Graphics: 9.5
Gameplay: 9.5
Sound: 7.5
Controls: 9.5
Replay: 10
Multiplayer: Yes

I will be honest, the Burnout series has always been one true to my heart. The game is fast, has good graphics, has amazing graphics and is fun. Burnout 3 takes this to a whole new level.

The gameplay in this incarnation has changed a bit. Note the subtitle to the game. This game is all about forcing the other racers to crash. This can be done by hitting their car and knocking the opponent into a wall or other cars. The fighting mechanic sounds like a small gimmick, but it makes for the most fun you will have in a videogame. In racing games it was always fun to hit your opponent, but it is much more satisfying to hit the opponent into a median and watch their car flip into the air as you zoom past.

The fighting also comes to play in the Burnout meter. This meter fills with driving in the wrong lane and narrowly missing opponents. But, if you take down an opponent, a new section is added to the Burnout meter (allowing for a longer boost) and the meter is completely filled. This forces the game to be a bit too bent on forcing crashes, but it is a lot of fun and well implemented. Also, if you crash, a section of the meter is taken away. This forces you to live dangerously and know that there are great rewards and penalties for doing so.

Unlike previous titles, the boost is left in your hands. You can choose when and for how long to boost (assuming you have enough boost in your meter). When you do boost, the screen blurs a bit and gives a real sense of speed. The game is still very playable at the speed and really gives a sense of driving dangerously, especially making a blind turn at 150 miles per hour.

The game is not just faster during the boost sections. The game is just faster. As a matter of fact, you will be hard pressed to find a game that gives a better sensation of speed while still being very playable. Not only is the game incredibly fast, so is the framerate. This is essential for a game like this. The framerate has to be at 60 fps or else the game would be unplayable. Seriously… the game really is that fast.

The main game mode is called the “World Tour” mode. This pits you in a variety of different modes. There are the typical lap races, sprint (point-to-point) races, knockout (last place in each lap is eliminated, much like in EA’s other racing title, Need for Speed), GP (series of races), face off (1 on 1) and a brand new mode called Burning Lap. This is a one-lap race against the clock in a very fast car with almost always full boost. These races are some of the more difficult races because they demand near-perfection to get the gold. Another new addition (and the most fun in my opinion) are the road rage races. In these races you are given three minutes to take down as many other racers as possible. This is my favorite new addition to the game. It is insanely fun to take down as many other racers as possible. Burnout 3 also has the famous “crash mode” back from Burnout 2 and implemented it better in this game.

The crash mode this time around is part of the World Tour (the game forces you to play it, it is not just an aside mode) and is very well done. The point is to cause the biggest and most destructive crash possible. This is not a race, but just smashing into another car. This time around the crashes are insanely massive. This is possible due to the physics-defying addition called aftertouch.

Aftertouch is a new system that allows for larger crashes. It involves pressing a button to slow down time. Now, it is really nice to watch your car deform in slow motion (there is a lot to deform and it really does look nice) but it also allows you to steer your car while crashing. This can allow you to steer into traffic to cause a bigger accident. In race modes, this is used to steer into opponents and get an aftertouch takedown (full boost meter when respawned)

The only real problem with crash mode is the inclusion of multipliers. The crash mode boils down to making a good size crash and hitting the 4x multiplier. A gold is not possible on the later levels without hitting the multiplier. The crash mode is still amazingly fun even with this little problem.

There are over 60 cars in the game now. They mostly handle differently in terms of the weight associated with the car. Obviously, heavier cars like SUV’s feel heavier and don’t move as fast. This type of a car slides around turns nicely. It also hits other cars nicely, too. There are only a few cars open in the beginning, but many cars are unlocked quickly. The heavier cars are unlocked through progressing in the crash events and the faster cars through racing.

The multiplayer mode is great. There is the option to play split-screen offline. The offline multiplayer is at 30 fps due to hardware limitations. It still works, though. But new to the series is the addition of online play. The online modes are the same as the offline for the most part. The one real change is the road rage mode. This is changed to having two separate teams. One team tries to reach the finish line while the other team tries to make them crash. The online mode is fast with little to no slowdown. Which is good.

The graphics in this game are some of the best seen on a racing game (save GT3). While there are not too many polygons on the background, it really doesn’t matter because you don’t notice it. The game is so fast and the backgrounds fly past so quickly that you can’t notice that they are not amazingly detailed. This is helped with a little eye-trick where the game blurs the edges of the screen to make it appear as if your car was going faster. This helps keep the game looking amazing and makes it feel as fast as it is.

There are still no crashes in any video game that quite rival the crashes in this game. The car is completely destructible. The car will deform, wheels and doors will fly off, windows will shatter, sparks will fly, the car will bend, the car might explode… if it can happen in real life, it can happen in this game.

This game was looking perfect for a long time. Then there was the sound. I will give credit where credit is due: EA did a pretty good job with the car sounds. Tires will screech and there are good crashing sounds. The real downside to the sound is the soundtrack. As much as I feel bad criticizing a sound track that has Sedated by the Ramones on it, this sound track it pretty bad. There are a few good songs on the soundtrack (notably Breathing by Yellowcard, Memory by Sugarcult, Independence Day by No Motiv and other good punk bands in 1208 and Bouncing Souls), but for the most part the soundtrack is composed of teenage angst music. Rather, the soundtrack is composed of awful teenage angst music. The most blaring and painful of all of the songs (which happens to be the only one that can not be turned off) is called Lazy Generation by the F Ups. The best solution to this problem is to turn off the music all together and grab a CD player. Really, the soundtrack is that bad. Not only are the songs bad, they just don’t fit with the game. Some of the songs are pretty good by themselves (well, six of the 40 licensed tracks) but few of these songs belong in a racing game. They just do not feel fast-paced enough to race to. Be thankful if you bought this game for the Xbox, the sound track is customizable so you can play good music with this game. EA also implemented a DJ in the game like in SSX 3, except this one is really annoying. He does not really offer anything to the game. He gets repetitive and is rather obnoxious. He is best turned off.

Another gripe with the game is that there are no licensed cars. This does not surprise me at all. The destruction that is done to these cars is what kept car manufacturers from allowing their cars to be used. Instead, there are mock-up cars that look similar to their counterparts but different enough to avoid being sued.

Burnout 3 is the best arcade racing game on the market today. If you are a fan of arcade racing, buy this game. If you are slightly interested in arcade racing, this game deserves at least a rental. There is so much to love about this game. Despite the musical selection, this is one of the best games released in 2011 not only in the racing department, but also for the whole year. This game is so far above the previous two it is amazing. It is well worth the purchase.