How do you follow a game like Burnout 3: Takedown when the first three games rocked so hard? Criterion must have spent some serious time pondering this question, because somehow they have pumped Revenge full of something special.

Unlike a lot of driving games that start you off in a piddly little runaround until you get the hang of things, Burnout Revenge puts you straight behind the wheel of a supercar and throws you into heavy traffic. Literally. No matter the race type, it invariably involves driving very quickly and crashing a lot. Fine by me.

Criterion haven’t gone all out on getting licensed real-world vehicles into their game, but instead have designed a collection of amazingly detailed cars of their own – from high-end sports cars to clapped-out bangers that pack a mean punch when you meet the traffic head-on...or from the side…or even from above.

The game types will be familiar to old Burnout fans, including street-racing against AI-controlled cars – take’em down to gain major boost - and the Crash levels that reward you for finding the best way to total everything in your path…But there are some well thought-out tweaks to the gameplay that involve more skill and determination to progress up the rankings. Check out the improved Crashbreaker system.

One of the other new features is the Traffic Attack race mode in which you’ll have to keep taking out on-coming cars in order to put more time on the clock – the longer you stay in, the higher your score and the better your medal at the end – if you can hit Gold while maintaining an “Awesome” rating (this goes for all the race types) you’ll soon be ranking up and edging closer to Elite status.

Die-hard Burnout fans won’t be disappointed. Simulation racing fans will secretly love it. Anyone new to the Burnout series should skip the older titles and get Revenge because it has it all. And more.

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