Burnout 3 10/10

[Jaysus]

in BO1, you very rarely crashed, and it was your fault if you did.

in BO2, you never, ever crashed, because there was hardly anything on the road, and if you did it was because you really, really sucked.

Once again, I must stress that it's obvious this person has not played Burnout 2 for any length of time.

[SomeNaiveChump]

Once again, I must stress that it's obvious this person has not played Burnout 2 for any length of time.

'this person'? go back to GamesRadar.

we address each other properly here.

besides which, if you have no other argument than 'you obviously haven't played it for very long', you have no argument at all.

[Jaysus]

'this person'? go back to GamesRadar.

we address each other properly here.

So... you want me to call you by your forum name instead?

Sorry for any offence caused.

You still don't know what you're talking about though.

[K]

in BO1, you very rarely crashed, and it was your fault if you did.

in BO2, you never, ever crashed, because there was hardly anything on the road, and if you did it was because you really, really sucked.

That's blatantly not true, though. Not for most people, anyway- unless you're some kind of driving game equivalent of Robert de Niro in Ronin, in which case fair play to you.

There are plenty of bits in BO1 where it's annoyingly hard to avoid crashing. Take the French waterfront level- there's a bit where you come out of the tunnel right into two lanes of cross traffic that's over the brow of a hill. It's very hard to avoid crashing here, purely because you can't see the traffic until you're almost on top of it. Or that bit later on, where you're going down the cobbled streets on your way to the finish line- the streets are so narrow, you can't see the cross traffic until it's way too late to avoid it. Getting through without crashing is a matter of knowing in advance which side of the road to be on.

Burnout 2 gets rid of these annoyances, and allows you to concentrate on actually driving- smoothly combo-ing from one near-miss to another, slipping into a glassy four-wheel drift round a corner, all whilst keeping yourself in oncoming traffic to beat that mythical 32,000ft oncoming combo. Burnout 1 was just about avoiding traffic- or to be more precise, guessing which side of the road the traffic will be on once you've rounded this next blind corner.

Basically, the first game was Ridge Racer with traffic, whereas Burnout 2 was its own game. Burnout 3 just represents a further shift towards a new kind of driving game we haven't seen before

[SomeNaiveChump]

it's just that IMO getting rid of the traffic was a really, really bad idea.

having shitloads of traffic in your way made it interesting, addictive and compelling. you played it on edge, it was a great twitch game. remove that and the driving model underneath, not to mention the quality of cars, tracks etc, just isn't good enough to be interesting.

I also don't ever recall a crash in BO1 which wasn't my fault. the game is paced very well, so that everything is avoidable. use the force!

[zxcvbnm]

My money is on Jaysus either being 12 years old, or something to do with the PR for burnout3.

[Jaysus]

it's just that IMO getting rid of the traffic was a really, really bad idea.

having shitloads of traffic in your way made it interesting, addictive and compelling. you played it on edge, it was a great twitch game. remove that and the driving model underneath, not to mention the quality of cars, tracks etc, just isn't good enough to be interesting.

I also don't ever recall a crash in BO1 which wasn't my fault. the game is paced very well, so that everything is avoidable. use the force!

But it's incredibily bland compared to the other two, which have much more depth, far more potential for becoming good and are immesurably more exciting.

Getting 3 laps of full uninterrupted boost in Burnout 2 and witnessing the massive score that comes from the 24 x combo that a faultless run gets you, is one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had in a videogame. An experience I'm feeling with Burnout 3 when I play five other people online who have higher rankings than myself and piss right the way through them.

[Jaysus]

My money is on Jaysus either being 12 years old, or something to do with the PR for burnout3.

EDIT - for reasons relating to self respect.

Then prepare to hand over your cash.

[Beertiger]

Getting 3 laps of full uninterrupted boost in Burnout 2 and witnessing the massive score that comes from the 24 x combo that a faultless run gets you, is one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had in a videogame.

man i used to love that. i loved the way that Burnout 3 got rid of the burnout thing, classic.

[Pochacco]

Just completed 97% of the game now Got all golds on the crash events too on all continents.

