Welcome to Burnout, where if you risk your neck you'll be rewarded! Don't see that every day, do you?
Yes, this is one of the finest racing games on the Xbox, and without doubt one of the fastest - that was until its prize was stolen by its successor Burnout Revenge. This game gave the racing genre a much-needed wallop in the face, without caring about the amount of damage you cause to your rivals, and without caring how dirty you drive. Its basic principle is "Risk + Reward", basically that means that if you risk your neck you will get a free hour of coffee in front of a widescreen TV, possibly with a bit of light Coronation Street on the screen. Possibly. Actually, it means that if you drive dangerously, you will get... erm... rewarded.
This is a pure arcade racer. So there's no need to worry about the dozens of microscopic tuning details and torque-fiddling-engine-twiddling-transmission-diddling featured in serious-minded motorsport games like Forza Motorsport. This is straight-up, drive like a hooligan, do lots of powerslides, beat the opposition. Without having to worry about spending your money on a nice AEM sticker or a better gearbox. The basic reward for winning is even more cars to wreck with style, one more treasure to vandalize. Which is exactly what you'll be wanting.
The subtitle Takedown isn't lying, basically it means that if you make one of your rivals crash in any way, the screen goes all slow-mo and flashes Takedown and lets you view the cosmetic destruction you've caused on the receiver's car. And mostly, you will laugh, without one care that you've probably just maimed the unfortunate little git. It's such an adrenaline rush when you do so, one that's rarely found in games these days. And the developers Criterion are absolute nutcases, might I add, for including the maniacal Crash mode, where you basically have to cause as much damage to traffic on a typical Monday intersection. It creates some really "Woo-Hoo!" moments and God knows how fun it is humiliating a Burnout n00b at a Crash party. Haha, he only destroyed three puny hatchbacks by crashing them into a truck. Watch the score go gigantic as you pummel an entire line of saloons into a log-laden truck, and watch the logs go spilling on to an unfortunate caravan, and watch the whole thing burst into flame and fly everywhere. HAHAHA it's so bloody funny. I think I've covered the fact that Burnout is addictive, lightning-fast, quicksilver and just brilliant.
The damage and sense of speed is stupefying. This is still, after about a year and a half, one of the best-looking games on the Xbox, with a blistering framerate to boot. Just watching your car go from squeaky clean to wrecked lump of raw steel is a visual masterpiece. Wing-mirrors snap off, windows get smashed, spoilers go soaring through the air, sparks fly, doors get crumpled, cars get deformed... there's a million different things I could say about the state of the car models without even hesitating. And then there's the sense of speed: a hefty dose of motion blur and shimmering asphalt makes you feel a little bit scared sometimes...
In fact the only thing that is a real downer with Burnout Takedown is the audio, which could have been miles better. Of course it was overhauled for the masterpiece Burnout Revenge, but here there was room for improvement. The soundtrack is half-decent... sometimes, with high points being Ash's "Orpheus", and there was no satisfying effect for wind whipping past your car, frenzied traffic-sleepers beeping at you while screaming swearwords through your exhaust fumes... really there's nothing here to shout about. Plus there's that annoying DJ. Oh hell he is urritating.
But apart from the average sound, there's really nothing here to stop you from buying one of the most adrenaline-pumping games on the Xbox. With a great sense of speed, violence towards others, a lengthy single-player, brilliant multiplayer, jaw-dropping damage effects... if you haven't already got this game, and love racers, you really need it.