Burnout Legends
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PSP
| Burnout Legends

Ever watched Formula 1 racing just for the crashes? Go on, you can admit it, we're not judging you. The truth is we've all done it. In fact, we can't help it – more often than not it's the most exciting part of a race! It's an intrinsic human instinct (presumably forged shortly after the creation of the wheel), the same one that ensures there's always a tailback on the opposite side of the motorway to a major accident and the one that will ensure you'll rarely be able to play Burnout Legends without a smile on your face.

This game doesn't simply celebrate dangerous driving, it positively revels in it, encouraging ever more reckless antics behind the wheel. From power-sliding around corners, playing chicken with oncoming traffic and forcing opponents into a wall, if there's something wildly inadvisable that can be done in a motor vehicle then you can be sure that Burnout Legends will egg you on and reward you for it. And you can be equally sure that you'll love every second, as this is without doubt the most adrenalin-packed, thrilling and downright fun-filled game we've yet witnessed on the PSP. You'll barely have time to admire the shiny paint job on your latest vehicle, never mind appreciate the view of the gorgeously detailed scenery before you've experienced your first glorious shunt that sends sparks across your paintwork. Your first 'spectacular takedown' (the term used for removing opponent's cars from the road with maximum prejudice) is likely to follow in short order and soon after, as you savour the slow-motion sight of said competitor's car sailing through the air, wheels and bodywork flying in all directions, you'll be hooked.

In fact the only thing that's more impressive than the explosive action on offer is the fact that there's just so much of it. There are 175 episodes involving 100 different vehicles in 5 different classes. Even putting aside the numerous special bonuses, challenges and the extensive multiplayer options, this is enough to shame even the excellently extended thrills of Ridge Racer. As has become de rigueur in the portable gaming world, precious few of these events or automobiles are available from the starting grid. Instead, they're drip-fed to you as you cycle through the exotic locales of the World Tour, competing in events ranging from the relatively familiar races and time trials to the more intriguing Pursuit and Road Rage challenges. This being Burnout, none of these require you merely to get your vehicle from A to B; you'll also need to avoid the existing traffic, contend with homicidal competitors (possibly by ramming them into a wall) whilst all the time pulling off dangerous manoeuvres like drifts, near-misses and facing down on-coming traffic in order to build up your speed boost bar, which gives you that extra bit of oomph to keep your battered nose in front.

If all that sounds like a lot to take in, don't worry. The game is wonderfully intuitive, rewarding your misdemeanours on screen as you go and, after a few minutes of play, it just seems obvious that you need to drive on the wrong side of the road or ram that Ford into an oncoming truck. Even if you don't get to grips with it straight away, the difficulty level is so brilliantly pitched that you won't get stuck. For starters, the early wide-open tracks and less powerful cars provide a pretty forgiving playground (things do get much faster later on!) and the use of the bronze, silver and gold medal rating for each stage ensure that novice drivers will probably be able to sneak through, whilst ensuring that true recklessness is celebrated with a silver or gold as well as the course records. If pride wasn't reason enough to come back and do better later, then prizes certainly will be. Winning better medals, earning more bonuses mid-race and scoring more takedowns are all rewarded with extra cars and events.

As if this wasn't enough, Criterion have even tacked on a whole extra game in the shape of the Crash series, in which your task is simplified by causing the maximum amount of damage possible in a set-piece situation like a busy junction, using only your own motor vehicle and your driving 'skill'. Immediately satisfying, this nevertheless demands a surprising amount of strategy in later levels as you attempt to block entire lanes of traffic as well as reaching the bonus power-ups (which award more cash or allow you to create a secondary explosion.) Sitting back and watching the results of your labours is always a joy, although the ability to switch camera angles or use slow-mo (as features in the home console versions) would have been even more welcome.

Okay, so the raucous American rock music (though fitting the game perfectly) won't be to everyone's tastes, the ways the vehicles collapse can get a little repetitive, and the driving model (though markedly different for certain vehicles) isn't likely to give more realistic simulations like Colin McCrae Rally or TOCA Race Driver series a run for their money. But to be honest, if that sort of driving realism matters to you then you've parked in the wrong garage. Burnout Legends is all about pure, unadulterated, high-speed thrills and we love it!

Burnout Legends is on sale now.

Burnout Legends

Insane action piles head-long into great presentation and gets flattened by literally hundreds of levels – it's an undisputed smash!
Score
Chris James
Chris James
A footy game fanatic and experienced editor of numerous computing and game titles, bossman Chris is up for anything – including running Steel Media (the madman).