Quantcast
Channel: Edge Online » Criterion
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 13

Retrospective – Burnout 2: Point of Impact

0
0

As much as everyone loves Criterion’s ongoing war against the Highway Code, part of many Burnout fans stays fiercely loyal to the second game, Point Of Impact. That was when Burnout didn’t need to sit you down and describe to you its cool ideas. No southern Californian belle was there to lead you through the tutorials as you mashed the buttons in hope of escape. The term ‘battle racing’ barely described even Twisted Metal and Vigilante 8. And the name Burnout still denoted a science as much as a brand.

On the freeways and switchbacks of Sunrise Valley and Crystal Summit Peak, the concept of Burnout is simple. Like the pre-Gotham Kudos points of Metropolis Street Racer, Burnout 2’s multiplier pushes you to drive those essential gaming reflexes into the ground, though preferably not the wall. The numbers that flicker by onscreen are more than just redundant furniture, giving oncoming traffic, air time and drift distance more meaning than in later games where ranks, rival markers and skill shot bonuses all gasp for attention. A perfect lap, moreover, is an achievement truly worthy of a capital A.

But times have changed indeed, and that rebel part wants none of it. All it wants is a horizon that spits out speeding cars, a millisecond in which to avoid collision, and an afterburner exhaust to make the process more exciting. And then exciting x2. And then exciting x3. It wants music that rises in sync with the speedometer, and crashes you’d rather watch than steer. It wants to shoot across the finish line and wipe a trickle of blood from its nose.

The release of Burnout Legends – a peculiar turn of events where, for once, the series had to look back rather than ahead – was a telling one. The idea of a greatest hits anthology felt strange from the outset, and fears over its eclectic character proved justified. Unlike Ridge Racer, which would have inspired Legends with its earlier PSP collection, there’s only one chapter in Burnout’s story where its tracks feel truly timeless. Without its own version of Ridge City, Namco’s swirling nucleus of roads and landmarks, Criterion’s creation doesn’t enjoy that automatic sense of history.

Not that the developer’s level design has necessarily worsened since Burnout 2; its newer tracks are some of the most mischievously complex of any videogame racer. But that’s the point. Burnout’s attitude has changed over recent years into something cunning, clever and unavoidably less charming. The introduction of the Takedown has had an intoxicating effect, replacing streets full of passive, pedestrian danger with those that love to fight back.

Even the Burning Lap, the time-trial event that feels now like an olive branch to errant fans, can’t tame the likes of Angel Valley (a tree-lined grinder of rocks and fences) and Motor City (a bleached industrial corridor of hurdles and gates). On roads like these, enemies are barely necessary. At least in Burnout 2 you feel that racing against the clock is, as it should be, a battle with yourself. Sure, the time limits are strict enough to feel like a gun pressed against your head, but ultimately it’s your own need for speed that kills you.

The role of EA in all this has, of course, been dramatically overstated. Criterion was a free agent when it plotted Burnout’s new direction, Acclaim still motoring its way to bankruptcy, while the game’s brand still sat inexplicably out on the fringe. It’s more likely the thought of being sidelined yet again that drove the series mad, and given consumers’ apathy towards OutRun 2, it’s probably best that it did. EA, meanwhile, has, if anything, entertained any subsequent regrets. Xbox 360’s version of Revenge brought back Burnout 2’s forgotten theme tune; Dominator went one further by bringing back its multiplier; Legends had a flashback to its Pursuit mode.

Some see these as apologies to the fans Criterion left behind, but there really isn’t need. Burnout’s seen a raft of changes, some fundamental, some irreversible, and all controversial, but it’s yet to make a mistake. Rather, each of its games is its own successful experiment, which given its timetable as an EA flagship brand is an astonishing feat. Yes, there’s a part of many fans that hates the Takedown, Aftertouch, Crashbreaker and Traffic Check, but let’s not forget the many parts that don’t. If Burnout 2 was swapped on the podium for another in the series, you could bet your life that someone would be cheering.

This article was first published in Edge Presents: The 100 Best Videogames in July 2007.

The post Retrospective – Burnout 2: Point of Impact appeared first on Edge Online.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 13

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images