Larry Hastings
09-21-2005, 10:48 PM
Early last week saw the release of Burnout Revenge (aka Burnout 4) for the PS2 and the XBox. Later last week Burnout Legends arrived for the PSP. And today We Love Katamari (aka Katamari Damacy 2) popped up in stores in the US. I have--and will now review--all three. (Split up into two messages because of vBulletin's message-length limits.) But let me summarize: they are all more of the same, more or less, and they are generally great. Just what you want from a sequel.
Burnout Revenge for the XBox (aka BOR)
BOR is basically BO3 + "checking traffic". Now, if you run into a car that's going the same direction as you (Criterion refers to this as "same-side traffic"), and it's not too big (not a bus or a semi), then instead of crashing, you knock it forward like an air hockey puck. You can knock these into other racers; in Crash mode you can use 'em to stop more lanes of traffic without you yourself crashing. It is a lot of fun, and an entirely worthy addition to the franchise. Plus, now you don't have to worry about accidentally rear-ending a non-racer car which is right on the tail of a racer... you know how that goes. Checking traffic makes it hard to go back to Burnout 3, 'cause you'll get used to rear-ending same-side traffic, and in BO3 that was instant death.
There are several other changes. They added Crashbreakers (that's when your car explodes violently in Crash mode) to Race and Road Rage modes. It uses up all your Boost; the more Boost, the bigger the explosion. Thus you have a strategic decision to make: use up the Boost and explode, or keep the Boost? (If you can tag at least one car, it's always worth it, because any takedown refills your Boost meter.)
The tracks now have alternate routes and shortcuts, and even big jumps, which are all fun to explore. They tweaked the rules for Eliminator, they added a new mode ("Traffic Attack") where all you do is check traffic. They redid the cars and tracks.
Most of the above has been positive, but there are downsides. Much of it is two-sides-of-the-same-coin: Since you don't have to worry about running into cars in same-side traffic, and since doing so gives you Boost, there is less incentive to drive into oncoming traffic. Result: the game is much easier.
Traffic Attack is either easy-peasy (early levels have lots of traffic to bust up) or pointlessly un-fun hard (later levels have very little same-side traffic, you go for long stretches with no targets and the shot clock counting down at you). I'm not sure how they could fix it; maybe they should just drop it.
If you think about it, multiple paths through the same level means that, for a given spot on the track, there is more lateral space that you and the other racers to occupy. In the game this means on average the other racers are farther away from you, so it's a less target-rich environment for takedowns. In particular, the other racers tend to stick to the main course, so when you take a shortcut / alternate route you're often there by yourself. That's positively counterproductive in Road Rage. Alternate routes are also generally unpopulated during Traffic Attack, so you get punished for taking them there too.
I remember reading somewhere that, because of other changes in the game (better physics? more detailed cars? I dunno) there are now only four other racers in Road Rage mode, where BO3 had six. I'm pretty sure I don't recall seeing more than four other racers in a Road Rage at one time. If true, this continues the trend where Road Rage is a less target-rich environment, which is kinda teh suck.
Adding Crashbreaker to the standard Race and Eliminator modes makes them a lot easier. Once you're in first place, the cars behind you tend to bunch up in a pack. If you crash accidentally, all you need do is wait for the pack to catch up with you, then blam!, you take them all out at once. It's very satisfying to get a four-way Explosive Payback, but I've done it over and over now, and it does make those modes a cakewalk.
On the other hand, Crashbreaker in Road Rage is pointless. If you've played a lot of BO3, surely you've noticed that racers respawn in front of you. Almost all of the time, the other racers are way out in front of you, and you are catching up to them so you can tear them apart like fresh bread. This means the other racers generally don't start out within range of the Crashbreaker, and none will come in because they were already in front of you.
Sometimes you'll detonate the Crashbreaker during a Race / Road Rage, just as the game was going to respawn you. Your reward? No explosion, no takedowns, but now you have no Boost.
