What is the appeal of a car race? This question has been asked repeatedly and my answer lately has been "To see a wreck!" I'm not trying to condemn someone to a morbid and tragic accident, instead I just want to see the cars bending in ways unimaginable. For video gamers the Burnout series has provided those sick and twisted minds (wreck junkies) their ultimate pleasure. Instead of creating just another racing simulation why not create a game where wrecking your car is not only encouraged but creating the biggest wreck possible is a goal. With Burnout Revenge for the Xbox 360 we're treated to the biggest, boldest and most impressive version of Burnout yet.

Now I need to admit that I have been late to the Burnout Revenge party. I never played the version that came out on the Xbox or PS2. This review will be based only on the Xbox 360 version. I cannot offer any comparisons to the versions released last year. The only comparisons I can offer is to Burnout 3 for the Xbox, which was the last Burnout game I played. I know I'm slacking but sometimes it's hard playing games, writing reviews and then playing even more games that I don't have to review. Hey, with a backlog of well over 50 games it's tough just making a decision which game to play. Ok, enough about that let's get on with the review.

Burnout Review is a top-notch racing experience for the Xbox 360. I say racing experience because it involves so much more than simply driving around a race track. The game offers a variety of modes that will keep you busy for hours. The meat and potatoes of the game is the World Tour mode which has you competing in events to raise your revenge ranking. You will compete in several different events in hopes of winning the events and raising your overall revenge ranking.  

The events in the World Tour vary from a simple Burnout style race to the infamous Crash events. The Race event has you racing against other computer-controlled drivers with the goal of winning the race. The Traffic Attack (T.A.) event has you racing through traffic by damaging other vehicles in order to increase your boast levels. You have a limited amount of time in the T.A. event, but you gain more time by damaging cars while you drive. The more damage you create the more money you will earn. But you need to be careful because your car is taking damage as well. Oh, don't run into incoming traffic because you only earn more time by damaging vehicles in your driving lane.

Burning Lap is another event that has you racing against the clock. It's up to you to finish the lap within the designated time limit. The Eliminator event is a cool and at time frustrating event that has you racing against five other cars. The game will countdown to a certain point and then take out the last-placed driver. This continues until only one car is left. This event can get on your nerves quickly when you get taken out by one of the computer cars at the beginning of the race. The first countdown happens so quickly that if you wreck more than twice then you will probably be the first car eliminated.

The Road Rage event pits you against the other computer cars with the goal of taking out as many computer cars as possible. But during this event you still need to be careful of the amount of damage you take during the race. Take too much damage and the race ends. The Preview event is a simple race with you taking control of some of the more exotic cars available within the game. The Grand Prix Race event has you racing against the computer in a series of races. The higher you finish in the race the more points you earn for the entire series. The driver with the most points at the end of the Grand Prix wins.

The big change from previous versions of Burnout with Revenge is the addition of the Revenge factor. For example, during a race if someone takes you down (causes you to wreck) that person is then your rival. If you perform a takedown on your rival you will earn more boast than just taking out regular traffic or another driver. Your rivals will be marked with a red arrow while regular opponents are marked with a blue arrow. It's a nice feature that really plays out great when playing a multiplayer game.  

As you play through the different events you will earn a ranking depending on how well you performed during the race. The rankings range from Good, Great or Awesome. The more damage you perform especially with Takedowns the higher the ranking you will achieve. The higher the ranking you achieve the quicker you will move up the Revenge ranking levels. Another ranking piece you need to obtain are the various medals. Before you start each event the game shows you what you need to "score" (Takedowns, money from wrecks, times to beat) in order to get a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal. Usually your ranking goes hand in hand with the medal you earn. For example, you can earn a Gold Medal and will usually obtain an Great or Awesome ranking. But you can obtain a Silver or Bronze medal and still reach a Awesome ranking. Just remember that if you get a medal that you've beaten the event and can move on to the next event. You might not have a high enough ranking to move on to the next portion of the World Tour (the next level in the Revenge ranking).

The creme de la creme part of Burnout Revenge are the Crash events. For those that have never played a Burnout game before (why not?) the point of the Crash mode is to create as much damage as possible by wrecking your car. The idea sounds easy enough but hitting the right spots in the Crash events could be considered an art form. The crash events can be set in a variety of locations such as a small spot on a expressway to larger areas with ramps. If you hit a crash too early then your car will just sit there for the remainder of the time left, very lonely. But if you time the crash just right, such as in the middle of an intersection, then a simple small crash can morph into a interstate closing event that would make the nightly news if it was real.

