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Sure, you may have played Ridge Racer, and maybe even tried NFSU Rivals,
but this game is completely different. With Burnout Legends, out-racing the
opposition is unnecessary as a quick smash into a passing truck will rid
you of that pesky competition, at least for a while. Players that have
sampled the Burnout series so far may find this a bit of a recap, as many
vehicles and locations from older Burnouts have been implemented in the PSP
version. This is in no way a bad thing, however, as you can now drive your
favorite wheels on the go.
The visuals are very crisp and
smooth, and have a lot of detail. If you hit a milk crate truck, all of the
crates will fall off, and separately tumble along. Your car will gradually
take damage from all those collisions ? and it reflects on the glass, the
paint and the body of the car as you bash your way to the finish. There are
also beautiful sparks as you grind along different objects. Eventually,
parts of your car may even fall off! The only problem here is the
slightly-decagonal wheels, but you will only see those on other cars, as
the slow-motion crash camera displays their demise.
This is not
only a racer, however, with 6 different modes of play: Race, Road Rage,
Crash, Burning Lap, Pursuit and Eliminator. The most fun one is by far Road
Rage, where you must eliminate as many opponents as possible by smashing,
grinding and generally inflicting damage. But watch out ? they fight back!
Pursuit is similar, but with only one, much more skilled car to destroy.
Burning Lap is a timed course you must beat ion a certain period of time.
Race is regular racing, but it is similar to Road Rage in one way ?
destroying your enemies is a good way to victory. Eliminator is similar to
Race, but the last place in every lap gets eliminated, so watch out.
Crash is a sort of puzzle mode where you must deliberately slam
your car into buses and fuel trucks to do as much damage as possible. That
damage is calculated in dollars, and certain amounts earn you new cars.
Also, giant floating coins and turbo boosts can be picked up for additional
points. When you reach a certain amount of destroyed cars: it?s
Crashbreaker time! At the touch of a button your car explodes, sending it
flying. All this process can be guided with Aftertouch, to slightly guide
your car to its next victim.
There are also 5 world tours, one
for every single class of car, Compact, Muscle, Coupe, Sport and Super.
Beating the GP in a class will unlock the next class, as well as give you
the first 3 cars from it.
The soundtrack is quite good,
consisting of rock music. You can choose which tracks play in the game, in
the menu or both, as well as setting the playlist to Random or regular
playing. The control schemes can also be edited in the options menu,
letting you choose the Xbox or PS2 controls.
Now, all those
takedowns and Burnout points aren?t for nothing, they unlock new cars!
Assassin vehicles are unlocked through takedowns, Dominators are unlocked
by Burnout points, Tuned vehicles are unlocked by collecting Gold Medals in
the various World Tours, and Crash vehicles are unlocked based on how much
damage you cause in Crash mode. However, those are not all the rewards.
There are 5 Collector cars in each class, unlocked by beating Eliminator
races in World Tour, but you can only unlock one of a class per a Burnout
UMD. The others must be won in Multiplayer, collector against collector in
the Collector challenge.
Think that?s cool? When you complete
all the GPs, you can start unlocking the ultimate Legend Rides, from
Formula 1 racers to Firetrucks, and even the coveted Gangster Boss could be
yours.
Cars are not the only thing to be won as there are
Signature Takedowns preformed in the game that are registered in your photo
album, headlines from news caused by your Crash antics and three trophies
to be won for performing expert moves.
However, there are some
problems. The physics engine needs some work, since cars can be forced
through barriers and even underground. The game occasionally freezes during
Crash mode for half-seconds and the Crash camera is as bad as ever,
commonly denying you the sight of a bus plowing through a tuk-tuk.
Overall, this game is simply great, and has been a favorite in my game
collection ever since I got it. The unlockable content is sure to keep you
busy, as even beating all of the World Tour will only complete the game
about 50%.
By President P. Skillz
| Gameplay: |
 9 |
| Graphics: |
8 |
| Sound: |
9 |
| Learning Curve: |
8
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| Overall: |
8 |
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