Graphics 9/10

As the previous one did, Burnout: Revenge continues with some of the sharpest graphics the PS2 can muster. Bright sunshine effects and reflective textures on the cars bring the game to life. The everlasting sense of speed in the Burnout games is smooth and breathtaking in the middle of the races. Cars look great and vary in the huge levels and awesome crashes. The Aftertouch effect shows the pieces of the crashed car in beautiful detail and the great amount of tracks and cars do offer some great visuals. The sun-glare effects did become a bit much in the midst of the game, but overall, remained out of the way.

Audio 9/10

Packing in the many bands on Crash FM looks to be a nice standard. Bands like Tsar, The Bravery, Fall Out Boy and such make the races a rush. Personally, there were some bands and music that sounded alike, but this didn’t disturb gameplay, especially since my eyes were on the road. The DJ is toned down a bit and doesn’t annoy as much now. As always, great audio.

Gameplay 8/10

The gameplay in Revenge is not as good as the previous. Most of the game remains the same: crashes, races, takedowns. Revenge is different from Takedown in many ways, some good, some bad. The good is that the environments are more open-ended. Short-cuts are everywhere, allowing for a perfect sneak attack on an unsuspecting racer. Another change is that same-side traffic is no longer an obstacle, but ammunition. You can now shove cars into your rivals and make them crash. Big vehicles, cross traffic, and oncoming cannot be used. While this is cool and fun in the game’s slick Traffic Attack mode, where you rack up the damage cost while driving like in a race, the idea starts to loosen when in a real race. The ability to smack around traffic takes away a bit of the challenge of the game. Another change is the Crash Mode, which now includes a meter to set your speed and a button-mashing minigame to execute the explosive Crashbreaker. Also, pick-ups are now gone. This offers some nice ideas, but also make crashing for big points a little more challenging. Fortunately, the Burning Lap, Face Off, and very fun Road Rage are left well-designed and enjoyable. Multiplayer is also well done. There is a new rank system in the game to earn more rewards and challenges, and fortunately, it turns out to be solid and doesn’t make the World Tour single-player mode confusing. The rank system also judges your races to unlock more cars, tracks, and such. Burnout: Revenge does take a few risks, but in the end is still fun.

Replay Value 9/10

So many unlockables are in this game. Playing through the whole single-player with a Perfect rating on all challenges is not easy and will take time and practice. The multiplayer only extends the already massive game. This game will eat up a good piece of your time if you plan on playing it to total completion.

Final Verdict 9/10

Burnout: Revenge continues the destructive path of the Burnout series. Although some of the game’s new ideas aren’t perfect, the game does exactly what it promises and offers some of the best arcade racing you’ll see today. Is it the best in the series? In my opinion, no. Is it a solid arcade racing game with a huge amount of options, unlockables, and gaming goodness? In my opinion, yes. At the very least, rent it.