Burnout 3 Takedown PS2 ( 2004 )

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Published on February 10, 2023 5:00:08 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6fSa5WrRsA

Game:

Burnout 3: Takedown (2004)

Duration: 26:48

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Burnout 3: Takedown is a 2004 racing video game developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts. It is the third instalment in the Burnout series, which is characterised by fast-paced arcade racing. A staple of the series is the use of boost, earned through risky driving, to rapidly increase a car's speed. The central mechanic introduced in Burnout 3 is Takedowns, which allow players to slam their opponents until they crash. Takedowns work in conjunction with the boost system by filling up and extending the boost meter. Aside from standard circuit races, the game features modes focused on performing Takedowns on rival vehicles and causing monetary damage at a junction occupied with traffic. Each game variant is featured in a single-player campaign mode called World Tour, which serves as the primary method for unlocking new and faster cars. The game supports both online and split-screen multiplayer.

Before the creation of Burnout 3: Takedown, UK-based development studio Criterion had been collaborating with publisher Electronic Arts (EA) on a skating video game. However, disagreements over the game's creative direction led to its cancellation and falling out between the two companies. EA later approached Criterion about reuniting and partnering on a game, and so Criterion began developing Burnout 3: Takedown in June 2003 on the condition that EA would not interfere in the creative process. Over a year later, EA acquired Criterion and the Burnout series; their high expectations for Burnout 3: Takedown was influential in the acquisition. The game launched in September 2004 on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox video game consoles.

Upon release, Burnout 3: Takedown received critical acclaim from the video game press becoming one of the highest-rated racing video games of all time and is considered by many to be one of the greatest video games of all time. Critics were enthused by the shift to a more aggressive style of racing game and the addition of gameplay mechanics like Takedowns. The addictive gameplay and visuals were widely praised by reviewers, many of whom ranked Burnout 3: Takedown among the best games released on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game went on to win numerous awards including three from the British Academy Games Awards. Retrospective coverage of the game has been highly positive with some publications declaring it as the greatest arcade racer game ever made and the peak of the Burnout series. A successor to Takedown, titled Burnout Revenge, was released in September 2005.

Ward noted that EA's snowboarding video game series SSX was an influence for Burnout 3's bolder and brasher nature. There was an emphasis on making the game more aggressive than previous instalments. Ward described Burnout 3 as a game about "fighting through traffic" rather than "racing through traffic". This approach to the game's design led to the introduction of Takedowns, a feature that rewarded the player with boost and points for knocking their opponents off the track. The Takedown mechanic became a focal point of Burnout 3's design and led to other innovations. At first, the team were not convinced by the idea of having the game's camera pan to show the crash of a taken out vehicle while the player was driving; however, once it was implemented, they agreed that the feature worked well. From there, they decided to show a player's crash as well, which gave rise to the aftertouch mechanic. The crash mode from Burnout 2 was expanded and redesigned to be more puzzle-based; aftertouch control, crashbreakers, and multiplayer support were added to the mode. They wanted to include ramps in crash events so that vehicles could fly into traffic, but the game's physics system was designed to push cars down on the track to prevent them from taking off during a race. This caused vehicles to descend immediately after driving off a ramp. To bypass this issue they "killed" the vehicle once it hit the ramp, leaving it a wreck that was unaffected by the driving physics.

The game was developed on Criterion's proprietary game engine RenderWare. The graphics engine was improved to give between 50–100% faster rendering than in Burnout 2. The increased performance allowed them to add features like real-time radiosity lighting and better environment mapping effects on vehicles. Programmers at the studio were adamant about making the game run at a frame rate of sixty frames per seconds to offer instant response and feedback while driving fast. Since the crash sequences were slower, the higher frame rate was less considered less critical than the spectacle of the vehicle collisions. They opted to run the game at thirty frames per second during these instances and dramatically increased the number of particles and debris that were rendered. From an early stage in development, the team wanted to include support for online network play in Burnout 3.