Burnout Legends

Burnout Legends should be recommended to everyone that needs to get road rage out of their system. I suggest taking a daily dose of this game once a day, but wait AT LEAST 2 HOURS before you drive. If you exceed the recommended dosage, consult your local anger management clinic, without driving through the window. Criterion Studios & EA created a great hit when they started the Burnout series and this game is no exception.

This game goes beyond any other racing game. This game is as much of a demolition derby as it is a racing game. Your objective in most of the modes is to win the race by being first. The best way to do that is of course by getting more boosts. You get more boost by driving recklessly and what’s more reckless than smashing your opponent’s car into walls and other cars?

Graphics
Possibly the best part of this game is the graphics. Burnout is on par with Wipeout Pure graphically. The crashes are very realistic. The car breaks just where it has been hit, the pieces even fly off in directions you would expect. Everything goes exactly where you would expect it to in relation to the car tires bouncing and the frame scraping about the ground. You do bounce off the walls more than you would normally, but that is a sacrifice to make the gameplay better.

The backgrounds are just as detailed as the cars. Normally you’re paying so much attention to everything going on that you don’t get a real good luck at the detail that went into making the cities and other areas you cruise through. Everything seems to be nicely placed on the screen, except for when the song pops up while you’re driving, that seems intrusive of my viewing area. Its big and shows a picture for some reason.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Sound
The sound effects for the cars add to the realistic feel of the graphics. Squealing tires, revving engines, honking horns, crashing cars and scraping pavement are just a few of the sounds you hear in less than one minute of game time. Everything makes you feel like you are really there in the car minus the blood filled ear ringing.

The music is from different artists, which makes it great for a variety of songs. Almost all of them are great songs. I’ll probably still listen to them if I stop playing the game. Another neat thing is that the music pauses when you crash your car.

I do have to say that the tire squealing happens too much for me that it’s actually become irritating, and I wish I could turn it off. The cop car sound is having the same effect. Though they sound accurate, it is just one of those things I could do without.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Gameplay
First off, you need to create an account, which is nice if you share your PSP and want to keep separate games. It makes it very easy, though if you don’t share your PSP it is just another chore each time you load the game.

For controls you only have the A setup or B setup, though really it’s just the different styles from Xbox and PS2. That’s fine for most people, including myself, but there should really have just let you set which button is which. For some reason this game takes its toll on your thumbs. It seems the way you need to keep pushing buttons puts more strain on your hands than you would think, and you can only play for so long at a time.

The options you are given once your game is loaded are world tour, single event, multiplayer, and driver details. The world tour is where the bulk of your gaming is going to be. Single events give you the option to rack up more points for new cars, and select original and unlocked tracks for a single race to race on. Driver details are what you would expect, statistics of your races and options to change which save in this account.

World tour is where you unlock most of your cars and tracks and is the main part of this game. Here you unlock different areas and different types of races in the areas. Races really aren’t the best way to describe them, its more just “Goalsâ€? you need to accomplish. I’m not going to name them all, but there is Race, Road rage, Pursuit, and a few others. When you play pursuit mode you are always the cop car, and you goal is to take down the lawbreaker. In road rage you have a set time limit to take down as many cars as you can. Most of them you can almost guess what your going to have to do to win.
Rating: 9 out of 10

Story
There really isn’t any story to Burnout Legends.
Rating: N/A

Replay Value
It’s taking me forever to write this, so I’m going to have to say it’s good. There’s plenty to unlock, and the game is constantly getting tougher as you go, so you’re always going to want come back and play again. If you like racing and crashing cars then this is the kind of game you’re going to throw in again and again. Plus if you’re like me you might not be able to play for hours at a time. That gives you more breaks, giving it a longer play time even though it isn’t for the best reason.
Rating: 9 out of 10

Multiplayer
There are two versions of multiplayer in Burnout Legends. There is the normal multiplayer, where you and your opponent both need the game. Then there is a game sharing demo, which lets someone else with a PSP race against you even if they don’t own the game! Finally there is a game stepping up to compete with the NDS multiplayer support.

One of the neat things about this game is that there are five random cars out of twenty on each UMD. That means to get the other fifteen cars not available on your game. You NEED to play others to get every car. For myself I can’t wait to find people to challenge, and try to win their cars.
Rating: 10 out of 10

Overall
Burnout Legends is a great game involving lots of demolished cars, scraping metal, and of course racing. For the pure racing enthusiast you might be better off with just a racing game. This isn’t just a racing game, it is much more. If you really want to enjoy your racing and not have to worry about a scrape, smash, or crash, this is your game.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Burnout Legends
Graphics: 9.5
Sound: 9.5
Gameplay: 10
Story / Presentation: N/A
Replay Value: 9
Multiplayer 10
Overall: 9.5
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Criterion Games
Genre: Racing
Players: 1
ESRB: E
Pick Up Burnout Legends

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