If you pick up the latest issue of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (the one with the keychain on the cover), it includes a demo disc with a bunch of racing games on it, including a demo of Burnout 3: Takedown. I have Burnout 2 and have played it a lot, and I can honestly say that Burnout 3 makes the previous one look like a Sunday drive down a deserted highway. It is that incredibly good. The demo only includes one track, and you have to go back to the disc menu and reselect it after every race (and wait through all the loading screens), but I must have raced that track forty times last night. In a row. If I didn’t have to sleep, I would probably still be playing it now.
One of the coolest parts about the new game is that when you wreck, you can hold down R1 to play the crash in slow motion. So either watch the carnage in all its slo-mo glory (with accompanying strange sound effects), or you can move the analog stick to gently nudge your car in a new direction as it is crashing. If you do it right, you can even take out opposing racers in the process. Also, if you cause another racer to crash while driving (and don’t wreck yourself), it zips away to a shot of the other racer crashing, then back to your vehicle. It’s really slick. The final game will be online, with almost every game mode playable with up to five other people. I’m really looking forward to the new Crash Mode, where you can have six people careening toward the same intersection simultaneously, competing to cause as much damage as possible. It truly is a sight to behold.
For a taste of what I’m talking about, check out the trailer on the official site. You can also read a great interview with one of the game’s creators, as well as a preview of the final game, which will be released on September 10. Until then, the demo disc probably won’t leave my PlayStation 2.
