100 Point Review For Burnout 3: Takedown

Game: Burnout 3: Takedown
Makers: EA Games, Criterion

My Reviews Are Rated as Follows:

100 total points are possible. There are ten categories, ten points available for each.

1. Introduction/Opening
2. Storyline
3. Graphics
4. Originality
5. Soundtrack
6. Individualistic Characters
7. Replay Values
8. Difficulty
9. Excitement Factor
10. Controls

The Scale:
100-85: Excellent, worth a pre-order.
84-70: Average, worth it once the price goes down.
69-55: Below average, buy it Used
54 and Under: Rent it or avoid it.

Opening
As this is a racing game, there isn't much of an opening, however, it's short and to the point; it shows you that you're going to be blowing things up and crashing many a vehicular device. Genius.
The opening receives an 8 out of 10.

Storyline
As for the storyline, as is with most racing games, there is none. You're basically a driver whose not afraid to trash your vehicle and readily able to push other cars out of your way with excessive force. You do get cash prizes though that unlock new events on three different parts of the globe.
Storyline receives an 8 out of 10.

Graphics
For it's fast paced nature, the graphics are fairly well-done. The cars have natural-looking curves and shine and the wreckage even seems close to real. The environment around you seems real, though you can barely see it with the amount you're likely to boost, the games version of using nitrous oxide.
Graphics receives a 9 out of 10.

Originality
The Burnout series delivers originality in that it's not only a face-paced planned out racing game, but that one of the objects to solely to crash your car. In this one especially. Besides racing, there's Elimination mode, where you start out with six cars, and whoever is last at the end of each lap is eliminated by explosion. There's also the ever-popular time attack, and then there's Crash mode. Basically, you crash the vehicle you're provided and gain crash dollars to win medals which unlock other events. To those of us with fiery vehicular destruction in our hearts, this is a must have. Because of this mode and many others,
Originality receives a 9 out of 10.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack offers mainly rock and punk tracks which go along well with the harsh racing action you endure. Bands like Franz Ferdinand and the Ramones light up this games' musical sense. As for sound effects, they could be more realistic, with many of the cars sounding the exact same. The crashes and explosions seem tuned, though.
Soundtrack receives an 8 out of 10.

Individualistic Characters
In place of characters, of course, is cars. There are very individual cars, but there's only one problem; real models, no names. The cars are broken down into several major categories, like Sports, Coupe, Compact, and Super. Cars like the Mustang lie in the Sports series while an Indy Car lies in the Special series. Each series has the same name listing, like DX, Assassin, and Dominator. While there are many cars to choose from, the names they're given and the way they're listed takes some of the fun out of it.
Individualistic Characters receives a 7 out of 10.

Replay Value
With dozens of levels and modes to choose from, the replay value for Takedown is high. While there is no major storyline anyway, the concept of wrecking others while striving for yourself to win doesn't get old quick. The fun of pushing another car into the river just doesn't seem to go out of style. Of course these modes are brought to two-player as well, one of the best being Road Rage. The purpose of road rage concentrates on the games' best feature; take out as many opponents as possible until time runs out or until your car is beyond repair, and if you've taken out the most, you win. And just for a tidbit, the game is called Takedown because this is what it's called when you wreck an opponent.
Replay Value receives a 9 out of 10.

Difficulty
The game isn't very difficult at first. Win some races, make some big crash dollars, unlock some vehicles, you think your set. However, as the game progresses, it gets harder, as it should. The levels are trickier to navigate, the time you're allowed to accomplish goals gets smaller, and your opponents seemingly get smarter. Believe it or not, you actually have to start using your noggin' a little to beat this game.
Difficulty receives a 10 out of 10.

Excitement Factor
You're driving at speeds exceeding 100 miles an hour, crashing into opponents and civilians alike, blowing things up, and wrecking everything in sight. What's not to be excited about? One thing that adds to the excitement, not to mention eases the tension of crashing, is called Aftertouch. Basically, after your car is totaled, you're still able to steer it in slow-mo to try and take out passersby. While it's kind of hard to do, it's worth it in every sense of the word.
Excitement Factor receives a 10 out of 10.

Controls
Flawless. Just like most racing games, there's a go and a stop. In this one, there's boost, which simply makes you go a lot faster. They're easy to get to know and use.
Controls receives a 10 out of 10.

Total score for Burnout 3: Takedown - 88