Burnout 3:Take Down. Faster, Harder and Better than BO 2.
User Rating: 9.4 | Burnout 3: Takedown (Platinum Hits) XBOX
Single Player Game. It's great fun, intelligent vehicles. Very limited rubber band issues if any. The rumble feature isn't noticable, but that's a very small point. As the city approaches at what looks like near warp speed you need the reflexes of a martial zen master to weave through traffic, avoid collisions and slide through the corners. Cars. They come in various forms, to the slow and nimble. But still very fast looking and even more so than in it's predecessor. To the F1 cars that are fast and turn as if the wheels are locked. Probably because of the narrow space between each wheel. The faster cars are certainly a learning experience. My only problem with the cars is not the cars themselves actually, but there's only two stats for them. Acceleration and weight. Some cars in the same class has the same stats, so what's the difference between them? To find that out you've got to race them. And remember the name of your prefered car, because they can look the same to the untrained (myself) eye. I didn't know vehicles can bend. But when you crash, and of course you will, it's a great feeling of being able to use the takedown feature to take down one opponent. Do it early enough in a race and you might be able to take down four, maybe five. all in one go. This gives you a huge score bonus, plus a filled up boost meter that has been extended somewhat allowing for a longer burn. Online mode. I can play against americans without a problem indeed the online version looks just as fast as the single player mode. But sometimes stats don't update you get booted out of a game for no reason and you have to re sign into Live. It has only happened a couple of times but it can still be annoying. With sufficient play you can streak up the ratings quite easily, just stick to what you know and keep trying. I've passed the 1st place car on the last bend after he crashed to win the race. Of course the same thing has happened to me and I finished in 3rd, but that's the breaks. Concentrate, keep trying and if you're a heavy breather unplug the microphone. It's not the games fault, but for racing you need to concentrate and you can't concentrate when there's annoying sounds entering one of your ear holes. And that's the only fault with the online mode. If you want to see a different game type and you can't see a game with it, start your own and wait to see if anyone joins you. There's still loads of races I haven't seen online. Split Screen Action. Later today I'll be racing against my girlfriend. I'll update with my thoughts afterwards. I'll be surprised if the game runs as smoothly though. In my copy a 2 month free subscription to Live was included which is a good deal, considering you're getting a fantastic game if you haven't got xbox live, here's your chance. EA Trax. Some songs I've heard of, one or two I actually know. However it changes the song (either linear or random) after every menu screen, or it restarts the same song, depending on your settings. The DJ is alright for a while, but even him you'll be turning off. That's why the low score for sound. Controls. Without good controls this game will be very very annoying. They are not definable so you're stuck with the controls. Trigger buttons to accelerate and brake A to boost. If you prefer any other configuration, you're out of luck. I'm interested to see how my left handed girlfriend gets on with this game. In BO2, she owned me on most of the tracks. But that was with her defined controls. Race Menu. It can be difficult to know which you need to redo, there's only a subtle difference between bronze and gold. It is noticeable but you've got to remember which you finished third in and went off somewhere else. Globe-trotting can be a biatch. Final Thoughts Buy or Rent. Considering the replay value even in single player mode I'd say buy. Even if you're not a racing fan, everyone likes insane crashes and this has them in spades, wether you cause them or a rival causes them. The graphics are tight and the framerate has never faltered. BUY it now!! If the score wasn't fixed I'd have given it 9.6 You can turn the sound track and dj off. It COULD have got a 9.9 with definable controls though. 
