This may sound quite easy but you must hit the parked car perfectly to produce maximum damage. Crash mode is immensely enjoyable and it also showcases Burnout 2's crash physics very well letting you see each collision in slow motion as buses roll and articulated trucks jack-knife. This is fantastic fun and you may also take it in turns to play a multi player version of the crash mode; the object is to cause as much damage in dollars. Your points and your friend's points will be tallied up after each crash, who ever has caused the most damaged after three levels will be the winner. Burnout 2 has very tight controls which is necessary given the high speed nature of the game. You have basic controls, which consist of accelerate, brakes, turbo, manual shift if you choose and horn. The tracks are filled with loads of traffic and the only way to build up your boost meter is to drive recklessly. Near misses, driving on the wrong side of the road, power sliding and catching air are all things that are classed as dangerous driving and will fill up your boost meter. Once your boost is full you may let it rip, this causes speed blur and the road seems to stretch out right in front of you. I you drive dangerously without crashing you may even fill your boost meter again before the previous one ends. If you are good enough it is possible to boost through the entire race, although staying safe becomes much more difficult and you will generally end up crashing at some point. The graphics in Burnout 2 are very impressive and they actually make a difference to the game play. You will need to keep your eyes on the road when you're really steaming along as the traffic comes up very quickly, you will only have a split second to react. While all this is happening on the screen the frame rate maintains smoothness. The sense of speed produced by Burnout 2 is unmatched by any other game available, full stop! The rest of the graphics are also very good, the car models are not as good as those found in Gran Turismo 3 but they are still very impressive. The scenery is all very nice too, matched with the lighting effects of the sun reflecting off your car everything looks great. Burnout 2 supports Dolby Pro Logic II but it doesn't really take full advantage of it although there are some nice touches like the drooping pitch of the police cars sirens as they speed off into the distance and the various engine noises for each car. The music is typical arcade racer stuff with plenty of rock, which will pump up and become slightly more frantic when you hit the boost button. Burnout 2 isn't that different to the original, but saying that it does feel much more enjoyable than the original. Rather than taking all the elements of the game and sticking them all together, Burnout 2 has been constructed in a better way, the racing is all about racing and the crash mode is all about crashing. Plus Burnout 2 looks much cleaner than the original. If you're a fan of arcade racing you should buy Burnout 2 even if you have the original, the crash mode adds that extra bit of zest to a great arcade racer. 8.5 out of 10 |