Every once in a while, a game comes along that breathes new life into a well-worn genre and reminds you just how great these types of games can be. Halo did it for the first person shooter and Burnout has done it for the racer.

Burnout is a fast-paced racer with a few twists that make it something very special. The races take place along fast country roads and through busy towns, with you and three other madmen racing at top-speed through the traffic, adding an extra dimension to the action. You have a boost bar that can only be used once it's full, which you build up in four ways - drifting around corners, having near misses with other cars, getting into the air and driving into oncoming traffic! This clever way of encouraging risky maneuvers makes the action even more edgy and nerve-wracking. However, if you crash, you lose half of your boost bar, meaning that taking stupid risks to increase your boost could end up reducing it.

Already we have the ingredients for a special game and if the designers had stopped there it would still be a classic. However, they've gone one better with the crashes. Every time you crash, you are treated to a multiple crash replay, normally three times from different angles. These replays are awesome, featuring very nifty motion blurring and are highly satisfying to watch. As well as this, the amount of damage you've done in the crash is displayed on screen in dollars. There's a high-score table for record damage as well as other aspects of the game! The sounds of screeching brakes, scraping metal and shattering glass that accompany the action aren't quite as meaty as they might be, but they do the job.

All good stuff, but if the graphics engine and controls weren't good then the game would be ruined. Fortunately they are top-notch. The scenery is detailed and well-rendered, although I'm sure this PS2 conversion isn't pushing the power of the Xbox too much, although the lighting and reflection effects have been enhanced, making this the nicest looking version of the game. The cars have a great polished look and the reflections on them are very impressive. The locations and scenery are a little repetitive, however, there could have been a wider use of locations and weather conditions to give a bit more variety.

The cars handle well and are noticeably different, as with all driving games it's tricky at first but as soon as you master drifting around corners you find yourself improving rapidly. This is fortunate, because possibly the game's other downside is that it's pretty tough. The computer drivers are very good and it's often a real challenge to stay ahead of them. Also they are normally riding your tail, so when you are in the lead it only takes one accident near the end of the last lap for all your hard work to be in vain. They aren't perfect though, and a nice touch is that you often see the other cars having accidents too, which half the time you end up piling into and they will get caught in the accidents you have too. You can also ram your opponents without losing boost, making it very satisfying to push them into the path of an oncoming vehicle! Each time you have an accident you lose a few seconds of racing time, so in that respect it is vital not to have too many, although catching up with the other cars isn't your biggest problem. Every race has a series of timed checkpoints and if you don't get there in time it's race over. These can be quite tight and are another factor that makes the avoidance of accidents all the more important.

The last thing to mention is the burnout itself. Once you do get your boost bar full (which is an effort, let me tell you), activating the boost pushes you into super-fast mode and the scenery blurs momentarily as you speed up. Once activated the boost bar gradually reduces to nothing whether you use it or not, so it's a use it or lose it scenario that encourages dangerous driving. The best part is that if you keep your finger on the boost button until the bar empties and you don't crash, you achieve burnout and your reward is that the boost bar is restored to half-full. So once you hit the boost, it's very tempting to grit your teeth and ride it out so you can get that extra head start to the next one! The action is complemented by a set of excellent tunes and there are a couple of very tense ones that play when you get towards the end of a race, which really add to the excitement.

All the modes are in there - Championship where you play through 1-3 tracks, unlocking the next batch of tracks upon completion, Single Race, Head to Head where you can play with 2-4 human or computer players, Time Attack and Face Off (you against one computer opponent). There is also a very cinematic race replay feature that is like watching a car chase scene from a movie and the crash replay feature allows you to pick any crash and view the action with your choice of speed and angle.

Burnout is a classy, thrilling, very playable and addictive racer with a real sense of speed and a number of original features that makes it the new king of arcade racers.

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).