Wrecking Relationships

It's been a while. Hi. How are you? I've missed you. ...in a very platonic way. ANYWAYS! I missed an entry I planned on doing so I guess it'll just be a big surprise this coming week. Which day will it be? What will it be about? Does anyone care? Who knows. What I can tell you is this weeks...

Let's Get It On!:
Burnout Revenge
What's the worst thing about racing games? You're burning down the stretch. You're in first place with two opponents right on your tail. You're closing in on the finish line when BAM! cross traffic slams you into a guard rail and you're impressive lead quickly becomes a solid fifth place finish. That's when you throw the controller across the room, erupt into obscene profanities (half of which don't make any sense), and contemplate ejecting the disc, snapping it in half and slitting your wrists with both halves ensuring you'll never have to suffer from this shitty, SHITTY GAME ever, ever again. ...or something like that. Well, the beauty of Burnout is it makes crashing fun. This racer is a bit arcadey so the cars handle less realistically and more fun. Some players hate this, others (read: gamers less into the intricacies of realistic car racing physics and more into recreating famous movie car chase scenes) love it! Weaving in and out of traffic on the highway, going the wrong way down a city street and ramming your opponents into the scenery are just a few of the engaging aspects of the game. And each of these activities fill your boost meter, which gives you an edge. And if you crash, not only does it look beautiful but you have the option to steer your wreckage into oncoming racers and sometimes even blow your own car up! Hahaha!
If you're like KS, racing is fun but the destruction is funner! ...or more fu, no funner! There's a Race Mode (do whatever you want in the process but cross the finish line first to win), Road Rage Mode (there is no finish line, destroy the most opponents before time runs out) and Crash Mode! Crash Mode presents you with an intersection or something similar and gives you one chance to cause as much damage as possible. You can do this co-operatively or competitively, competing for a better score and working together to boost it.

Here's a clip of a race (Warning: For those who have heart conditions... enjoy!)



And Crash Mode... but in German.



The color filter at the end was added by the filmer. What he, for some inexplicable reason, did not show was the copter cam at the end that hovers over the wreckage as it totals the amount of damage in dollar value you caused. Very fun!

This time, leave a comment. Like racing games? Why or why not? What's your favorite racing game?