Burnout 3: Takedown

Developer: Criterion
Publisher: EA Games
Release Date: Sept. 7, 2004
Systems: PS2, Xbox
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web Site

In a nutshell: Crash Simulator 3.0

0:01 "We are the lazy generation" blares over some impressive crash scenes. What this has to do with the game, I have no idea.
0:02 My initial car choices are red, blue and black. They're pretty similar otherwise. Red it is!
0:03 Video tutorial. "You're not gonna win races unless you take risks." Good summary. Also "Using boost gives you a speed BOOST." Thanks, Captain Obvious!
0:05 The video actually gave me a pretty good grasp on what's going on thanks to a deliberate pace and some telestrator action on freeze frames.
0:07 It's very distracting when the game zooms out to show a takedown. Beautiful, but distracting. At least I can turn it off in the options.
0:08 Crashes end kind of abruptly -- I'm thrown into racing again with little warning. Also, it's weird being rewarded for crashing. It throws off risk/reward structure when failure can be turned into success so easily.
0:11 I finish in second place. The level seemed kind of empty. More oncoming traffic please.
0:12 Tons of stats about damage, takedowns, etc. Great for a stat junkie like me. Not quite DiRT level, but still good.
0:13 Th tutorial for the crash events says it point blank: "Risk = Reward" Guess that answers my point at minute eight.
0:15 The camera moves around so much in the crash mode that I have trouble figuring out what I'm doing. Whatever I did was enough to get a gold medal, though, mostly due to money icons found on the track and not from actual damage I caused.
0:18 Another crash event. Again, the icons I find are worth much more than the actual crash. Makes the whole thing seem kind of pointless.
0:22 Another race, this time against a lap timer. It's still weird to benefit from messing up and crashing. I feel like there's no reason to even try to be skillful.
0:23 I know this game isn't supposed to be realistic per se, but having a radio station devoted to covering "crash action" is a little ludicrous.
0:24 Another crash event, another dollar. This time I don't manage to collect many icons and end up with a bronze. Why don't they just call it icon collector mode?
0:29 I love the slow pan over the destruction caused after the crash events are done. It's a thing of beauty. *sniff*
0:34 The latest crash event has a 2x multiplier. Without it you might as well not bother trying for the higher medals. Hooray for icon collection mode.
0:38 I can't get enough of the slow pan over the destruction. Worth the price of admission alone.
0:39 So I'm unlocking a bunch of cars, but I can't use them in any races yet. What a gyp!
0:42 Trapped against a wall, I get an "Extreme slam!" for a car crashing into me. What is this, a Mountain Dew commercial? From 1997?
0:44 Apparently crashing into non-rivals does hurt a bit... I go from a close second to five seconds behind and end up with a bronze. That'll learn me for crashing in a game that... encourages... crashing.
0:45 All I want to do is retry the race, but first I have to sit through a minute of unlock screens. Come on, game, let me play you!
0:48 Thank god for large orange arrows, because without them it would be near impossible to tell where to turn. Some other camera angles would be nice.
0:49 OH MY GOD NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE SPECIAL EVENT POST CARD I UNLOCKED JUST LET ME PLAY!
0:55 Finally, a Grand Prix event where I can use my unlocked custom compact.
1:00 I get second place in the first GP race. I can't get anything going until I take out some rivals. When they're not around, I have practically nothing to do. Sigh.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.
Why? Just to watch those beautiful crashes.

This review based on a retail copy borrowed from a friend.