The last 3% are bitches requiring you to boost all the way through a long circuit to achieve a gold.

Meh - if it weren't for these few select challenges the game would be rather balanced. As it is, you'll never be able to achieve 100% in this game without kicking your Xbox in!

Perhaps it's time to trade it in for OutRun 2

[xibxang]

Referring to the OP, I agree that BO3 shoudn't be a 10/10 but I think it's a pretty damn good fun game. For me, it's perfect for switching on for an hour, completing a couple of events and then logging off.

Also, I was out with my mate last night, and ultimately ended up round at my house into the small hours playing it. To me, it shows itself up to be an absolutely brilliant game. We didn't even play any multiplayer, but standing at my mate's shoulder, giving drunken whoops and boos to his performance (on the game!) was, well... good drunken fun.

[Jolly]

I'm about 25% in and have no interest to continue at all.

When it was good, it was very good. When it was old, it was average.

[Cyhwuhx]

.::: It gets samey after the initial rush, yes.

Then again I don't mind. SSX 3 suffers from more or less the same thing, but I've just started doing that all over again with a new character. I'm betting BO3 has that same charm. Being able to pick it up months later and still enjoy it. In that respect it's worth the 10/10.

I think most people have a burnout from playing Burnout 3. Absorbing too much of it and finding the enjoyment lessened from being gamedrunk. In that case switch it off for a week and return. You should find it having that kick again.

(This also goes for games like (curiously) Animal Crossing, don't take 'em down in one gulp, take nibbles.)

[Lovelyman]

I think it's the lack of a structure that stops you wanting to continue with it. And the fact that you unlock a billion cars all the time makes the rewards seem a lot less great.

[Ktw]

in BO2, you never, ever crashed, because there was hardly anything on the road, and if you did it was because you really, really sucked.

This I don't agree with.

I do, however, agree with your opinion that Outrun 2 > Burnout 3. I picked up both games yesterday, so naturally I haven't had the chance to spend more than a couple of hours with each yet, but I must say I'm worried about my impressions of B3 so far.

It feels NFSU-ified. Which is not a good thing. Horrible music, an enormously annoying "DJ", an unlockathon of unmemorable events that I somehow doubt I'll go back to. Especially as, so far, the cars of a given class all seem to be dull paintjob upgrades of the original model. And you're mostly restricted to a class, so no chance of mixing things up a bit. The rubberband-Ai can be utterly frustrating. The crash junctions are highly unmemorable. And the shift in focus to battling your opponents, something I was very excited about before I had played it, means I just focus on staying ahead, not crashing and taking out the opponents that do drive past me (which they obviously do no matter how many times I take them down).

In Burnout 2, you'd take ridiculous chances just to get ahead and the pure adrenaline rush you'd get from going a full lap in the oncoming lane, chaining boosts together just doesn't match anything I've experienced so far in B3.

Perhaps I'm a bit spoiled but Outrun 2 (and Burnout 2) is fun in a way B3 never gets even close to.

[Rin]

I think it's the lack of a structure that stops you wanting to continue with it. And the fact that you unlock a billion cars all the time makes the rewards seem a lot less great.

Yes. This.

[Brats]

It's a great game, but I will concede that the single player game gets a bit samey after a while. Also the crash junctions aren't as good because of the multipliers imo. In BO2, there wasn't always an obvious way to get the best score and many people worked out some really wonderful ways to rack up the old points (bouncing of walls and stuff), but in BO3, you must gtet the x4 multiplier which leaves the chance for invention at the door. The ramps are nice though.

However, where I feel BO3 does possibly deserve its 10/10 is in the online play. I know its still broken, but leaving that aside, the online play is stupendious fun, ruined by EA interferring with Live. Bearing in mind that when Games TM reviewed it, the online side was working fine then I can see how the game could have scored full marks.

[Pochacco]

I'm betting BO3 has that same charm. Being able to pick it up months later and still enjoy it. In that respect it's worth the 10/10.

Nope - alas not.

