Burnout Crash (XBLA) Review

Posted by Adam Larck on 09.27.2011

Can a mode by itself be worth a purchase? Find out inside.



Title: Burnout Crash
Publisher: EA
Developer: Criterion Games
Genre: Racing/Crashing
Players: Two-teams via Kinect
Rated: E10+

One of the biggest problems people had with the last Burnout game is the exclusion of the crash mode.

Now, Criterion Games has released the mode in a standalone title, Burnout Crash. However, what the team has done is take away the racing and driving aspect of the title, and put an interesting puzzle/strategy game in its place.

The game’s premise is simple: you have to cause as much damage to the vehicles and the landscape as you can. This is done in three different modes: Road Trip, Rush Hour and Pile Up.

Road Trip has you destroying a set amount of vehicles before a Super Feature activates, destroying everything, while trying not to let five vehicles go by. Rush Hour just gives you a set amount of time to destroy everything before blowing up, and Pile Up has you trying to destroy some cars before trying to keep a fire going to keep a multiplier active. While the modes sound different, the premise always stays the same of trying to destroy anything you can find.

When you start off, you’ll notice one thing instantly: you don’t have to accelerate. The game takes care of all the accelerating for you; all you have to do is steer into the traffic to start the carnage. This is where the strategy aspect starts.

Sure, you can keep using your Crashbreaker, which is constantly filling, to just hit as much as possible. But, you’ll never get the big points that way. Instead, you have you launch your Crashbreaker at the right time and move your vehicle into the right spot to cause big pileups at specific places. The pileups then grows bigger as more vehicles drive into it, creating a circle for a while as you do the same thing on the other side.

However, it doesn’t stay that simple. While you focus on the other side and vehicles pile up, eventually a vehicle will catch fire. This fire will cause explosions and a chain reaction that will launch vehicles everywhere, clearing the debris and making you focus on that side again. It’s a constant back-and-forth battle to make sure vehicles aren’t escaping.

While this is going on, there are also features to worry about. Only Road Trip and Rush Hour have features, with Rush Hour’s only accessible by destroying a pizza truck. The features can give either positive or negative effects to the area, such as a bulldozer trying to move everything out of the way or good cops that block a road off.

In addition to this, in Road Trip there’s a feature called the Super Feature, which can destroy everything left in the level after destroying a set amount of cars. The type of Super Feature depends on the area you’re racing in, and can range from a tornado to airplane crash and more. The strength of the Super Feature also depends on how many cars escaped.

In the level there are also a few vehicles that can help you as well. During Road Trip there is an ambulance that can take a strike away, or a bank truck that can drop money bags for extra points. Also in each mode are three sports cars and a gold car you can hit for some big points. The gold car even plays a special song whenever destroyed.

There are 18 levels in all to choose from which consists of six different roads with three different intersections. The intersections normally don’t vary too much; they just add extra ways cars can come in. To progress to the next intersection and unlock all modes for the current intersection, though, you need at least one star in the Road Trip, which could take a decent number of tries to finally find the right way to get enough points.

Sure, what I’ve described so far sounds like it could just as easily be an App on the Apple store for a phone, but I believe that consoles need games like this too to enjoy in short bursts. Plus, EA has implemented its Autolog feature here, letting you always see what your friends have beat you on and letting you challenge them to events.

I’ve pretty much covered all the modes except for the Kinect Party one, but that can easily be forgotten. The mode lets you move the car around with your body and do a unique move for the Crashbreaker, which works decently enough. However, it’s the mode itself that’s not worth it. You can only play the Rush Hour mode, and there are only two teams that can play. They can’t play at the same time, though, meaning only one person from each team can play while everyone else just sits and watches. It’s not the best use of the features, as a two player simultaneous mode would have been better in my opinion.

The game is played in a top-down style, meaning you’ll never see the side of one of the seven vehicles you can use or any of the other vehicles. The graphics are basic enough, and let you easily see what paths are open or closed with vehicles. The music, while it has an ’80s flair at times, is good and entertaining to listen to.

Pros

Simple premise that offers short bursts of gameplay.

The Super Features are fun to see in action.

Decent level of strategy needed for big scores.

Cons

Can’t progress unless you get at least one star in the first level of each stage.

Party mode only lets one person per team compete at a time.

Car explosions can really mess your blocks up.

The 411:

Overall, Criterion Games managed to take a mode and turn it into something it never used to be. Burnout Crash is not simply about racing to strike the traffic at a specific area and sitting back, it’s now about planning and debating the best times to use a Crashbreaker or where to place your car. The game is worth a look, if only to see how a game based on racing can use puzzle elements to make it good.

Graphics	6.0	The graphics in the game are basic enough, but don’t offer anything above average.
Gameplay	7.0	The strategy needed in the game is a good step in a different direction for the genre, but there’s really not much to see outside a few modes.
Sound	7.5	The Crash Radio is interesting to listen to during Road Trip, and ’80s vibe the game sometimes gives off with music is a nice touch.
Lasting Appeal	6.5	The game offers a chance to play a level or two in between events, but won’t keep you entertained for long periods of time.
Fun Factor	7.0	Except for some levels that will just take time to overcome, there’s fun to be had here blowing things up and watching destruction.
Overall	6.8   [ Average ]