More Articles on Burnout Dominator
Burnout Dominator - Hands OnEA Reveals Dominating Soundtrack For BurnoutEA Confirms Burnout DominatorBurnout To Dominate PS2/PSP???Latest Previews
Street Fighter IV - Hands OnSpider-Man: Web of Shadows - Hands OnFamily Trainer - First Lookde Blob - Hands OnGC08 - Resident Evil 5 Hands OnUser Reviews
There are currently 0 User Reviews for Burnout DominatorWrite your own review for this game today and you will receive 100 Gamer Points.
Click here to register
Burnout Dominator - Hands On Preview
Jon Wilcox
06/03/2007
TVG crashes headlong into a path of on-coming traffic in the fifth instalment of Criterion's racing franchise...
Having smashed itself a sub-genre of its own in 2001, Burnout Dominator is the latest version to hit PlayStation2 and PSP, following on from September 2005's Burnout Revenge.
In development for the benefit of all those millions of installed PlayStation2s whilst Criterion Games works on the yet-to-be christened Burnout 5 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 later in the year, Burnout Dominator is shaping up to be something of a more streamlined instalment for the series. TVG took to the road to find out more in a preview build of the game...
A crash course...or not
Breaking away from past instalments where players are transported across various cities across the globe, Dominator's World Tour mode splits into seven distinct car classes. Beginning with a series of 'Classic' cars through to the more powerful 'Race Specials' and 'Dominator' class of vehicles, it's almost as if Criterion are re-asserting that the focus of the game is on the vehicles and their raw speed...and not the playboy-like country-hopping of the past. Most are locked at the start of the game, with players having to unlock them by collecting 'Dominator' points, accumulated through the results of events along the way. But besides an adjustment in structure, there are a few tweaks and changes to the gameplay made by Criterion, some which fans will be split on when Dominator arrives in the next few weeks:
The re-introduction of the Burnouts feature, which hasn't been seen since Burnout 2: Point of Impact (before EA took over the franchise), is one element that most fans of the series will look forward to. Taking away the multiple boosts seen in the past two releases, the ability to build up the boost meter before firing it all in a single continuous burst (a Supercharged Boost) will allow players to chain boosts together, enabling them to spend entire events tearing through the streets of the various tracks at high speed. Without wanting to make too much of judgement on the game itself, being able to drive at such speeds (when all of the visual and audio effects are fully blazing) is something that any fan of the series would admit to craving. It's good to have them back.
Elements from last year's effort will remain in Dominator, with both Revenge Rivals and Vertical Takedowns looking increasingly like franchise stalwarts. One key feature of Burnout Revenge that will be missing come the release on March 23rd, will be Traffic Checking, which was the ability to launch innocent traffic towards on opponent like giant missiles. Having been dropped after a single appearance, it certainly seems that the feature wasn't as well received as perhaps Criterion had hoped. Another feature from Revenge set to make an appearance, is the player's ability to initiate a Crashbreaker during a race. Exploding the car 'for maximum damage' (and points), the Crashbreaker was a key part in the crash junctions from Burnouts of old. Used in tandem with the post-crash Impact Time, it allows players to takedown passing opponents just out of reach of the Aftertouch, with the radius of the blast determined by the amount of boost left in the car at the time of the crash. As with Revenge, there's an element of risk involved with using the Crashbreaker however; whilst you'll top up your Supercharged Boost with a successful and explosive takedown, missing an opponent will not only empty your boost - but the car will increasingly look like a sorry state the more its used in a race until it's completely totalled.
Out with the old...
Perhaps the biggest surprise with Burnout Dominator will be the omission of crash junctions and Crash modes, a firm favourite for fans of the game since they were introduced. Arguably reaching a pinnacle with Burnout 3: Takedown three years ago before dropping the trial and error gameplay with 2005's Burnout Revenge, Criterion's decision to drop the Crash mode will no doubt disappoint a certain section of gamers. Instead, Criterion has re-focused Burnout as a speed freak's wet dream, going back to basics with an emphasis on snap reflexes, psychotic driving, and of course, impressive crashes. In the wake of the Crash mode's non-appearance however, the studio has tweaked and tinkered, and added the Maniac Mode.
Essentially an excuse to race like an absolute maniac (as if you ever need one in a Burnout title), the mode sets players the task of achieving a certain score, which is built up through drifting, driving on the wrong side of the road, and other typically Burnout shenanigans. In fact, it's not an excuse to drive like a maniac, it's mandatory if you want to get gold and (in some cases) unlock one of the many cars hidden away. Added objectives are another gameplay feature that's been added to the structure of Dominator. A departure for Burnout, players won't be unlocking cars by collecting gold medals as they've done in the past. Instead, objectives are added to certain events along the way, such as reaching a "Burnout x2" or drifting 2000 feet through the course of a race.
Besides the relegation of crash junctions and the introduction of the Maniac Mode, Dominator will see the return of many long-standing race types (not least actual bare-knuckle races): Eliminators, Takedown-focused Road Rages, and Burning Laps feature in the line-up. More skilled race types will also make appearance in the game's events, such as Drift Challenges (where players have to drift a certain distance before reaching the finish line), Near Miss Challenges (where you'll unsurprisingly have to narrowly miss collisions with traffic), and Burnout Challenges (where players have to attain a certain Burnout Chain). Additional routes will also be available, which players will only be able to unlock by executing Signature Shortcuts, taking down opponents by pushing them through the barriers that feature on every track.
Like the more recent instalments, Dominator is also set to feature multiplayer gameplay, which will also no doubt feel a tad cut back thanks to the lack of a Crash Party mode. In fact, only three race types will be available to play in the final version: Road Rage, Maniac, and Burning Lap, so a gap in the gameplay may just be emerging...not least because Burnout Dominator on PlayStation2 will be the first home console instalment in the franchise since Burnout 2 not to include online gameplay. Perhaps Dominator's addition to the series is more of a stop-gap than perhaps we'd like to believe?
Anonymous
Date Added:Sun 25th Mar 2007 12:02
Anonymous
Date Added:Wed 7th Mar 2007 22:19
Anonymous
Date Added:Wed 28th Feb 2007 12:44
Anonymous
Date Added:Wed 13th Dec 2006 00:28
Anonymous
Date Added:Fri 8th Dec 2006 13:04
Anonymous
Date Added:Thu 7th Dec 2006 18:34