BO3 was bright and cheery. BOR has a more "gritty/realistic" look. Which is a synonym for "everything is mostly brown". That means stuff deep in the foreground is much less distinguishable. The cars do look more realistic, though; in BO3 they looked like toys. In BOR they look great.
The Aftertouch camera is better, but it still isn't all that great.
--
And then there's "Crash Mode".
Crash Mode changed a lot in BOR, and largely it wasn't for the better. Let me steer you towards a post by Tycho of Penny Arcade about BOR (and BOL) (http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-09-16). I agree with almost everything he says, and he says a lot.
I play Burnout for driving and busting up other cars. Timing your button presses so you can get a "Perfect Start" is neither of those activities. Failing at it, and getting a slow start (or an exploded car--!!) means not playing at all, that means restarting the level, which is really tiresome. Pounding away madly on the B button when you get your Crashbreaker is Track And Field, not Burnout. Plus it removes any ability to use strategy; now the game, not you, chooses when you pop the Crashbreaker. Wind as a factor isn't fun, and again it's not driving, and this game is supposedly about driving.
Like everyone else, I didn't like the 2x and 4x tokens in BO3 because they were too limiting. If you wanted a good score, you had no choice but to aim for them. (And if I missed 'em, I'd generally restart the level.) So I approve of removing them from BOR. But I still dearly loved Crash Mode in BO3; I finished all 100 levels of it on the first day I got BO3. (True story: the day I got BO3, I played it for 24 hours straight. I spent so much time mashing my XBox controller's A button that day, I developed a numb spot that didn't go completely away for four or five months.) Unfortunately, Crash Mode in BOR is polluted with all this crap, and sadly I find myself reluctant to play it.
But don't let that deter you. If you loved BO3, you'll love BOR. If you never played BO3, try BO3--it's < $20 now--and everyone I know who has even a mild affinity for racing games loved BO3. And then, when you're done, get BOR.
Finally, Tycho's point about Burnout being a yearly franchise now, like Madden, is right on. Let's hope they fix it all for 2006. Criterion, hear my plea: you said "BOR Crash Mode is like golf". It should be like driving and crashing. Keep your eye on the prize. If you must draw an analogy, "pool" and "skipping stones" are much better inspirations. But, overall, make it tactical instead of pointlessly twitchy. Ditch the asinine start-meter. This is a driving game, not a golf game. Either always start with full boost, or let the user pick how they want to start from a list ("Full Boost", "Normal Start", "Slow Start") and have some levels where because of careful timing you want another variety of start.
ESPECIALLY ditch the "Engine Exploded" thing. My GOD that is irritating. The start-meter is bad enough, but sometimes you fail immediately and simply have to restart? What were you thinking?
Ditch the "mash the B button to detonate your Crashbreaker". This is a driving game, not "Track & Field". Button-mashing is irritating and not the least bit fun.
Let me control when I pop the Crashbreaker. I might want to wait for that tanker to get nice and close to me.
Ditch the wind-effect when in the air. Keep the ramps shorter. This is a driving game, not a "control a wiggly thing in the air" game.
The MTV-editing shakycams look cool, but they're not practical. Give me a tactical view of the surrounding area when it's time for a crashbreaker. (For that matter, always give me a tactical view in Aftertouch, too. And Revenge Rivals be damned--show me that in a Picture-in-Picture if you must.)
The post-crash countup camera movement is really broken; it basically skips every area except where your car crashed, and it stops instead of looping. Have it loop continuously over all areas with crashed cars, so that I can admire my handiwork / plot my next attempt.
Checking same-side traffic into other cars for mini-pileups is great--more, please.
Losing the 2x and 4x was a good idea, for the reasons you and everyone else cite. Losing the other tokens was not. Several pleasurable Crash levels in BO3 had you jumping from one Crashbreaker icon to the next, sort of skipping stones. Bring that back. And the bronze/silver/gold tokens can be used to guide the player without constraining them to one approach. You can leave out the "Heartbreaker", though--again, anything where the user immediately says "crap, now I have to restart" is not fun and should be elided.
