When Burnout: Crash was first announced, to say I was hesitant would be a severe lack of description. I was just angry. As a huge fan of the Burnout franchise, I thought this was as about as far from a Burnout title as you could get. My quest was simple: Put myself in a place to review it and prove that it was indeed not a true Burnout title. After playing though, my attitude has changed pretty quickly.
Burnout: Crash is a top down game were the object is simple, drive into traffic and cause as much damage as you can. Being a fan of the series, I was familiar with the crash modes from previous titles, and had an idea of what they were going for. My problem was the way Criterion had decided to do so. I felt that EA and Criterion had slipped the Burnout name on a less than par game just to make the sale. The rules are simple. You cause as much damage as you can before all the traffic has ran out and you put into motion a “Super Feature”. Earn as much money for damage as you can and try not to let any cars escape, because when five have, the crash will end. If you mange to make it all the way to the end of the crash, you will be greeted by the aforementioned super feature. This can be anything from a tornado tearing through or a tidal wave demolishing everything it touches. The super feature’s power is based off of how many cars you kept from escaping early on the crash.
Even though all this happens in a very cartoonish environment, the game has a certain fun or WOW factor to it that you only experience from a Burnout title. Not only that, but Burnout has always rode a fine line between a pick up and play and hardcore game. The franchise handles it well and this game is no exception. The game is easy enough to just start playing, but Criterion has done a great job of littering the game with plenty of features and enough to keep the core player trying to complete the game. The controls are pretty simple and easy to learn. After your first event you’ll understand how to do everything you need to do. Well, as far as hitting the buttons. The game requires a certain amount of strategy to succeed in the levels. As you progress through the game each road becomes harder and harder and the learning curve for each road becomes higher and higher. Each road has 3 events and each event have five stars, which leaves the game open for a huge amount of replay value.
The game does support Kinect functionality that works pretty good, but in my opinion feels gimmicky and would be great for parties or just having fun with friends. Even though the controls work well, when the option is present for a controller, I can’t think of a reason to use the Kinect. The addition of Criterion’s Autolog is a plus in the game, and adds a feature to add friends to your list. I loved Autolog in NFS: Hot Pursuit, and to have it in Criterion’s flagship franchise is a plus.
The game features very much a Burnout type soundtrack. The game has a very amusing and appropriate slew of songs that will play as you crash through the levels and at the opening of the game. All the cars you unlock have some sort of meaning to the. You may find that you happen to know some of the cars that you are driving as Criterion took advantage of this having the Burnout name. You may find that you unlock a Dust Storm or a Takedown 4X4. There are also other vehicles like “The B Team Van”. As cool as all this sounds the lack of vehicles is kind of a disappointment to me. There are only six cars to be unlocked total, and you unlock these cars by gaining stars from each road. You’ll find that each road requires a different car to receive maximum amount of money, a smart move by Criterion as it adds even more strategy to a game that on the surface looks simple.
All in all, Burnout: Crash is, at its core a Burnout game. Also in the same aspect, it’s that which makes it come up short of some things. Even though the game is a solid game that really is fun for anyone who is a fan of the Burnout series. Also while playing the game you realize you’re playing a Burnout game. That makes me be somewhat upset as I expect certain things from the Burnout series that is just not here. At a very reasonable price point of 800 MS points, this game is a solid buy and has loads of replay value attached. As far as this gamer is concerned, Criterion Games have delivered again and if this is a hold over till the next installment of the series, then it’s just fine with me.
