Burnout Crash Review (Xbox 360)

Ever since I first put Burnout 3: Takedown in my original XBOX, I’ve been a huge fan of the series. Paradise had lasting value as well. So of course when I first heard about the Arcade title, Burnout Crash, my excitement level started creeping up.

I was skeptical after seeing some gameplay videos, but I still had hope for the series. But, unfortunately, the awesome, GTA 2-esque camera angle was not enough to keep me interested for too long.

Gameplay

Gameplay has always been the key component to any Burnout game, but in the arcade title they swing and miss. There are three main modes, which are all eerily similar but offer a decent amount of different objectives. Those modes are Road Trip, Rush Hour and Pile Up. In each mode you will be rewarded on your performance with stars. The stars will unlock new vehicles and intersections.

All modes have one main goal: destroy anything and everything. You start out driving straight into an intersection, crashing into anything you can until you get to that intersection. Once there, smash into whatever vehicle is closest and cause as much damage as possible. Once you hit a vehicle your car will come to a stop and will have a Crashbreaker. 

Press A to initiate the breaker and another explosion. When you hit the breaker, you will have a very limited amount of time to move your car in any direction. Use this time to move in front of another car. The more damage you cause, the quicker your Crashbreaker meter will fill up again, which will grant you another breaker. Each mode forces you to use a different strategy for your Crashbreaker.

Game Modes

In Road Trip you will have to prevent five cars from making it through without crashing. If five get through, game over. If you last throughout the allotted amount of traffic, you will trigger a Super Feature. For example, you make it through all the traffic without letting five cars go, a tornado will come through and destroy remaining cars and buildings. The tornado’s power is based on how many cars you let go.

Rush Hour, my favorite mode, is a little more frantic. You have 90 seconds to cause utter destruction in the intersection. Cars are constantly coming at you, with no penalty of letting cars through. Occasionally a Pizza Truck will come by, and if you destroy it you’ll have the option to spin a wheel. The wheel will give you a variety of chances, including score multipliers, a magnet to attract all cars to you and even a traffic slow down. Obviously there are good and bad winnings, but you do have an option to not spin the wheel. At the end, strategically plant yourself next to a building or a bunch of cars for one final big bang.

Pile up is easily the least fun of the three modes. There is only a limited amount of traffic that will drive by, which you must do as much damage as possible (getting repetitive, isn’t it?). Once the cars are done driving by, you will trigger Inferno. As long as something stays ablaze the game keeps going, but once all fires are out it’s all said and done.

Autolog

I’m a big fan of how some companies are beginning to push social media in their games. Autolog made its first appearance in Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, and it was by far my favorite new feature of the year. It’s extremely innovative.

For those who don’t know much of the feature, Autolog is basically a ranking and scoring system that keeps track of your friend’s high scores. You can challenge their scores, and if you beat them you will be palced on top of the leaderboards.

Though Autolog is a great idea and worked somewhat well with NFS, the online presence isn’t anywhere near large enough to have an impact on Burnout. 

Final Thoughts

There isn’t much to the game, but it can be fun if you’re extremely bored. Road Trip and Rush Hour can be addicting, but this feels more like a game meant for your iPhone and iPad rather than a $10 arcade game. Save your money.

Learning Curve: Drive straight and press A to explode. Figure it out yet?

Game Modes: Extremely lacking in this area.

Visuals: Reminds me of an iPhone or iPad game.

Audio: You hear the same few songs over and over.

3.5 (Subpar)