The game still includes the ability to slow your car down (called Impact Time) after a wreck and move the car which is called the Aftertouch. This gives you the chance to move your car into oncoming traffic (or rivals) to create even more damage. The Crashbreaker function is still included which allows you to blow up your car to create even more damage. In the Crash Events you have to earn enough damage to use a Crashbreaker. Burnout Revenge includes the ability to use the Crashbreaker during certain racing events to take out pesky rivals after you've wrecked. Just be sure to time your Crashbreaker just right or it's a waste of valuable time during a race.

Visually Burnout Revenge is one of the best looking titles for the Xbox 360. All of the cars are fantastic looking with a great reflective-coating look that makes the cars appear to just have been waxed. But this slick look doesn't last forever since your car will take damage during a race and the damage remains until the end of the race. If you wreck or cause a rival to wreck the game will provide a slow motion view of the wreck that is just amazing. You will see individual car parts flying everywhere along with sparks and flames. I never noticed any problems with the frame rate no matter how intense the action was during a race. The game is limited to just six cars racing against each other but that doesn't include the limitless number of vehicles spread out on the various tracks. Most of the tracks will include a variety of objects littered throughout that can be ran over with pieces scattering in all directions. Even the Crash events include what appears to be a limitless number of cars that will fall to pieces all individually depending on how the cars wreck. The only issue I had with the game was the black levels in certain stages, which were just too black to see. This caused me to wreck a few times because I had no idea where my car was on the screen. This might not be a problem to everyone but it was on my HDTV (a Sony CRT).

The game plays just as great as it looks with near perfect controls for a racing game. Even with all of the crazy and insane action happening on screen I never felt out of control while playing the game. Each car handles differently depending on it's weight category and top speed. The computer A.I. can be a pain sometimes especially when they perform takedowns on you from behind. The regular racing is setup with the rubber band gameplay style where the other drivers can never get too far ahead or behind you.

Burnout Revenge is a stellar title for the Xbox 360 that will keep you playing for hours and hours. From the incredible graphics, great controls and incredible gameplay this game is really a can't-miss title. I haven't mentioned too many problems with the game because I really couldn't find that many. The computer A.I. can be annoying during certain races, such as the Eliminator events, and making your way up the World Tour rankings might feel old after a few days. I do wish that the game offered the ability to play just the Crash Events again without having to go through the World Tour or Multiplayer modes. But in the end this is great title for the Xbox 360 that gamers shouldn't pass up.

Gameplay: 9.0
The game controls almost perfectly even with cars crashing all around you during a race. The World Tour mode lets you start from the bottom and work your way up by increasing your Revenge ranking during the various events. You will also unlock special cars, awards and achievements depending on how well you perform.

Graphics: 9.3
This is a breathtaking, beautiful game that shouldn't disappoint any Xbox 360 owners. The car details are amazing and the crashes are incredible to witness during the races and Crash events.

Sound: 8.5
Thank You EA/Criterion for getting rid of the annoying announcer from Burnout 3. The sound effects are top notch with intense sounds for all of the wrecks, scrapes and grinds taking place during the races. The music in the game is the typical EA punk/metal/rock mix that needs to go away soon.

Difficulty: Medium
There are a few events that can be frustrating such as the Eliminator race and certain Crash events. Precise timing is required in some of these events which will have you repeating those events a few times. The rest of the game isn't too difficult for the average player to have a great time.

Concept: 9.0
This game takes the best parts of the previous Burnout games and pumps it up to the limits. The Revenge aspects of the game are a great feature especially during the Multiplayer games since it makes the game feel much more personal than usual.

Multiplayer: 9.2
All of the events from the regular game are included in the Xbox Live mode. The game expands the Revenge Rivals even farther by including different notices that you can see before and after a race. For example you will see a red icon next to a player that has taken you out. A green icon represents someone you've taken out in a race. The game includes a lightning bolt icon for a gamer that you've previously had a rival with. I didn't notice any lag or problem during any Xbox Live sessions. The game even includes an offline Multiplayer section where you can play in a variety of Crash events. One really cool feature linked in with Xbox Live is the ability for you to save your replays with other gamers. You can upload up to three different replays to the EA servers that other players can view. You can even download replays from other players and watch them or save them to your hard drive. For the achievement nuts then make sure you play Xbox Live plenty since most of the achievements are unlocked by playing on Live.

Overall: 9.0
Once again Burnout doesn't disappoint especially with the first version for the Xbox 360. Make sure you check this game out if you want some intense, amazing and spectacular gaming fun.