Burnout Crash Review
One of the most eagerly anticipated games has finally made its way to the iPhone and iPad. But while the wait is finally over it may not be what some players of the massively successful franchise want.
Burnouts first journey onto iOS is in the from of the mini game, Burnout Crash, that has already made it onto the PlayStation and XBox Arcade. So instead of a full-on 3D crash-fest of mangled metal, you have the pleasure of playing God, (or should that be the Devil), in a crashtastic onslaught of exploding cars, trucks and every other type of vehicle you can think of.
The 2D top-down view looks great, across a massive 18 different junctions the detail pops of the screen and the whole environment is interactive so not only can you destroy the vehicles but also blow up the surrounding buildings, parked cars and pretty much anything that burns.
Each of the 18 junctions have three different game modes so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to hone your skills and have plenty to keep coming back for as each of the have 5 stars to be collected based on high scores and other side-goals such as performing special moves or destroying certain items.
The 3 modes are Rush Hour, Pile Up and Road Block and while they all take place on the same junctions they require slightly different techniques to succeed. Rush Hour puts you up against the clock to destroy as much as you can while Pile Up tasks you to crash as many vehicles as possible and then keep them blazing. Road Block meanwhile is as simple as blocking any vehicles from driving off the screen, lose 5 and it’s game over.
All of the modes provide special vehicles too that offer a variety of challenges. Stop a Pizza delivery truck and you get to spin the lotto wheel a win a bonus item while stopping the bank truck will rain down bags of money on you.
Like all great games Burnout Crash is easy to learn but difficult to master. Controls aid this as all that’s required is a swipe to move your car or truck while a tap of your vehicle will cause it to explode once the burnout bar is maximized of course.
There are 7 cars and trucks to unlock and each one offer a slightly different balance of power and control, switching between these vehicles can offer different opportunities to grab all 5 stars on each level and you will often find yourself heading back to earlier levels with better cars to grab all the available stars.
While causing all of this mayhem you are blasted with a cacophony sound and a great set of songs from the 80’s. I certainly recommend playing this game with headphones in to get the best sound experience and so that you don’t annoy anyone sitting around you!
Unfortunately the multi-player option that they provide in the form of Autolog, is a little disappointing. It certainly works and you can send challenges to your friends but no ability to play against other players in real time is a real disappointment. And while GameCenter integration is included there are no leaderboards, just 20 achievements to be unlocked.
That being said, I do keep coming back to Burnout Crash to unlock more levels and to go back and gain more stars, it could just be so much better if the social aspects of the game worked better.
Burnout Crash is a universal game and is available in the App Store, despite its shortcomings it’s still a recommended purchase.
[rating: 4.5/5]What we like
- Smashing good fun
- 54 levels to complete
- 18 detailed junctions
What to know
- Limited GameCenter integration
- Limited multi player options
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