I've unlocked everything bar the last circuit which can only be achieved once gold is obtained for every race. This is nigh on impossible unless you have a very quick brain and reflex abilities to race flawlessly whilst boosting round corners, dodging traffic, junctions and posts.

I'm very near the end but once I've clocked it (if I ever do) that's my lot. The only reason I'd keep this game is to play on Live! with it. But since most are now playing OutRun2 instead I might well join them.

[spanx]

I'm very near the end but once I've clocked it (if I ever do) that's my lot. The only reason I'd keep this game is to play on Live! with it. But since most are now playing OutRun2 instead I might well join them.

Technical issues aside, Outrun 2 is nowhere near the online game that BO3 is.

[Gorf King]

Technical issues aside, Outrun 2 is nowhere near the online game that BO3 is.

Based on (admittedly only) a single night's online play, I'd have to say that this is true. Outrun's a lovely arcade racer to play, but as a multiplayer experience it lacks the visceral interaction with other players that makes BO3 so compelling (or would have made, had EA not shagged the network and front end). It doesn't have the variety of gameplay or tracks that BO3 does, either; and (on last night's experience), it too has some technical issues - namely some really, really pronounced lagginess, from which BO3 didn't appreciably suffer. As I've said before, I think OR2 online is primarily going to be used for downloading and racing against ghosts, and for an occasional bit of live jostling between OR2-meisters (if they fix the lag). BO3's online component, OTOH, is more suited to the essential nature of the game - battle; and it brings in the element of co-operation (in team Road Rage games). OR2's online mode adds nothing substantial to the experience, really, and just doesn't seem necessary.

Having said that, I'll be on in a bit for some more kerazee powersliding. Hope there are more around than last night...

[Pochacco]

Technical issues aside, Outrun 2 is nowhere near the online game that BO3 is.

Hmmm - well if the word is that it's not that great online then I might not bother and will go back to PGR2 for racing goodness instead on Live!

I love OutRun2 as an arcade game and perhaps it's better left that way to enjoy by oneself.

As for Burnout 3 I'm only needing to upgrade my 4 Silver medals for 4 Gold ones - just 2% now short of clocking it.

[Lazychu]

Having said that, I'll be on in a bit for some more kerazee powersliding. Hope there are more around than last night...

Send me a friends invite fool!

...Please.

I was planning to play this last night on Live but when everyone on my list was in a full game early on, I switched to Black Arrow and that was that sadly.

[routeburn]

Well, all I can do is point people to this thread:

http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?showtopic=59848&st=0

(your last 3 game purchases and are you still playing them)

The recurring theme is that people have bought BO3 but very few are still playing it, citing shallow gameplay and boredom. Now... this 10/10 score....

[footle]

Yes, it is a bit harsh, but then a 10 out of 10? I was really hoping

gamesTM would offer the 10 to titles with real flair, longevity and sublime gameplay. Metroid deserved it but now they've undone all the good work. Next they'll be giving 10s out to any pap.

Shame.

Metroid doesn't have *any* longivity - it's fine the first time through - but palls.

[footle]

Well, for one thing the track design in Burnout 2 absolutely pissed all over the track design in Burnout 1. The tracks in Burnout 1 felt like they'd just designed a random road network, and left you to drive around it- it didn't seem like it was designed to have fun in. The tracks had too many right-angled corners, too many annoying knots of traffic lurking just around corners, too much cross traffic you couldn't see far enough in advance. Whereas the tracks in Burnout 2 felt like they'd been specially constructed just to enjoy- witness the long, swooping corners, just right for pulling off 900ft drifts round. Or the way that each part of each course naturally flows into the other. Or the way that tricky bits are signposted, so that you can see a junction approaching from the brow of a hill, so you've got time to prepare.

Burnout 1 was just too frustrating- crashing rarely felt like it was your fault. Rather, you just felt the computer had chucked something at you that you weren't given adequate time or opportunity to avoid. I find Burnout 1 too frustrating to play these days, and it's not that I'm shit at it or anything- I can do every track on survival mode.

Yes - but some people like tedious memory tests.

