Few car-racing games get a lot of media attention. Games in the spotlight include the Gran Turismo series and the Ridge Racer franchise. Burnout, on the other hand, did get people's attention, but is seen by many as just an okay game. Read along as I uncover the pros and cons of this fairly new title.

The gameplay in Burnout is very unique. You race cars on highways and roads, while trying to avoid being hit by other cars. If a player is hit by another car, the two or more cars collide, in an instant replay mode. The crash is replayed usually about 2-3 times. During this "instant replay mode", the other cars have a chance to take the lead in the race. Although it is kind of fun to watch the crash footage, which is pretty much the core of the game, it gets tiring and annoying, leaving the player frustrated after almost winning a race. The developers should have done something in which a crash takes place, but if the car lands on its' wheels, so you can continue the race. Another odd thing about crashes is that when you are hit by another vehicle and severely damaged in replay rode, your car does not even have a scratch on it when you continue the race. One pet peeve I have about Burnout is the laps are way to long. It takes almost three entire minutes to finish one lap, when it should only take about one minute. It also seems that I have to race without even one crash in some levels to finish in first place, which is nearly impossible with all the traffic. There aren't many tracks and cars to choose from, and none of the cars are licensed. Even so, the game is still fun and addictive, especially the 2-player vs. mode, the "dodging" form of gameplay that Burnout has makes you come back for more, as long as the annoying and sometimes not-needed crashes don't pull you away from this title. For example, when you are next to a car that you are not racing; if you just slightly scrape the car it will cause a crash. The game is divided into a few different modes. The pre-opened modes are: 2-player "Head-to-Head" mode, a "Single Race" mode, a "Time Attack" mode, and a "Championship" mode, which is broken into several different tournaments. The controls in this game are for the most part are very responsive. Press "L" to honk, "A" to accelerate, "Z" to use your rear-view mirror, "R" to boost, the analog stick to steer and so on. Aside from gameplay, controls are also going to get an average score.

The real high point of this title is the graphics. The animations in this title are extremely smooth, especially in replay mode. The crash replays, although for the most part annoying, are also very fun to watch, sometimes even hilarious. For instance, during one race my car hit an island in the middle of a street and flipped about 5 times and landed on its wheels. The car models are very realistic, and are comparable to Gran Turismo 3's car-models. The stages are great, but the only things keeping them from being excellent is the fact that there are no actual pedestrians walking the streets, and there isn't a weathering system or a day-night system. These things would have upped the ante a bit. All in all, when it comes to graphics in this title, Burnout receives a good grade.

The music in this game isn't all that great. Although the creators tried to make the music suspenseful, it ends up being corny and rather annoying; most stages play one track on a continuous loop, and when the song ends, there is no music for about five seconds, and then that same tune is replayed. The honks, crash sounds, and the other sounds are all average for a racing game. The sound in Burnout is nothing special.

To put it short, Burnout is just an average racer with nice graphics. It would have received a higher score if it was deeper, had better music, and licensed cars. The game isn't terrible; it isn't great either.