DESCRIPTION

This follow-up to 2002's Burnout draws its inspiration from such high-octane action films as The Fast and the Furious, Speed, and Bad Boys in an attempt to re-create the same thrills, crashes, and driving skills captured on celluloid. Burnout 2 features six locales based on U.S. regions, including New Mexico, Los Angeles, the Rocky Mountains, a metropolitan airport, and more. The single-player game has been reworked with a new championship mode, where drivers improve their ranking in each event by earning points, and a series of pursuit races where players slip behind the wheel of a police cruiser to ram opponents off the highway.

A total of 32 stages are available to race across in one of 14 cars, all of which are new. Players can also unlock seven bonus vehicles, from a 1950s hot rod to various stock cars. Each race features variable weather conditions, including rain, snow, and fog, as players attempt to avoid oncoming traffic. To help players refine their technique, Offensive Driving 101 instructs on the proper ways of weaving through traffic, catching air on jumps, and avoiding collisions. A new damage model allows for a greater variety of crashes than its predecessor, with deformable vehicles showing the effects of impact on doors, bumpers, hoods, and windshields.

This "Developer's Cut" version of the game offers additional features not found in either the PlayStation 2 or GameCube releases. Xbox owners will experience 15 more crash junctions, for more car-crunching realism, and can select one of 21 custom vehicle skins for some added personality. In addition to progressive scan and 5.1 Dolby Digital support, players can create their own soundtracks using songs stored on the Xbox hard drive. Once players have fueled up on the single-player experience, they can see how they rate against other drivers from around the world by having their top performances posted on a special leader board via Xbox Live. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide