Burnout: Revenge

Title: Burnout: Revenge
Platform/Game Type: Xbox - Arcade Racing
Date First Played: November 2005

Thoughts: Much like its predecessor (Burnout 3: Takedown), Burnout: Revenge packs a lot of punch by thoroughly expoiting the idea of vehicular mayhem/racing. I've noticed that there's a kind of exponential increase in available challenges/events for each increase in rank. What this leads to is a kind of branching experience, where choice seems to blossom out of each victory. I find myself thinking that this might even be similar (though more transparent) to the narrative structure of the GTA games, which start with one story mission but quickly branch into many possible missions.

I also have found more complexity in Revenge (as opposed to Takedown) which sometimes frustrates me. I've noticed more places where the developers have made choices that seem to counteract the idea that every aspect of the game be fun (for instance, stalling in single player crash mode seems pointless). And the load times still suck.

Why I stopped playing it: I don't foresee stopping anytime soon, except to play other games.