One of the things that I’m not proud of is that I’m still somewhat biased against so-called value games. You would think that I’ve learned my lesson by now, between the excellent ESPN sports games and the brilliant Katamari Damacy, which were all priced at $20. However, I’ve been playing games long enough to know that, for every Katamari Damacy that comes out at $20, there are ten or twenty games that are more along the lines of Big Rigs. So, despite my newfound open-mindedness toward budget titles, it took about a week of seeing a good number of my Xbox Live friends playing Crash ‘n’ Burn before I finally decided to take the leap and give the game a try. At worst, I figured, I’d only be out $20; at best, maybe I’d stumble upon an undiscovered gem.
The best way to describe Crash ‘n’ Burn is as a poor man’s Burnout 3. Basically, you put 16 cars on a track, and have them bash into each other repeatedly until one car reaches the finish line first or all the rest of the cars stop running. There are some variations on this theme, but that’s the general theme; if you’re looking for a deep storyline or even just some sort of method to the madness, these aren’t the droids you’re looking for.
The one innovation that Crash ‘n’ Burn attempts to bring to the table is something the manual calls Emergent Track Design. That’s a fancy name for what essentially boils down to leaving debris on the track as the race progresses. You see, wrecked cars don’t just magically vanish off the track like they do in most other games; they actually stay on the track and become an additional hazard in addition to the ones that the designers placed on the track in the first place. Collisions also leave oil slicks that can make some turns more treacherous, and those slicks can also be set ablaze. The resultant fires not only cause damage to cars that drive through them, but they also can obscure the drivers’ vision, potentially obscuring additional obstacles. The net result of all this is that no two races are the same, even on the same track, especially given that the races, which last a minimum of six laps, provide plenty of opportunities for debris to litter the track. Now, the system’s certainly not perfect (there have been a few races where I was in first place during the first lap and drove through oil slicks despite the fact that no collision possibly could have caused them), but it does make up for the otherwise vanilla track design that is to be found in this game.
The single player experience is fairly straightforward. There are a handful of types of events in which the player can compete, which are mostly classifiable as GP racing, Xtreme GP racing, and Kamikaze races. These are also available as single races or as series, in which each car is awarded points based on their placement in each race, and the highest point total at the end of the series wins. GP races are standard races on straightforward tracks. Xtreme GP races are also standard racing events, except the tracks from the GP races are modified with strategically placed ramps that can send an inattentive driver flying end over end. (Luckily, it’s easy enough to flip the car over via the right thumbstick.)
Kamikaze races are easily the most entertaining of the three types of events, however. In a Kamikaze race, sixteen cars participate, but they start in groups of eight at opposite ends of the track, and they race in opposing directions. The end result, as one can well imagine, is an abundance of head-on collisions. The goal is also a bit different; while finishing first is still important, it’s almost a given that only two or maybe three cars will see the checkered flag at all, so survival is more paramount than speed is. The most fun I had with the single player mode was almost exclusively in Kamikaze mode; in fact, it made me a bit annoyed that I needed to spend as much time as I did in the other modes in order to get to more Kamikaze events.
After each event, you earn cash and experience based on your performance. Cash (obviously) buys new parts and upgrades for your car of choice, and experience unlocks new parts to buy and, occasionally, new car models. Finishing first in several races unlocks more events in which you can participate.
Now, that last paragraph may make Crash ‘n’ Burn seem like it’s a game somewhat like Gran Turismo, which would appeal to hardcore gearheads who could tinker with the weight differentials and different suspension models until they got the perfectly tuned car. Unfortunately, that’s far from the case. There are only four car models to choose from (two of which are available at the very beginning), and they’re extremely generic. Upgrades are similarly generic; you can only upgrade your top speed, acceleration, tires, and nitrous performance. There are a slew of cosmetic customization options, like new hoods, rear ends, and a collection of decals, but that’s about it. I personally was not let down by this, because I’m not a gearhead and just get intimidated when I have to start playing around with individual parts, but the game seems to imply that you’ll have this freedom (the back of the box claims to allow the player to “Customize all aspects of your ride,”), so someone looking forward to the customization aspect may end up a bit disappointed.
