Burnout Revenge Xbox 360 Review

Well we’ve said everything we have had to say about Burnout Revenge in our original review, praising it for its clever track designs and improving upon the third game in the series in a way, which we thought wasn‘t possible. Now that the game has been ported over to the 360, let’s focus on the new content and why the game is such a tremendous joy to play.

The first obvious difference from the original PS2 and Xbox versions is the improvement in visuals. The cars have had their polygon number bumped up a great deal and lesser motion blur gives you additional clarity during race events. It’s now even possible to scrape paint off your car, which makes the bodywork appear that it has been through a violent war, a sight that has some truth in it, given the fact that rival racers are constantly attempting to send your vehicle off the road and into a solid wall. The crash events are also more of a spectacle thanks to the potential of some truly gigantic explosions.

Visual improvements aren’t the only thing that Criterion have rested on, as much of the development time was utilised to rebuild the online mode. This time around a rivalry system is in place that gauges your interaction with fellow racers. Taking down or being veered into an obstacle by a rival will be remembered, with a green icon indicating that you are winning a rival in the number of takedowns, whilst a red one indicates otherwise. You are informed by over the top text at the starting line whether you have a rival that desires revenge or perhaps another that must pay dearly for their past actions against you. It’s a clever system and it makes online races even more intense then they originally were. There’s also the opportunity to download and view clips of other players, or upload your own, although we feel it’s a feature that is soon forgotten as the game has so much to offer elsewhere.

The remaining game is basically the one you might have played on the PS2 or Xbox, bar a few tweaks here and there (the removal of the meter at the beginning of crash events for example). This means that the traffic checking is still a debateable element, the tracks are some of the best around, the takedowns are as satisfying as ever, the crash mode remains a guilty pleasure (there’s 10 new junctions included here), and there’s never a dull moment to be had until you turn off your machine thanks to the blistering speed and the always spectacular crashes.

Following on from the above, it has to be said that Burnout Revenge on the 360 isn’t a purchase worth making if you already own the game on another system, although the new online mode and the exclusive crash junctions might attract the old Burnout Revenge faithful over to the 360 version, but there’s little else to justify a purchase – especially at full price. If you’ve never played Revenge before and you own a 360, this is definitely the place to start.

9/10