--
Next up: my review of Burnout Legends and We Love Katamari.
Burnout Revenge for the XBox (aka BOR)
BOR is basically BO3 + "checking traffic". Now, if you run into a car that's going the same direction as you (Criterion refers to this as "same-side traffic"), and it's not too big (not a bus or a semi), then instead of crashing, you knock it forward like an air hockey puck. You can knock these into other racers; in Crash mode you can use 'em to stop more lanes of traffic without you yourself crashing. It is a lot of fun, and an entirely worthy addition to the franchise. Plus, now you don't have to worry about accidentally rear-ending a non-racer car which is right on the tail of a racer... you know how that goes. Checking traffic makes it hard to go back to Burnout 3, 'cause you'll get used to rear-ending same-side traffic, and in BO3 that was instant death.
There are several other changes. They added Crashbreakers (that's when your car explodes violently in Crash mode) to Race and Road Rage modes. It uses up all your Boost; the more Boost, the bigger the explosion. Thus you have a strategic decision to make: use up the Boost and explode, or keep the Boost? (If you can tag at least one car, it's always worth it, because any takedown refills your Boost meter.)
The tracks now have alternate routes and shortcuts, and even big jumps, which are all fun to explore. They tweaked the rules for Eliminator, they added a new mode ("Traffic Attack") where all you do is check traffic. They redid the cars and tracks.
Most of the above has been positive, but there are downsides. Much of it is two-sides-of-the-same-coin: Since you don't have to worry about running into cars in same-side traffic, and since doing so gives you Boost, there is less incentive to drive into oncoming traffic. Result: the game is much easier.
Traffic Attack is either easy-peasy (early levels have lots of traffic to bust up) or pointlessly un-fun hard (later levels have very little same-side traffic, you go for long stretches with no targets and the shot clock counting down at you). I'm not sure how they could fix it; maybe they should just drop it.
If you think about it, multiple paths through the same level means that, for a given spot on the track, there is more lateral space that you and the other racers to occupy. In the game this means on average the other racers are farther away from you, so it's a less target-rich environment for takedowns. In particular, the other racers tend to stick to the main course, so when you take a shortcut / alternate route you're often there by yourself. That's positively counterproductive in Road Rage. Alternate routes are also generally unpopulated during Traffic Attack, so you get punished for taking them there too.
I remember reading somewhere that, because of other changes in the game (better physics? more detailed cars? I dunno) there are now only four other racers in Road Rage mode, where BO3 had six. I'm pretty sure I don't recall seeing more than four other racers in a Road Rage at one time. If true, this continues the trend where Road Rage is a less target-rich environment, which is kinda teh suck.
Adding Crashbreaker to the standard Race and Eliminator modes makes them a lot easier. Once you're in first place, the cars behind you tend to bunch up in a pack. If you crash accidentally, all you need do is wait for the pack to catch up with you, then blam!, you take them all out at once. It's very satisfying to get a four-way Explosive Payback, but I've done it over and over now, and it does make those modes a cakewalk.
On the other hand, Crashbreaker in Road Rage is pointless. If you've played a lot of BO3, surely you've noticed that racers respawn in front of you. Almost all of the time, the other racers are way out in front of you, and you are catching up to them so you can tear them apart like fresh bread. This means the other racers generally don't start out within range of the Crashbreaker, and none will come in because they were already in front of you.
Sometimes you'll detonate the Crashbreaker during a Race / Road Rage, just as the game was going to respawn you. Your reward? No explosion, no takedowns, but now you have no Boost.
BO3 was bright and cheery. BOR has a more "gritty/realistic" look. Which is a synonym for "everything is mostly brown". That means stuff deep in the foreground is much less distinguishable. The cars do look more realistic, though; in BO3 they looked like toys. In BOR they look great.