My biggest complaint about the single player portion of the game was not the lack of customization options, but rather how unforgiving the game is in terms of advancement. With all of the banging between cars, it’s often the case that you’ll get stuck in a crush with no way to avoid it and end up very far behind as a result; this by itself isn’t such a big deal, because the computer drivers are just as likely to fall prey to this as well, so everything evens itself out in the end. The problem is that, unlike similar games like Project Gotham Racing 2 and Burnout 3, the only way to advance is by placing first, which seems awfully unforgiving in a full-contact game such as this. I would be willing to wager that many players will never get to fully experience everything the game has to offer simply because they keep getting knocked around in one particular race and can’t advance beyond second or third place.
The best part of Crash ‘n’ Burn, however, is not the single player mode but rather the ability to take the game online to Xbox Live. In addition to the single player race types, there are a number of multiplayer modes that are available (which can be practiced offline as well). The one that’s been most popular among the people I play with is Last Man Standing, which is as simple as it sounds; it’s essentially a demolition derby type mode, which fills a bit of a void among online Xbox games, and is fun with a decent sized group of people. (Of course, even if there are only a couple of human players, Crash ‘n’ Burn fills the rest of the slots with bots, so there are always sixteen cars participating regardless of the number of human players.) The other modes, Bomb Tag (in which one or more cars have ticking bombs that can be passed by colliding with other cars), Running Man (a keep away type game that is basically the opposite of Bomb Tag) and Assassination (a team variant of Last Man Standing in which one player from each team is designated the King, and a team wins if they can wreck the opposing King), are all fun as well, and lend them well to bite-sized gaming sessions. If you only feel like playing for a few minutes online, Crash ‘n’ Burn lends itself to that quite well.
Graphically, Crash ‘n’ Burn isn’t the prettiest game available for the Xbox, but it does manage to get the job done in a utilitarian fashion. The one thing that does stand out graphically is the damage model, which is fairly comprehensive, easily surpassing those of its peers. What’s even more impressive is that it is able to support this damage model with sixteen simultaneous cars, both online and off. (Rallisport Challenge 2, by way of comparison, can only support up to four simultaneous cars online with its damage modeling turned on.) Granted, Crash ‘n’ Burn only has four car types to model, and the cars themselves are fairly boxy and unimpressive, but this is still quite an accomplishment. There is occasionally some slowdown, more often than in other racing games, but that’s also mostly a byproduct of the damage modeling, and it rarely happens enough to seriously disrupt the experience.
The biggest problem that I have with the graphics is not so much that the graphics are bland (which, the damage model notwithstanding, thy are), but that the sense of speed just isn’t there. Compared to something like Burnout 3, I feel like I’m racing go-karts in Crash ‘n’ Burn; even at top speed, the game feels like it’s just puttering along. It’s a minor complaint, to be sure, and one that isn’t really relevant at all in Last Man Standing or any of the multiplayer modes, but it’s noticeable, especially if you’re coming to Crash ‘n’ Burn from another racing game.
Sound, as is to be expected, is the weakest part of this budget title. The sound effects are extremely generic, and the explosions are somewhat unsatisfying. The announcer is repetitive, over-exuberant and just plain annoying after a few races. (He actually sounds fairly similar to the two-headed pod racing announcer from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and he got annoying after five minutes in that movie.) The music is also fairly unimpressive; there is a collection of ten or fifteen tracks from various no-name bands that likely didn’t get paid very much in licensing fees, and rightfully so. Normally, I don’t care whether the included music is good or not in Xbox games, but since Crash ‘n’ Burn doesn’t support Custom Soundtracks, that’s the only option (other than putting it on mute and listening to the radio), and it’s not a particularly good one.
Despite the lackluster audio, however, I found myself having a pretty good time with Crash ‘n’ Burn. The single player portion, while frustrating, is fun for a while, and I enjoy getting on Live with my friends every week or so and slamming my car into theirs. Crash ‘n’ Burn is a fairly bare-bones package, but it’s a fun one, especially at a $20 price point. If you like racing games, you’re bored, and you’ve got a little money burning a hole in your pocket, give Crash ‘n’ Burn a shot; it’s worth the sticker price.
