Everyone loves car crashes. As long as everyone walks away safe and there's no insurance to be paid, that is. Big car pile-ups in movies, demolition derbies, all that fun stuff.
For you and me, (the normal guys) the closest we've probably been to that is playing with all the die-cast metal cars and smacking them into each other to see how far we could get them to launch themselves.
Enter Burnout 2.
I hadn't played the first Burnout, but was intrigued by its emphasis on slick graphics and lots of crashing. So I decided to give this puppy a whirl.
Roll Out!
You don't get any real cars in Burnout 2. Instead you get cars that look like they're half of one car, and half of another. It kinda sucks that they weren't able to license real cars, but aside from the initial disappointment it doesn't impact the game.
Your object is simple...race through traffic as fast as you can. Various little dangerous things will gain you "Boost" which allows you to get a bit higher top speed for a while. Drifting around a corner will get you boost, as will catching air. Mostly you'll be earning boost by nearly missing collisions or by driving into oncoming traffic.
You have to completely fill the "Boost" gauge in order to use it, and additionally, you can charge the bar while draining it. If you completely fill the bar while draining it, you'll earn a "Burnout" and the Boost gauge will drain another full measure.
This works for 2 reasons...if you can sustain good driving at high speed in oncoming traffic, you can recover a lot of lost ground. Also, if you aren't so good at it, it makes for some crazy car accidents. Those are always fun to watch.
Winning races will set up showdowns which let you unlock cars like the Hot Rod, and the NASCAR rip-off car, as well as some new longer single-stage races, and new series.
Liiiike a GLOVE!
Control of the game feels tight. It's very responsive if you aren't driving like a stupid SUV or something. The layout fits perfectly into your hands, and game's as sharp in the control as it looks graphics-wise.
Crash...Into Me...And Him, and Him, and that SUV over There.
The mode I enjoyed the most was Crash Mode. This is where almost all of the fun for me was. Your object is to cause the damage listed in the top corner. You achieve this noble goal by hurling your car as fast as possible into another car, and hopefully into oncoming traffic.
The more cars you can get involved in the accident will multiply the damage caused to them. If you just tap one car, it's not as much damage value as you're going to get for hurling it in front of a semi hauling lumber. Larger cars are worth more too.
There are 15 or so crash levels, and most of them are pretty damn fun, although some of the later levels are pretty easy to get a gold in.
Showroom Shine
The models for the cars all look nice with their new car sheen and reflective surfaces. But we've seen this all before with all the various iterations of GT, Ridge Racer, etc, etc.
But the damage models are the most impressive to me. You can flip your car, and get it wrecked so many different ways. It's a refreshing change from the invinco-cars in every other game. Heck, even Wreckless only had you lose your hood. In Burnout 2, your car will most likely be left in a smoldering heap after executing a successful crash.
Which brings me to the biggest flaw I found with the game...nothing blows up! You'll be ramming these huge fuel tankers, and they just jack-knife and crash. No huge inferno. That's fairly disappointing, seeing as how the game is called "Burnout".
Audio Collision
Can't have a good driving game without good driving tunes. Instead of going for licensed tunes a-la Sony and Gran Turismo 3, Burnout 2 goes with good instrumental tracks that feel like good hard drivin' tunes.
The car crashes sound legit, you'll hear everything in gruesome detail as you execute your crashes in Crash Mode. Who drives around with their car alarm on? Aside from that; the screeching brakes, shattering glass, crunching metal...all good stuff.
Overall
Looking to kill some time with some friends? See who can get the best crash. This game's great for a weekend for some quick instant fun. Pop it in and knock yourself out. However... it is fairly shallow as a racing game, so I'd only recommend buying this in the $20-$25 range.
