One of the best games for the Xbox, and one of the best arcade racing games ever.
A staple of the Burnout series is the boost ability. You fill up the boost meter by driving dangerously, such as drifting, driving on the wrong side of the road, and nearly missing other cars. This gives you the ability to activate boost, giving your car a speed boost. Boost can now be activated regardless of whether your boost meter is full or not, unlike previous Burnout titles. Burnout 3 introduces takedowns, or getting rivals to crash, and these are the main focuses of the game. Takedowns are accomplished by hitting rivals from the side or rear, or psyching them out. Takedowns fill up your boost meter to the max, and also extend the length of it, up to a maximum of four times the original length.
Also new to the series is the aftertouch. After crashing, you have limited control of your car, and if you manage to steer your wreck into a rival, you'll earn an aftertouch takedown, and not lose any boost accumulated. Another thing Burnout is known for is the exaggerated and sometimes hilarious crashes. Cars will spectacularly smash into parts, sparks will fly, and total carnage will result. You haven't seen a crash until you've seen one in Burnout.
The campaign mode of Burnout 3 is called World Tour, and you travel to the USA, Europe, and the Far East to participate in both race events and crash events. The race modes include the basic race against up to 5 CPU opponents, and also Burning Lap, which is a time trial, Eliminator, in which the last place racer on a lap is eliminated, Road Rage, in which the goal is to get as many takedowns as possible within a time limit, and Faceoff, a one on one race against an opponent which unlocks a new car if you win.
Crash mode from the previous game is back, and is just as fun as the race events. This is a puzzle like element of the game, where the goal is to smash into traffic and cause the most damage possible. 100 crash junctions are available, and the aftertouch is useful in these stages for nabbing the power ups scattered around, which include cash bonuses, multipliers, and instant crashbreakers.
Burnout 3 is one of the slickest looking games on the Xbox. There is great detail in the tracks and the environments, and you can see signs, trees, and textured buildings. In game ads on billboards feature other EA titles, including Battlefield: Modern Combat, Need For Speed Underground 2, Tiger Woods 2004, and FIFA. While boosting, a blur effect takes over. Tracks can now can have evening versions as well. The presentation is also top notch, and provides a great atmosphere for racing. There's a DJ who introduces each event, and once he's done, EA Trax takes over, and the music selection in the game is pretty good.
There is plenty of replay value, as there are 173 events in the World Tour mode, and getting all the gold medals and the accomplishments will take some time. There are a total of 67 cars available in the game, ranging from compacts to supers to special vehicles, like a delivery truck, and a fire engine, and nearly all of them are unlocked as you progress in World Tour. No licensed vehicles are present.
Each Burnout game gets better and better, and thus far, Takedown is by far the best Burnout game. In fact, it's one of the best games for the Xbox, and one of the best arcade racing games ever.