On the surface,
Burnout looks like a shallow, arcade racer. However, gamers who are willing to look under the hood will find that it has some real depth to it. Like most racers, the 'point' of the game is to win. Yet,
Burnout takes the theme a step further by having you race on crowded streets. In order to win races, you have to build up a turbo meter at the bottom of the screen. Filling the meter isn't as easy as it sounds because the meter can only be filled by successfully weaving through traffic and avoiding crashes. Once the meter is full, your car gets
Burnout's equivalent of a NOS boost - causing you car to go even faster. Of course, the speed also increases your chances of crashing.
Oh the crashes!
Even though the point of the game is to not crash, after seeing them it's hard not to resist. Although this is probably doesn't say much for me - I had more fun crashing than actually winning the race. There's just something inherently cool about seeing your car zoom head-on at top speed towards a group of cars going the opposite way. To add a bit of an exclamation point to the whole thing, after a crash, the game replays it from a different angle - allowing you to see the crash in all its glory.
In addition to the Championship Mode, Burnout also offers Single player, Head-to-Head and Time Attack Modes. New Modes are also unlocked as you progress through the game.
