You can see every glass shard, wheel’s fly off, bodies crumple. The audio is slowed down and sounds fabulous. Firstly the graphics are so amazing there’s a huge amount of fire, sparks and energy going on. When you do crash, you C-R-A-S-H with aplomb. For me it makes all the difference because you can stay on that adrenalin high until you make a fatal error. You’ll loose some pace, but you won’t crash out. Apart from the amazing speed, here you don’t come off the boost when you career into a wall. Chase HQ was brilliant with the boost, but that was the eighties. This has to be experienced to be believed.Īh –ha I hear you say…this has been done before. The adrenaline rush is like nothing ever before in an arcade game. With Boost engaged the game runs at such a pace you will be amazed and startled. When you’re rocking along with boost engaged, the camera lens focuses and zooms slightly and you’ll find your concentration has to be ramped up by a factor of 10, or you’ll drop it into an oncoming vehicle or barrier. Various scrapes/slides will earn you boost and not just any boost. The other core gameplay element is the boost button. If you don’t smash them off the track, they will trash you instead. The races usually necessitate racing in traffic against competitors with whom you need to smash off the track or stay well ahead to win. The game essentially comprises over 100 different races on many circuits, in 3 distinct areas. But it is amazing in contrast to other available games in the similar ‘race with traffic on street circuit’ games. I don’t want to kiss B3’s pert rear bumber too much, because it’s not perfect.
How about “B3 is the dogs swingers, filled with dynamite and exploding in your face.” A little quote to sum up the game for those who can’t be bothered to read. The game is not far from perfect, so it’s more a case of what doesn’t it do and what doesn’t it do brilliantly, rather than what makes it bad. Criterion the Developer set out to create an arcade game and I’m glad to say they’ve done a storming job. Sure some make a fair game, but the rest are big stinking unwashed pr persons sweating pants.īurnout3 knows what it is. Games which don’t know if they’re a sim or an arcade game like Ford Racing, R:Racing, Juiced, World Racing, Corvette. Of course there’s that half-breed, please-all game which the marketeers like to market, but we at RSC like to bin it. I guess it depends on exactly which young Director sits on the board that particular year. I think developing for realism is vogue one year, essential the next and ‘so last year’ after that.
I have often wondered whether arcade games will ‘stay’. One half which can’t abide them and the other which will gladly put a loving arm around both the sim and arcade racing genre. Burnout 3: Takedown (PS2) Review Article by Lance Carter posted Sep 23, 2004Īrcade games are one thing which would slice this community in half.