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Dom Robinson reviews
Acclaim
- Price: £39.99
- Players: 1-2
Ok, so it’s been about a year since the original Burnoutwas released, but it had some problems. Have they been addressed here? Partly, yes.
One problem was that the crashes seemed like tacked on extras which didn’t sitright with the gameplay, whereas the Xbox equivalent seemed to be decidedlymore meaty and… well, just right! It’s difficult to describe because I’veenjoyed games on both consoles and in this case the Xbox thrashed the PS2hands down.
The Xbox version also scored points because after a crash you could get backon the road a lot faster than the PS2 original – at least THIS is somethingthat has been improved upon here. Sadly, though, this PS2 sequel is missing theDolby Digital 5.1 sound that the Xbox original had. Why??
The PS2 is just as capable – and both can even go one better with DTS, whichsounded fantastic on EA’s SSX Tricky – but we’releft saddled with Dolby ProLogic II. Yes, that’s right, DPL.. II,which, after you’ve been spoiled with the delights of DD5.1 and DTS, isn’tmuch of a difference from DPL. Still sounds loud, but rather flat by comparison- what a missed opportunity, given that there’s no split-surround audio action.
Burnout 2: Point of Impact begins with the “Offensive 101” mode -a training mode, basically. You need to pass the relatively simple tasks,particularly if you’ve played the original, before progressing to Championshipmode. From there on, the game starts proper.
You can play in a Championship,single race, time attack or “Crash” mode, the latter allowing you to causeas much damage as you can in 12 zones, the first one sending you down a hill into abusy crossroads, at which I caused nearly $1m worth of damage in my first go(later ones offer gold medals for causing over $35million worth of damage!)- imagine throwing a rubber ball around in a china shop and watching a chainreaction take place. The other modes speak for themselves and the more racesyou win in the championship mode, the more other races open up for you.
The graphics do look better than last time and move very well and, despite my reservations,I will continue to play this sequel on the PS2 to see what it has to offer,but it just doesn’t quite excite me as the Xbox outing did forBurnoutand I know that when it gets this sequel, the outcome will be miles betterthan this one as the Xbox version will instill the same adrenaline feeling ofactually being scared as I career down the roads, as well as a far betterfeeling of being INVOLVED!
I just hope we don’t have to wait too long for it.
Oh, and I wish they’d included programmable controls too. It’s a bit fiddlyto have the brake as the square while the ‘X’ is accelerate. I wanted to usethe L2 and R2 buttons for these, respectively.
SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.