Meh - if it weren't for these few select challenges the game would be rather balanced. As it is, you'll never be able to achieve 100% in this game without kicking your Xbox in!

Pootle's obviously just crap

It's perfectly possible to boost all the way round most tracks, and almost every single preview/special lap can be completed with *one* crash...

It feels NFSU-ified. Which is not a good thing. Horrible music, an enormously annoying "DJ", an unlockathon of unmemorable events that I somehow doubt I'll go back to. Especially as, so far, the cars of a given class all seem to be dull paintjob upgrades of the original model. And you're mostly restricted to a class, so no chance of mixing things up a bit.

Ah, an EA-hater. Turn the DJ off. Use a custom soundtrack. Consider that almost no other racing games let you fiddle about with things like the Indy-car anywhere near as early (and, certainly, Burnout 2 definitely doesn't) - and you're referring to Outrun in the same post...

The recurring theme is that people have bought BO3 but very few are still playing it, citing shallow gameplay and boredom. Now... this 10/10 score...

And if it hadn't been released two weeks before Outrun 2, Rome Total War, Fable et al...

They'd still be playing it.

This perhaps isn't the right time of year to discuss month old games - I'll look forward to reading the same thread in a month's time about Outrun 2, once San Andreas and Halo 2 have been released

[Monkeyspill]

I dislike the presentation, but the game's still good. It's irritating when you win a race and have to sit through 10 screens of new things won and unlocked.

[CrispinG]

You're talking as though that's all fact rather than just your own opinion.

You'll have to get used to that.

Anyway, it's the first Burnout game I've played, and after being wowed initially, it's been relegated to the Gaming Shelf and Knights of the Old Republic has once again taken up permanent residence in my Xbox.

Even when Gran Turismo 3 bored the shitting Christ out of me, there was still an incentive to unlock the Nissan Skyline or get that smashing Aston Martin. And even once I had the Skyline, there was still an incentive to max it out. Burnout 3 lacks this reward system, because all the unlockable cars are identical, and the insulting specifications for each one ("This one is well fast, well light and painted green") tell you absolutely nothing that helps you pick one over the other.

All in all, an enjoyable arcade romp while it lasts - which isn't long. 6/10.

[snk]

You'll have to get used to that.

Anyway, it's the first Burnout game I've played, and after being wowed initially, it's been relegated to the Gaming Shelf and Knights of the Old Republic has once again taken up permanent residence in my Xbox.

Even when Gran Turismo 3 bored the shitting Christ out of me, there was still an incentive to unlock the Nissan Skyline or get that smashing Aston Martin. And even once I had the Skyline, there was still an incentive to max it out. Burnout 3 lacks this reward system, because all the unlockable cars are identical, and the insulting specifications for each one ("This one is well fast, well light and painted green") tell you absolutely nothing that helps you pick one over the other.

All in all, an enjoyable arcade romp while it lasts - which isn't long. 6/10.

I couldn't agree with this more. It is beyond me how GamesTM gave this a 10. I know its only an opinion but I must admit there score for this game has now stopped me buying there magazine. I nearly stopped buying it due to the PSO score but I gave them a 2nd chance.

The only thing about Burnout that is amazing IMO is the sound. I love the sound of the turbo behind you and the engine noise. Reminds me of the Porsche GT1 in PGR2.

[rev-happy performance]

I couldn't agree with this more. It is beyond me how GamesTM gave this a 10.

Maybe it's because they hadn't played it for THAT long, and so were only wowed initially

[Ktw]

Ah, an EA-hater. Turn the DJ off. Use a custom soundtrack. Consider that almost no other racing games let you fiddle about with things like the Indy-car anywhere near as early (and, certainly, Burnout 2 definitely doesn't) - and you're referring to Outrun in the same post...

Not at all. I quite enjoy my EA games as a matter of fact. It's just that NFS:U felt like arcade racing by numbers. And sadly, Burnout 3 seems to have adopted all the poor parts while completely ignoring tiny facts such as NFS:U's ability to customise your car or the fact that the cars are at least somewhat interesting to get your hands on.

It's not bad at all, it just feels utterly bland.