Burnout 2: Point of Impact
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Burnout 2: Point of Impact is a racing game developed by Criterion Games and published by Acclaim Entertainment. It is the sequel to the 2001 game Burnout and the second title in the Burnout series. The game was released for PlayStation 2 in North America on September 30, 2002 and in Europe on October 11, 2002. The GameCube and Xbox versions (the latter version under the title Burnout 2: Point of Impact – Developer's Cut) were released a year later in North America on April 9, 2003 for GameCube and on May 1, 2003 for Xbox, and in Europe on May 9, 2003 for both GameCube and Xbox. It was the last Burnout game to be released for GameCube and the final title in the series to be published by Acclaim.
Why It Rocks
- A new game mode called Crash mode has been added, where the objective is to crash into traffic and earn as much money in damage as possible. It starts out simple but quickly becomes a puzzle game, as you have to crash into the right car at the right speed and angle. Any cars you've unlocked can be used, encouraging experimentation.
- Another new mode called Pursuit was added, where a player controlling a cop car tries to damage another car, controlled by either a player or computer. Once the second player reaches a certain distance, they win the race. If their car is destroyed before the reach this distance, they lose the race.
- When you crash during a race, it takes less time to respawn.
- Cars can now jump into the air.
- Improved collision detection over the original game.
- Refined controls.
- All vehicles generally look better.
- Great graphics, especially for the crashes.
- The game's original soundtrack is amazing.
- The game's alternative modes make the game very replayable.
- The GameCube and Xbox versions both have 15 additional crash junctions, and the Xbox version also has exclusive custom car skins and support for custom soundtracks and Xbox Live.
Bad Qualities
- The PlayStation 2 version does not include some of the features that were included in the GameCube and Xbox versions.
- The championship mode can be slightly frustrating to play at times, as some of the Grand Prix events require you to play up to seven races in a row, which usually take about 20 minutes to complete.
- If you lose a race in a Grand Prix event, you are forced to start the event over from the beginning if you want to unlock the Face Off or Pursuit event that comes after.
Reception
Burnout 2: Point of Impact received positive reviews across all platforms, and the series was continued in 2004 with the release of Burnout 3: Takedown.
Trivia
- To market the game in the UK, Acclaim offered to pay all speeding tickets on the game's day of release, but fortunately they backed down on this.
- This was the first entry in the series to be released in Japan, and one of a few Acclaim games to be released in Japan in the sixth generation era.