It isn’t quite a fully-fledged game, but Criterion has given us a bite-sized Burnout to tide us over. Find out what we thought in our Burnout Crash! Review!
| Release Date | September 20, 2011 |
| Genre | Driving |
| ESRB Rating | Everyone 10+ |
| Platforms | iOS/PS3/X360 |
| Players | 1 |
| Developer | Criterion Games |
| Price | $9.99 US |
When I first heard about Burnout Crash a few months ago, my initial reaction was one of excitement. I had religiously played Burnout 3, Revenge, and Paradise and loved all three. However, that joy turned to skepticism when I found out it would be top-down and saw some screenshots. This wasn’t the Burnout I had come to know and love. I started playing it, and that skepticism was gone.
Road Trip
Burnout Crash is a downloadable title, but I never once felt that it wasn’t worth playing through or that it was too short. The game features a central ‘Road Trip’ mode, where players progress to different intersections, attempting to create the most significant crashes for the most money. There is a set number of cars to crash in each level, and if you let five of those cars pass unscathed, the level ends immediately. That’s not the only negative of letting cars go by, as each one reduces the power percentage for the end-of-level disaster (such as tornadoes and plane crashes). This becomes a make-or-break part of the game as a 20% power meter may net you 5 million in cash, whereas a 100% power meter can net you 20 million in cash.
Power-Ups
Power-ups in the form of various cars can either aid or hinder your progress. Things like ice cream trucks that freeze the road, an ambulance that takes away one of the Xs from a car that’s passed by, or a police blockade that blocks a whole lane of the road will all give you extra help. Most of the power-ups require you to either destroy them or avoid being harmed by them, which can prove to be challenging at times.
Other Modes
The following two modes are more forgiving than ‘Road Trip.’ ‘Pile Up’ begins with a 5x multiplier, which decreases by one with every car that passes without being touched. The level ends with an Inferno, the power of which is determined by the multiplier. There was not much difference from the ‘Road Trip’ mode. I felt something better should have been considered a second mode. ‘Rush Hour’ is my favorite; forget the penalties for letting cars go by and worry about destroying everything. Think of this as free mode. You can do whatever you want in 90 seconds to create as much destruction as possible. ‘Rush Hour’ provides more fun than any other mode in the game as you’re not constantly watching every direction, and you can pay attention to all the power-ups and score bonuses the game offers.
Presentation
I want to make a brief note about the music. It was implemented well. Whatever was happening on the screen had the perfect song to go with it. A perfect example would be ‘Ice, Ice, Baby’ playing while the ice cream truck froze all the traffic. It was just a little point that stood out for me. However, the voice work for the tutorials and whenever a big multiplier was in effect was annoying and detracted from the experience. The absent multiplayer is also a sore spot, as this would have been a perfect online, split-screen, or even pass-and-play multiplayer game.
Final Thoughts
Burnout Crash is a fun, bite-sized experience that doesn’t go any further than that. At $10, there are many worse ways to spend your money.