The Aftertouch camera is better, but it still isn't all that great.
--
And then there's "Crash Mode".
Crash Mode changed a lot in BOR, and largely it wasn't for the better. Let me steer you towards a post by Tycho of Penny Arcade about BOR (and BOL) (http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-09-16). I agree with almost everything he says, and he says a lot.
I play Burnout for driving and busting up other cars. Timing your button presses so you can get a "Perfect Start" is neither of those activities. Failing at it, and getting a slow start (or an exploded car--!!) means not playing at all, that means restarting the level, which is really tiresome. Pounding away madly on the B button when you get your Crashbreaker is Track And Field, not Burnout. Plus it removes any ability to use strategy; now the game, not you, chooses when you pop the Crashbreaker. Wind as a factor isn't fun, and again it's not driving, and this game is supposedly about driving.
Like everyone else, I didn't like the 2x and 4x tokens in BO3 because they were too limiting. If you wanted a good score, you had no choice but to aim for them. (And if I missed 'em, I'd generally restart the level.) So I approve of removing them from BOR. But I still dearly loved Crash Mode in BO3; I finished all 100 levels of it on the first day I got BO3. (True story: the day I got BO3, I played it for 24 hours straight. I spent so much time mashing my XBox controller's A button that day, I developed a numb spot that didn't go completely away for four or five months.) Unfortunately, Crash Mode in BOR is polluted with all this crap, and sadly I find myself reluctant to play it.
But don't let that deter you. If you loved BO3, you'll love BOR. If you never played BO3, try BO3--it's < $20 now--and everyone I know who has even a mild affinity for racing games loved BO3. And then, when you're done, get BOR.
Finally, Tycho's point about Burnout being a yearly franchise now, like Madden, is right on. Let's hope they fix it all for 2006. Criterion, hear my plea: you said "BOR Crash Mode is like golf". It should be like driving and crashing. Keep your eye on the prize. If you must draw an analogy, "pool" and "skipping stones" are much better inspirations. But, overall, make it tactical instead of pointlessly twitchy. Ditch the asinine start-meter. This is a driving game, not a golf game. Either always start with full boost, or let the user pick how they want to start from a list ("Full Boost", "Normal Start", "Slow Start") and have some levels where because of careful timing you want another variety of start.
ESPECIALLY ditch the "Engine Exploded" thing. My GOD that is irritating. The start-meter is bad enough, but sometimes you fail immediately and simply have to restart? What were you thinking?
Ditch the "mash the B button to detonate your Crashbreaker". This is a driving game, not "Track & Field". Button-mashing is irritating and not the least bit fun.
Let me control when I pop the Crashbreaker. I might want to wait for that tanker to get nice and close to me.
Ditch the wind-effect when in the air. Keep the ramps shorter. This is a driving game, not a "control a wiggly thing in the air" game.
The MTV-editing shakycams look cool, but they're not practical. Give me a tactical view of the surrounding area when it's time for a crashbreaker. (For that matter, always give me a tactical view in Aftertouch, too. And Revenge Rivals be damned--show me that in a Picture-in-Picture if you must.)
The post-crash countup camera movement is really broken; it basically skips every area except where your car crashed, and it stops instead of looping. Have it loop continuously over all areas with crashed cars, so that I can admire my handiwork / plot my next attempt.
Checking same-side traffic into other cars for mini-pileups is great--more, please.
Losing the 2x and 4x was a good idea, for the reasons you and everyone else cite. Losing the other tokens was not. Several pleasurable Crash levels in BO3 had you jumping from one Crashbreaker icon to the next, sort of skipping stones. Bring that back. And the bronze/silver/gold tokens can be used to guide the player without constraining them to one approach. You can leave out the "Heartbreaker", though--again, anything where the user immediately says "crap, now I have to restart" is not fun and should be elided.
--
Next up: my review of Burnout Legends and We Love Katamari.