Home > Reviews > Gamecube > #145

Burnout Review - Gamecube

If you were to go to your local video game store and analyse the amount of games per genre - racing games would be one of the most predominant, not for the GameCube though. For every 1 racing game released on the Cube - a) it is also released on other systems and b) 5 other races are releases on other systems. Luckily with more 3rd party support, the above situations are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Burnout is one of few racers on the cube, but thankfully it's a good one.

Gameplay

Racing games are rarely deep, and Burnout is no exception. There is you standard modes and very little that separates it from other racers. The championship mode is your main game - here you have to race across two continents, the U.S and Europe, and your ultimate goal is to be the best racer. There are only seven courses in Burnout (excluding mirrored courses and spliced levels) - but they are quite long. Your average race will last in excess of five minutes, some may even take twenty! Winning championships will unlock new courses and modes for you to play - more on that soon.

Rather then race on conventional tracks, you race on everyday roads and highways - fit with everyday traffic. There is no room for fault in Burnout, one mistake will lead to a pileup and ultimately costing you the race. The traffic is a great addition to the game, albeit generic. You will soon learn the pattern of the in game traffic and it will be a matter of memory that aids you in avoiding accidents. Thankfully, the insane speeds will guarantee plenty of collisions.

The vehicle control is excellent as taking corners has never been easier. This may not appeal to serious racing fans but it makes for better gameplay.

The crashes themselves are great, the physics, for the most part, are pretty much spot on. Smashed windows and dinted car doors are a common site in Burnout. Sometimes a car will do some unrealistic stuff - but it all adds to the fun of the game. When you have an accident, a sum of money will appear on screen indicating how much insurance damage you caused. A novelty at best yet an interesting feature in any case.

The multiplayer only caters for two people and isn't the best going around. Grab your mate, select your vehicle and race around any of the tracks you have opened. Sounds like any multiplayer racer, and it is, but the lack of cars and tracks hurt the multiplayer - lack of variety means the game gets rather boring rather quickly. Another downside is there is only two views, inside and one outside. This can be a major problem in two player mode when your screen is substantially smaller.

After accomplishing certain tasks you will open up survivor mode, basically the same as the (continued next page)