The king of arcade racers has returned, ripping up the track and featuring such an insane sensation of speed that a mandatory seat-belt should be packaged with every copy of Burnout Revenge!

It took two attempts before Criterion perfected the formula to create a winning arcade racer series, and now you just sense that they’re having fun when coming up with new ideas and concepts to push the franchise forwards. Don’t ask us how, but by some means the UK developer has once again managed to intensify the sheer brutality, blinding speed and total carnage; resulting in the finest title that the series has yet to offer and certainly reason enough for everybody to pick up a copy.

Criterion are never afraid to tinker with that winning formula but thankfully their decisions always seem to be spot on, as such Burnout Revenge changes things around quite significantly from Burnout: Takedown. Perhaps the most noticeable change (apart from the visual style) is the ability to shunt cars moving in the same direction as you; cars coming towards you will still result in a hefty collision, complete with the excellent Aftertouch system, allowing players to make amends by colliding into another opponent and getting straight back into the race. Not only is rampaging through the streets, sending cars shooting off in every direction a neat visual effect, but also adds a dramatic new gameplay dynamic in the form of Traffic Check Takedowns – effectively using civilian traffic as bullets to ricochet towards rival opponents!

Allowing the player to rampage through traffic could have reduced the element of skill needed to play Burnout, fortunately Criterion have thought about this and made a number of changes to accommodate the new technique. No longer can you race along the outside of the track cautiously earning boost and avoiding the traffic, as the tracks now feature an abundance of trackside objects that will total your lovely, shiny motor. Burnout Revenge forces the player into the traffic, taking the risk, however Criterion have also been busy on the actual design of tracks.

No longer distinctly linear experiences, tracks in Burnout Revenge feature plenty of shortcuts and deviations away from the main course, rewarding those who find them with quiet back-alleys and such. Elevation has also been introduced with ramps sending cars onto the roofs of buildings and tracks often splitting between high and low routes – and yes you can take the opponents out with vertical takedowns, there’s nothing more satisfactory!

The first moment you actually get the car onto the track the advancement in aggressive AI is immediately apparent; right from the start you’ll find opponents grinding against you in an attempt to leave you floundering at the start. Burnout Revenge emphasis the focus on rivalry, with opponent takedowns momentarily switching the camera to focus on the car who left you stuck in the wall, popping up a message that you’ve got a new rival. Burnout Revenge is exactly what the name says, it’s so brutal at times it manages to outshine every other videogame for sheer intensity and aggression – truly this is road rage like you’ve never experienced before.

As if Burnout Revenge didn’t feature enough changes Criterion have also made considerable modifications to the structure of the game. The bulk of the single-player lies in the traditional World Tour mode, broken down into 10 different stages each averaging 10 different challenges across the varying game types. Reward comes in the shape of Medals as with Burnout Takedown, however this time around you’ve also got stars to earn based upon how aggressively you’ve driven. Performance varies between one and four stars, translating from “Good” to “Awesome” ratings; earn a Gold medal on top of an “Awesome” performance and you’ll earn an extra star which boosts the overall rating up to “Perfect”. Finally these ratings accumulate and increase your rank, unlocking new tracks and cars along the way.

The typical selection of game types are all back from Races to Crash, Road Rage to Grand Prix; Preview Events allow players to test drive hugely powerful cars such as the Criterion GT Racer, complete the challenge with a Gold medal to unlock the Challenge Sheet for a new location, complete the sheet to unlock the car. Classification of cars has also changed around significantly, no longer being grouped into different classes but rated by their top boost speed, weight and its crashbreaker force.

Continuing with the changes the excellent Crash mode has also seen a number of alterations, although personally I’m not as convinced by these as those in the main game. For the handful of people who’ve yet to sample the sublime delights of Burnout, the Crash mode changes things around significantly challenging players to cause the most damage possible at a list of junctions, with success largely stemming from finding the perfect line and thus feeling sufficiently different from the normal racing action. Regrettably Criterion have seen the need to remove the power-up’s from Burnout Takedown, in place you have a target car to aim towards and the possibility of multiple crash-breakers by accumulating enough damage. The removal of the Power-Up’s seems to take away the puzzle-like structure of Burnout Takedown, whilst the whole experience just seems to be that much slower and thus less exciting then before. Crashbreakers come complete with a round of applause, whilst revving the car too heavily at the start will result in an engine blow and mocking laughter – a nice little touch.

Thankfully the online aspects of the game have undergone a significant overhaul from the last time around, resulting in a fully-featured ranking system similar to that in the single-player mode. Cars and tracks need to be unlocked separate to those you’ve accumulated in the single-player mode, which can be a little unrewarding however it does leave the option of playing through the multiplayer exclusively if that’s what you prefer. Split-screen modes across all the game types are also included for those that have yet to go online.

There’s only one thing that strikes you before the various gameplay changes that Criterion have been up to, namely the visuals. There’s nothing that looks this good on the Xbox and Playstation2, quite honestly it gives your next-gen Most Wanted’s a run for the money. Firstly the sense of speed is unparalleled; the Burnout series has always taken pride in this element but somehow Burnout Revenge manages to build upon this with its blisteringly fast frame-rate, motion-blur effects and clever camera work. Stop for a second and you’ll be able to appreciate the beauty featured in the car models; although they’re not officially licensed, there’s an air of authenticity about the vehicles featured in Burnout Revenge. The game also features some unbelievable lighting effects, casting a beautiful sheen from the vehicles and saturating the screen when the sun pops up over a hill dazzling the player in the process. Unsurprisingly it’s the crashes that are the star of the show as cars blow apart in a shower of stunning sparks, smoke billows out and the vehicles literally fall to pieces – the game also does a fantastic job of throwing in dynamic camera angles to catch the action in all its glory. We can only imagine what Burnout will look like on the next-gen!!!

Another crucial element to the Burnout experience comes with the sound, helping to emphasise the sensation of speed as cars whoosh by, the grinding of two cars fighting against each other, the sudden roar when the boost kicks in and the deafening crunch of the crashes. Thankfully EA have reduced the emphasis on American pop/punk wannabe Green Day bands this time around, with a slightly more eclectic offering that includes the likes of Chemical Brothers and redisent videogame collaborator Junkie XL – that’s not to say American Pie bands have been completely removed for all the fans out there…