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> Results: Burnout Revenge
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Smash ﾑem up! Drive aggressively! Everybody who picks up the controller loves Burnout. How could you not "get" a game that's about speed, aggressive driving, and spectacular crashed. The only problem with Burnout Revenge is that it literally comes on the heels of last year's Burnout 3 Takedown.
The good news is that it's clear the developers sat down and listened to the fans. The result is a different kind of Burnout game, a thinking man's racing... well, not really, it's still about racing, crashing, and spectacular crashes, only now it's leaner and much meaner. The game conveys a better sense of speed than ever before, they've added "checking" ﾖ literally slamming your car into innocent commuters rear ends to send them ping-ponging, or more accurately, pinballing in front of you. You can even take down a rival with a cleverly checked car. Many tracks now have shortcuts and the game is gigantic. If you tried the demo and sniffed, feeling it was too easy for you, know this: the game has a gentle difficulty ramp up but is large enough to challenge even experienced players. Even better, the low difficulty at first makes this a great game to start with or for kids. Even better, the tremendous speed, intense action and... did I mention the spectacular crashes? There are spectacular crashes you know. Anyway, all of this makes the game irresistible to everyone in the family, gamer or not, unless you're dealing with a real stick in the mud.  The secret to Burnout's success, I'd argue, is how it rewards you for being bad. Drive against traffic, going off jumps, smashing an opponent, hit checking, etc., all give you boost. Boost lets you go faster but also lets you perform a crash breaker. Now when you're taken down, you can guide your flaming carcass all over the road in slow motion and at the second your rivals drive past. BOOOM. Big explosions, big prizes, I love it! There are still some problems. The biggest is the lack of a replay feature. If I zoom on the track, amass a record number of takedowns, and then, to top it all off, go off a jump and land on two opposing cars? I want to record that and show it off. Why can't I do that? With multiplayer options, an altered Crash mode (I prefer it), a huge variety of race tracks, environments, challenges, and race types, and an almost perfect attention to speed and controls, Burnout: Revenge is well worth the money, even if you're burned out on Burnout 3 already. It's a perfect stress reliever and a heck of good time. 
Some parents might shrink from the repeatedly mentioned "spectacular crashes" ﾖ this is an anti-social game where players are encouraged to slam into innocent commuters, use them weapons, and to do battle with rival drivers and make them crash in truly awful ways. The Crash Mode even rewards players based on the amount of damage they do. But none of this feels real. The game doesn't convey damage realistically, cars careen and bounce in a very videogame way and the game never crosses the line into bad taste. This is crash-ﾑem-up derby where nobody gets hurt, except those poor fake cars on the screen. Most kids know the difference between this kind of fantasy and reality, but some parents should avoid this one simply because it's a very intense game. Kids who are already hyperactive don't need this kind of stimulation. My 5-year old was fine with it. The rest of us do though, so bring on the crashy-smashy! Ahem, no seriously, this is a great game.
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