Burnout 3

[music_maniac1965]

this demo is a great way of showing the game's potential. i have reset my ps2 more times than i can remember. to bad the music's missing, but the sounds are quite astonishing !

i read that someone sai'd that the "burnout effect" is none existence. but then i have been playing a different demo (mine came with OPM2 playstation 2 magazine). becouse the blurr effect whas even better as usual. the fuzzyness is mostly around your car, with a bit more crisp graphics in the middle of your screen. i think it's way better now, becouse you still have to be able to respond on traffic on the road.

i know where i will be at 9-9-2004, and that's in whatever games store i can find to get me this game.

but even now i playtested the demo on playstation 2, i will be going for the xbox version becouse of the "no need for a memory card" structure, and the controller is more suited for racegames (although, that's what I think)

[MartyG]

Agreed - it's a stunning example of what the PS2 is capable of when pushed to the limits. I didn't see a single bit of slow down even when the screen was busy. I was impressed from the vids, I'm even more impressed having played the demo. This is definitely on my buy list for September.

[VR46]

Just played demo for first time (from Game), not my cup of tea, too arcadey for me, how can you have a racing game with no clock ? At least it's one game to cross off my big list of wants.

Amazing graphics for PS2 though, imagine the quality on the Xbox.

[JammyD]

I've played the demo like, over 100 times now It's too bloody addictive it is.

Managed to get four takedowns in a row once, then I have to crash so I can get more. It's surprisingly hard to crash into traffic if you try, sometimes it takes me three to four goes before I can hit one properly, my vehicle just slides off oncoming traffic a lot.

The other problem I have is getting stuck in the scenery, it seems to happen a bit too much in one part of the track.

[nonny]

Just adding to this thread as I got the final Xbox version yesterday, seems the Aussie release was brought forward for some unknown reason.

Played it to death last night for about 4 hours straight both online and offline, have to say its excellent. Only about 8 people in the world playing it last night though so I mainly played offline instead. Here are some things off the top of my head, as in initial impressions:

...Positives...

+ PAL version is PAL60 & 480P compatible and 16:9 (Im playing it on an Infocus X1 projector with a neoya VGA adaptor).

+ 5.1 audio - and yes it sounds awesome.

+ Great online lobby system. Not sure if this is an EA standard thing but you first login to XBL then into EA and the lobby system for the world is broken down into countries. US gets three, East, West, Central etc... You can highlight each one and see how many players are in there before entering. Once you enter you can chat (through keyboard input) or select a persons game, or optimatch etc... so its kind of an external lobby to what XBL gamers are used to.

+ Online with 6 players (all same country) was smooth, no slowdown, no lag and fast as f*ck... all 60fps.

+ Great host options including kicking players and password protecting games.

...Negatives...

- This game runs either 50hz or 60hz online depending on whether you have PAL60 set, so you cannot enter a 50hz server if you dont have the same setting. This is good IMO as you know everyone is on the same setup, its just bad if you are limited to 50Hz gaming because you wont be able to play the rest of the world!

- Music sucks as does the DJ, but there are custom soundtracks.

- The Takedown camera gets annoying after a while but can be turned off. Its off permanently in online mode as far as I can tell which is a good thing.

- Crash mode online is great but seems to glitch occasionally in replays, doesnt affect gameplay at all though.



All up I am on 20% in singleplayer so far and it is sweet. Seems to play as fast as Burnout2 at the moment with the cars I have unlocked (about 30 atm) but I got to race a special event late last night in a new car I wont spoil and it nearly made my eyes bleed.

In short, it isnt perfect but its the best arcade racer I have seen in a long time, plus the online mode is excellent and adds the replay value much needed for the series.

A must buy.

[Bleeders]

I must admit, I'd completely overlooked Burnout 3 initially. But having played the PS2 demo and seen the impressive write-up's it's getting, it's hard to ignore it, so I'll be picking the XBox version up on release I think.

[dc-arena]

Burnout 3 got good scores on IGN (9.4 and 9.5 for PS2 and Xbox)

[Chadruharazzeb]

I want this game even sooner than immediately.

I never thought I'd ever say this, but I almost wish I was in Australia.

[dc-arena]

Is it out now in Oz then? Its only one more week 'til its out - not too bad..

[Sega Ages]

Yes the Xbox version is out in Australia. I just checked the Blockbuster Video outside my apartment when I got home from work and I just rented their only copy of Burnout 3: Takedown and am playing it now...

So far I'm not happy with the changes EA seem to have made to the series to apparently distance it and distinguish it from their big money-making NFS Underground franchise. It ends up hurting Burnout 3 I think, and isn't exactly fair to remove stuff like that when Burnout 2 practically pioneered it.

The audio, which was one of the strengths of Burnout 2, is now one of the weaknesses of Burnout 3. Doesn't carry that street racing atmosphere anymore, which was certainly inspired in Burnout 2 by BT's soundtrack to Fast And The Furious. Music is no longer the adrenalin-pumping dynamically adaptive electro soundtrack of Burnout 2 that layered extra beats on when you hit nitrous oxide. Not sure what kind of atmosphere it is supposed to be pushing in Burnout 3... it kinda feels like it is trying to be a sports title or something now.

Rest of my impressions are generally positive though, the game seems pretty good... but better than Burnout 2 and NFS Underground? Hmm.... time will tell. It certainly has good graphics but it needs to be played more to find out what's underneath the hood.

[Bleeders]

Is it possible to use custom soundtracks on XB Burnout 3? If so, Initial D Soundtrack it is.

[John Beaulieu]

yes you can use custom soundtracks

[Sega Ages]

Is it possible to use custom soundtracks on XB Burnout 3? If so, Initial D Soundtrack it is.

Yes it is possible, thankfully.

[Darwock]

But it still won't crank up a notch when you hit the boost.

I'm quite torn on this, in a number of ways. I wanted to go PS2 for the FF wheel support, but then I think about the 5.1 sound of the X-box. Custom soundtracks are totally pointless as long as you have a music volume option (just turn it down and put a CD on!).

Then I think, well, if there's a chance of disappointment, why not just stick with Outrun 2 and leave the memory of Burnout 2 'untarnished'

[Chadruharazzeb]

Aha, but with the custom soundtracks does the music get louder when you boost?

I thought the music in BO2 was piss-poor tbh. I'll get some Boom Boom Satellites on instead.