psycho_gamer's Full Review: Burnout Legends for PSP
Wow, been over 2 years since my last review. Judging by the lack of emails inquiring about my whereabouts and why I have not been writing, it would appear that no one missed me. To that I say, meh. But I digress. I'm bored, hence I write now. You read now, afterwards, we can have do a happy dance together.
Burnout Legends for the PSP
I had originally planned on getting Burnout Revenge for the Xbox, but due to circumstances beyond my control (game room flooded out by neighbors sink, and everything had to be evacuated and now sits in the garage) I decided to purchase the portable Burnout instead. This way I could actually play it, while my game room is out of commission.
Did this portable Burnout ease my pain and suffering from my loss? Has it helped pass the time? Has it helped to drown out the pleas from my girlfriend for attention or even acknowledgement that she is in fact in the same room as me and cursing me out. The answers in short, yes, yes and couldn't tell you, can't hear her through the headphones, but judging by the waving of her arms and the nasty look on her face, I would wager that she is indeed cursing me out and quite upset. I probably should see why this is, but I can't tear myself away from the game. One more race, she'll understand.
Gameplay
Basically, think Burnout 3 with a few extras, and portable. If you've ever played a Burnout game, you know this to be a good sign. If you haven't played a Burnout game before, then I gotta ask, what the hell? Why not? If you fall into the category of never played a Burnout game before, then let me explain what you have been missing by being a tool. (I know it's harsh, but honestly) Burnout is an arcade racer at its finest. There is no Gran Turismo style realistic physics, nor fancy schmancy car tuning here. Just flat out, balls to the wall (crap, that's lame) action. If you like realistic racers like a Gran Turismo or a Project Gotham Racing, then you probably will be at a loss when you first play a Burnout game. You will like it, I can pretty much gaurentee that, unless you're the type person who hates fun. You don't hate fun do ya? I thought not.
The main crux of a Burnout game are the spectacular crashes. The game encourages you to drive recklessly and actually rewards you for chrashing, unlike those other stuck up racing games where you only get rewarded for driving "good". Sure coming in first is important, sometimes, but a lot of the Burnout gameplay revolves around causing as much damage and mayhem as possible. See, sounds fun doesn't it. That's because it is.
The game consists of a World Tour mode, which in turn consists of races and different challenges like one on one face offs, Burning Laps (where one tries to set the fastest time for a lap) and Pursuits, where you are the cop, chasing down a speeding "perp", learned that word from watching COPs. Another fun one is the Road Rage, where the point is to crash as many other rival racers as possible before a)your own car implodes or b)time runs out. Progress through this mode unlocks other challenges and areas to race as well as more cars.
Then there is Crash Mode. A mode so yummy it's as if it was sent down by Jesus himself from high atop Gods lap in Heaven. The idea here is to cause as much mayhem and havoc in one suicidal run down a street into oncoming or cross traffic. The satisfaction you get when watching the results of your careless driving and lack of human decency as semi trucks jack knife down the road and mini vans skid into them is rivaled by nothing else.
Other modes are Single Event, which takes one single event listed above and throws you right into the action. Good for a quick fix if you are short on time or on the city bus and want to escape the fact that your life sucks so much that you are indeed on the city bus.
There is also a shared multiplayer mode. This means up to 4 other people, providing they have PSPs and a copy of the game and are in the vicinity of each other, can race and compete against each other. There is also a shared demo mode where you can upload to a buddies PSP a single demo race and race against each other should they not have a copy of the game.
Sadly, there is no true online component to the game. No, you cannot race against others online. That would have been a nice feature, but EA being the devil and all (sarcasm) they decided to leave that for the sequel and make more money that way.
The action translates very well on the PSP. The sense of speed that the Burnout franchise is known for is alive and well, especially after you start unlocking the higher classes of cars.
The controls are very tight and responsive, which is vital in a game such as this. You steer with the nub, turbo is your R shoulder button, which also doubles as the after touch control once you crash, gas is x, and brake is square. That's all you need to know.
The Legends part of Burnout Legends comes from the fact that they took cars and tracks and features from all 3 previous Burnout games, put them in a giant blender and hit puree. The result is the tastiest damn Burnout smoothie ever! So even though it's stuff we've all seen before (well, if you've played a Burnout game before that is), we've never seen it in a package quite like this, you know, all together and stuff.
10/10
Graphics
I'll be frank here(seriously, call me frank), The graphics are damn good...for a portable. It looks like Burnout 3 on the PS2 does at first glance, but after a few hours of playing it, you start to notice some flaws. There is some tearing of the road during major pileups. There is some slowdown when there is a lot of action on the screen, and the oncoming cars are a bit hard to see coming at you at the high rate of speed you will undoubtedly be traversing.
Do any of these things detract from the game. Nope. Not at all. They are minor when looking at the big picture. Make no mistake, the PSP is not the PS2, it cannot produce the same caliber of graphical quality (it can come damn close though), but what the PSP is, is a portable system, and Burnout Legends is one of the best looking portable games I've ever played.
The environments are richly detailed and look great. You will be crashing in such exotic locals as sprawling urban citys, snow covered mountain roads, industrial sites and so on. All of them look fantastic and each one offers up a new and unique driving experience.
The car models are of course, generic cars that "resemble" real life models. Afterall, what self respecting car manufacturer would want their precious car in a game where the point is to destroy it? Yeah. Stupid corporate America. I digress though. The car models all look fantastic and are shiny and pretty when you first start the race. Thanks to the excellent damage modeling in the game though, that newness will not last long. Hit a wall, watch parts fly off. Crash into a car, see your car minus its front end go flying into the air in slow motion. See tires fly off your car, hit a Semi Truck and watch it jack knife and spill its contents all over the road onto unsuspecting motorists. Good times.
There are a ton of cars to unlock, spanning from all 3 previous Burnout games, as well as special vehicles like buses, vans and other fun and unique vehicles in which to crash. all of which are richly detailed and handle differently.
8.5/10
Sound
Hmm, this is an EA game, so I'll use the standard EA audio review form.
-Licensed tracks by todays "hottest" bands.....check
-Stupid annoying announcer trying to be witty.....damn, no check
-realistic sound effects...check
Yeah the audio is great. Basically, the soundtrack is the same as Burnout 3. Sadly, there is no option to import your own tacks from the memory stick, which there should be. But the music isn't that bad, it does get a bit tiresome though after awhile.
Luckily, the annoying announcer from Burnout 3 couldn't be squeezed into the tiny confines of the UMD! Hooray!
The sound effects like crashes, engines and everything else one associates with racing and crashing cars all sound great, especially when one uses good quality headphones. The only complaint would be sometimes the sound cuts in and out, sometimes the turbo sound isn't there one minute then kicks in the next. Little nitpicky things like that. Overall though, the sound quality is super terrific, number one, fun!
8/10
Overall
Overall, I can without a doubt say that if your game room ever floods due to a neighbors sink and you are forced to disassemble every console you own and are unable to play them and are relegated to your handheld units only, until new carpet arrives, then Burnout Legends is THE game for you.
I suppose even if your game room hasn't flooded and you still have access to your home systems, you'd probably enjoy Burnout Legends just the same.
Bottom line, best racer on the PSP, hours on mind numbing fun, it drowns out the girlfriends curses of you and pleas for attention nicely and is addictive as crack (not that I would know how addictive crack is, it's just one of those things you assume, crack=addictive). If you've played a Burnout game before, this will be more of the same, only portable, which is great! If you've never played a Burnout game before, then you simply must stop being a tool and go get it! You go now!
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