Burnout (series) - Gameplay

Gameplay

The most notable feature that the series is known for is its crash modes. This series is well known for its emphasis on aggressive driving and high sense of speed. In-race rewards are given to a player if they take risks such as driving towards oncoming traffic or deliberately attempting to make their opponents crash. In Burnout 3: Takedown the latter action, referred to in game as "Takedowns", was showcased extensively and gave perhaps the most extensive rewards when successfully performed.

It was not the racing element of the game but the slow motion replays of crashes that show the cars being deformed realistically that brought Burnout to the attention of the public. Criterion picked up on this and introduced a special "Crash Mode" as part of Burnout 2: Point of Impact. In this mode players are instructed to cause as much damage as possible by crashing their vehicle into traffic in a specially designed level featuring "crash junctions", areas where a large amount of vehicles are passing by (such as a highway). During these events, traffic is constantly the same, utilizing a trial-and-error method to succeed. The mode was excluded from Burnout Paradise due to the arrival of Burnout Crash!. Point of Impact also introduced a Pursuit mode, where the player drives a special police car and must chase down a speeding racer and stop them before the race course ends. This mode was discontinued due to it not fitting in with the series, but was featured in Burnout Legends, and has reappeared as an available upgrade for purchase in Burnout Paradise known as Cops And Robbers.

The takedown element of Burnout 3: Takedown is what differentiates it from other racing games. It is an essential strategy for winning races, especially in single player. There is also a "road rage" mode in which the object is to takedown as many opponents as possible. Burnout Revenge was released on September 13, 2005 for Xbox and PlayStation 2, and later for the Xbox 360. This game made it possible for the player to hit traffic cars without crashing, and to use them to try to take down rivals. Burnout Dominator was announced on December 5, 2006, only to be released for the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation Portable and without the inclusion of the crash mode from the previous games. Dominator mainly focuses on the original game's "Burnout", which is using up the entire boost meter non-stop and trying to chain boosts as long as possible.

Burnout Paradise was announced on August 29, 2006, for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This new Burnout game has some new features such as its open world gameplay where you can explore Paradise City at your leisure and race whenever you want once you get to race starting areas called "intersections". It also introduces a feature called "mugshot" where, using the Xbox Live Vision camera or PlayStation Eye, it takes a "mugshot" of your opponent once you take them down.