Burnout Series Review (Xbox, PlayStation & PC)

Burnout was never about mirroring an authentic driving experience; it was about sourcing creative ideas to make fatal accidents feel weirdly satisfying and rewarding, similar to Skate’s Hall of Meat, which had you breaking bones in exchange for perks and XP. In Burnout, however, you didn’t have the perilous task of needing to conquer the circuit — only to cause chaos on the track and make the occasional barrel roll into a blazing inferno. It had racing in its heart, true, but Burnout had another checkered flag to chase—a gap in the market that needed a new lick of asphalt. It didn’t want to compete with its ilk; it wanted to make a drastic change to the dated racing formula, with epic crashes, absurd stunts, and high-octane blitzing to elevate its missing pistons.

While Burnout might not be the most popular racing series on the market, it is one that has a tremendous amount of historical significance in terms of on-road innovation and pivotal developments in the automotive world. Granted, it isn’t a series that you would typically turn to to wax that craving for near-perfect racing simulation or authentic gameplay experiences, though it is one that you would gravitate towards for the sake of peddling your undying desire for mindless joy rides and circuit-based shenanigans. And that’s exactly what Burnout has remained true to since its inception: a bashful joy ride that, although without the chassis of an authentic experience, wants to make you smile and feel immersed in the most ridiculous ways possible.

While other racing franchises à la Need for Speed, Forza, and The Crew have spent their teething eras finessing their own identities with advanced visuals and mechanics, Burnout has kept to the simple notion that, if it’s annoyingly entertaining in its own skin, then it doesn’t require any further enhancements to make a splash in the big leagues. Again, it isn’t a series that I would refer to as being visually or mechanically apt, but to give credit where it’s due, Burnout has always been more than capable of fashioning great games from its signature facets — and that alone speaks volumes. It’s just a shame, really, that Electronic Arts never found the motivation to publish more than what it was capable of bringing to the limelight.

The turning point for the series wasn’t when it found an excuse to shovel “Paradise City” down our throats, but when it pivoted from a somewhat generic racing game into a high-octane stunt-battle hybrid with more emphasis on vehicular combat than traditional racing. It was around the time of Revenge, if memory serves me well, that the series developed a conscience and miraculously transformed into an entirely different kind of ballgame. Suddenly, it wasn’t about earning medals and claiming bragging rights on the podium; it was about defacing the city streets and humiliating rivals with unruly road-based attacks and rigorous driving maneuvers. That, to me, was when Burnout felt less of a clone, and more of a standout IP that could ultimately blaze the trail for an entirely separate timeline of sequels. And it did, if only for a short while before finally burning out of the spotlight in the wake of Paradise. But, we won’t dwell on that.

Of all the chapters in its casket, it was Pradise, really, that shook the apple cart and gave the series a new lease on life. With a vibrant open world in its stead and a plethora of circuits, challenges, activities, and not to mention a sizable garage with tons of tailorable car parts and customizable features, Paradise finally found its niche as an honest force to be reckoned with. Without realizing it, the series found its peak, but then quickly disappeared before it could capitalize on its newfound success as a hidden gem among racing fans. Of course, there was room for it to snowball, but with Electronic Arts shifting its attention towards Need for Speed and other favorable properties, it never quite caught the wind.

It’s almost a shame that Electronic Arts couldn’t find the means to squeeze a little extra life out of Burnout, as it could have quite easily produced a handful of additional chapters and still found a foothold on the market. All in all it was a short-lived anthology, but one that also made a fantastic impression during its tenure, nonetheless. Could it have gone a little further down the same route? Absolutely. Was there a reason why it didn’t act on its abilities to span a thread of sequels? Yes. In short, you can blame Need for Speed, Electronic Arts’ more established IP. But that’s a story for another time, to be honest.

Verdict

Sadly, while the death knell has been well and truly rung for the Burnout catalog, we can still rest assured that, between Revenge and Paradise, at least, there are plenty of reasons to slip back behind the wheel and rekindle both wicks. The series may be dead and buried (thanks, EA), but that isn’t to say that you can’t still get a good hit of dopamine via its addictive and highly volatile vehicular shenanigans and lofty open-world circuits and reckless pursuits. It’s a small perk, but one that feels worth buying into, if only to satisfy an old hunger that yearn for unconventional racing and ballsy stunt montages.

To cut a long story short, if you are looking to take a break from the usual suspects that befall the world of extreme sports and racing, then you ought to consider taking the route less traveled—to the vibrant lights of Paradise City, where the grass is always green, and the girls are always pretty. It might not be the best road trip you’ll ever take, and you might just find yourself pulling the hair from your scalp after the fourteenth replay of Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” — but learn to take it all with a huge pinch of salt. Burnout isn’t the best racing series on the block, but it is one that you’ll love taking a gander at for whenever you’re feeling down and out.