Burnout Revenge

Burnout Revenge is the fourth video game in the Burnout series of racing games, released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on September 13, 2005 and Xbox 360 on March 7, 2006, alongside the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS title Burnout Legends. Similar to its predecessor Burnout 3: Takedown, Revenge focuses on a mixture of racing in the midst of rush-hour traffic, and vehicular combat; players use the cars themselves as weapons. Revenge also expands on the combat side of its gameplay with new features such as "traffic checking" (ramming same-way traffic), Vertical Takedowns (landing on a rival car after the player's car drives over a jump), a new game type (Traffic Attack) and significant changes to the gameplay of Crash mode (a game type where players attempt to cause as large a crash as possible). A sequel to Burnout Revenge, titled Burnout Paradise, was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on January 22, 2008.

Gameplay
In Burnout Revenge, players compete in a range of racing game types with varying aims. These take place within rush-hour traffic, and include circuit racing, Road Rage (where players cause as many rivals to crash as possible within a time limit, or until the player's car is wrecked), Burning Lap (a single-lap, single-racer time attack mode), Eliminator (a circuit race where every thirty seconds, the last-placed racer's car is detonated; the race continues until only one racer is left), and Crash (where the player is placed at a junction with the aim of accumulating as many "Crash Dollars" as possible). A new gameplay feature in Burnout Revenge is the ability to ram same-way small to medium traffic, known as "traffic checking", propelling the rammed car forward; the event in which a "checked" car hits a rival is considered a Takedown. Traffic checking is the focus of a new race type, Traffic Attack (whereby a player must earn a set amount of Crash Dollars through checking traffic), which can be used later on.

During these events, players have access to a limited amount of boost which is acquired through various dangerous driving techniques, including but not limited to driving on the wrong side of the road, tailgating opponents and drifting. Unique to the series is the concept of battling other rivals; unlike other video games in the racing genre, players are encouraged, and sometimes even required, to ram rival cars and cause traffic to crash. Causing a rival to crash is referred to as a "Takedown", rewarding the player by extending the length of their boost gauge and completely refilling it. In designated events, boost can also be used to activate a "Crashbreaker" during a crash, detonating the car and causing other nearby cars to crash. When the rival car takes you down, you will have to take the ultimate REVENGE by taking down your revenge rivals (which the arrow at the top of the car turned red) is reffered to as "Revenge Takedown".

In the main single-player game mode, players compete in a world tour consisting of 169 events across three continents, divided into a series of 10 "ranks". The ranks which a player has access to is determined by their "Revenge Rank", which increases after completing events. By increasing their Rank sufficiently, the player "ranks up" and unlocks the next rank of events.

The game also features support for multiplayer gameplay, both online and offline. In addition to the racing modes, the game features three types of Crash modes: Crash Battle (multiple players attempt a junction at the same time), Crash Party (players take turns at attempting junctions across several rounds), and Crash Tour (a golf-like version of Crash Party, with players attempting to accumulate a certain amount of Crash Dollars in as few attempts as possible; after the last round ends the player with the lowest score wins).

Game of the Month
Burnout Revenge was named the game of the month in the Game Informer October 2005 issue.