Taking the game online is a breeze and like any other Xbox Live game, extends the replay value of the title immensely. The racing is definitely fast and furious and without lag, hiccups or other graphical anomalies. All of the modes from the classic Burnout multiplayer are here and in full force. While I found Traffic Attack to be a little easy during single player, playing online is where the mode proves its worthiness as it's just that more interesting when you're trying to beat another person rather than a high score. Crash Tour is a 6 player mayhem filled smash ‘em up that actually plays like a twisted game of golf. Each crash course has it's own dollar amount. Players will compete to reach that target amount and replay the course over and over until they reach it. The player with the smallest amount of turns, wins the course. The best new feature however with Burnout Revenge for the 360 is the “Rival” mode, in all online races when you takedown another racer or are taken down that person becomes your online rival. You can track your rival throughout races in the online modes and challenge them to a race or whatever your sinister heart desires.
What can I say here, the cars sound like cars and the crashes sound like, well crashes. The soundtrack is dull at best and gets old very fast, luckily for us 360 gamers we can quickly load up one of our custom soundtracks and start wrecking cars to “Eye of the Tiger” or whatever feeds your hunger. All in all Revenge has a decent audio system but nothing revolutionary here.
The visual department at EA is clearly pushing what we are used to on the Xbox 360 up until this point to the limit. Revenge is the best looking game in the series and is also a contender for the best looking racer ever. The game moves so fast and looks so incredible at high speeds that other development teams really need to sit up and take notice. Revenge's car models have the “could, but don’t exist” feeling to them which really makes for a fun racing game. Not having real cars doesn't really make a lot of difference in the scheme of things and you'll either dig it, not dig it, or not care one way or the other. Unfortunately this is a revamped Xbox 1 game so don’t expect Gears of War or GRAW looking graphics. They are above average for what we have seen to date, but I am waiting for the next rendition of Burnout to be released, built from the ground up this time. The maps look good, reflections on cars are amazing and the wrecks, well you need to see them for yourself to know what I am talking about.
Final Word
In conclusion, Burnout Revenge for the Xbox 360 is the best racer out there in my opinion. I loved Need for Speed and thought PGR was just OK, but this game is more my style. If you are more into the action of racing and the wrecks then look no further, this is the racing game for you. With Moto GP being the next racing title to look forward to on the 360 us racing fans need something to tide us over until then. The gameplay, graphics, sound, and online play make this a must own for me, see you online!
