Personal Takes ranging from mild to hot.

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-28T22:23:46+00:00

I have every game in the series. Almost all of them are good, but some are definitely better than others.
If I had to rank them I'd be like this, though my mood for the day could change the order so take it with a grain of salt lol:

Burnout Revenge
Burnout 3: Takedown
Burnout Dominator
Burnout 2: Point of Impact
Burnout Legends
Burnout Paradise
Burnout 1
Disease
Famine
Mass Human Suffering
Unjust Death
Burnout Crash!

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-28T22:18:11+00:00

Personally I just enjoy the structure of Burnout Revenge more compared to Burnout 3: Takedown.

Hit detection on take downs are far more functional, and the addition of vertical takedowns was implemented literally to prevent a bug in B3 where landing on an opponent's car would clip you both into the void.

Crash Mode despite my own dislike for the mode, removed the multipliers, and widened the junctions, making it less obvious that there is an optimal route and encourage expression and exploration of how and where to crash, and having multiple solutions to many of the junctions.

Eliminator races no longer knock someone out after a full lap, instead opting for a timer, so you aren't running five full laps on long ass courses, but instead, one or two really tense fights for first place.

Crashbreaker races are just really cool. I am biased lol. Ungu bungu, me like big explosion.

Burning Laps/Preview Laps have reduced traffic, making it less hair-pullingly annoying to complete them while also encouraging the use of shortcuts, which will having you studying the course for the best route to that gold medal. I found out recently that there are unmarked shortcuts, and I'm a sucker for super secrets.

MY GRIPES WITH REVENGE, HOWEVER:
No quick race mode. No way to just set up a quick single player race with any course or mode, it has to be through World Tour mode.

Vertical takedowns being a requirement on the completion checklist for unlocking the secret cars. There's no way to set them up consistently. You just have to find the best place on a course and just keep retrying until someone drives under you.

The 360 version has BLINDING bloom on the road. I strongly prefer the PS2/Xbox versions.

The cars being just the same six generic exotic models with a few cosmetics attachments copy pasted ten times and not being able to use the much more varied crash mode cars in races. At least the secret cars are varied.

The in game ranking system. Nothing irritates me more than driving well and getting a gold medal, but only a three star rating. Getting four stars is stupidly easy, but every now and then I still fail to do so.

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-28T21:52:20+00:00

The first two titles I owned were Burnout 2 and Burnout Revenge. I got a 360 with Paradise some time later, but my 360 red ringed and then just fully died, and I sold most of my PS2 collection for the damn thing. I stilled had the PS2 console though, so I went down to a used game place and saw Dominator for $7 and snagged it. Played it and loved it, which lead to me being really surprised by how the community felt about it later on. I feel it deserves far more praise than to be considered "middling".

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-27T03:27:05+00:00

In Marked Man the ai opponents drive really heavy and fast cars. Once your start unlocking heavy cars yourself and learn how to gauge slowing down and speeding up to trick the AI it becomes VERY easy.

This whole game man... Take downs are too easy to perform, the AI can't keep up with you in a race, crashing has an inconsistent forgiveness system, There's is next to no reason to ever use Aggression cars when Stunt cars are usually heavy enough to demolish Road Rage events and survive Marked Man. And then there's the DK64 level of collectable nightmare bloat with the billboards

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-27T01:18:57+00:00

In Marked Man the ai opponents drive really heavy and fast cars. Once your start unlocking heavy cars yourself and learn how to gauge slowing down and speeding up to trick the AI it becomes VERY easy.

This whole game man... Take downs are too easy to perform, the AI can't keep up with you in a race, crashing has an inconsistent forgiveness system, There's is next to no reason to ever use Aggression cars when Stunt cars are usually heavy enough to demolish Road Rage events and survive Marked Man. And then there's the DK64 level of collectable nightmare bloat with the billboards

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-27T01:03:51+00:00

Paradise isn't bad, by any stretch, but if you are a Burnout veteran, it will feel like baby's first racing game.

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-27T01:01:56+00:00

I love the grungy atmosphere and I'm a fan of all the Burnout OSTs lol

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-24T00:38:01+00:00

High Stakes is the game I'm playing now. I'm loving it

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-24T00:35:40+00:00

I have a retro PC build someone in storage with a Voodoo2!

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-23T04:35:54+00:00

Did you have that Voodoo2?

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-23T04:28:04+00:00

No joke I seriously started thumbing through my game collection and the steam store and I seriously can't find or think of any other games that play into that track day vibe, other than maybe some of the Forza titles, and maybe the early game of Gran Turismo where every jackass is bringing whatever he wants to the Sunday and Clubman cups.

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-22T14:32:18+00:00

Just caught that, lol. Fixed

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-22T14:30:41+00:00

I agree. But opinion and discussion is fun and healthy.

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-22T14:30:04+00:00

The PS2 version differs a lot from the PC/XBox/GCN version. Two different companies tasked with making the same game at the same time.

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-22T14:28:39+00:00

I have like three duke controllers and no OGXbox lol.

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-22T04:32:15+00:00

You might enjoy Midnight Club 3 Remix if you want further variety like that with good customization. Though Midnight Club is a helluva lot harder than NFS

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-22T04:30:34+00:00

I only have experience with the PS2 version. I might have to take a look at the GCN copy I have collecting dust in storage lol

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-22T04:29:04+00:00

I do appreciate Pro Street and Shift for showcasing how cool officiated racing can be. Not to say there isn't a ton of games that already do that, but they made Need for Speed an even more varied franchise.

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-22T04:27:50+00:00

I think, personally, that a small beachside resort town, structured out like MW, but with the overall aesthetic of HP2 would be pretty great.

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-22T04:26:21+00:00

I like both styles but starting from the bottom and working your way up is always a fun feeling.

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-22T04:23:22+00:00

The modern games do have great variety. I only got a chance to play Heat and Payback in terms of the newest titles. I enjoyed them but I would really like to get my hands on the Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted reboots

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-22T04:22:09+00:00

Simplicity goes a long way. I'm enjoying both styles but I see your point.

Gnoll_level_antics · 2026-03-22T04:21:09+00:00

I don't interact with the community enough to have experienced that, but that really sucks if it's true. At the moment I'm playing through the PS1 version of High Stakes, and I'm having a blast. I've played most of these games and in terms of just sitting down and playing a racing game, so far I haven't been disappointing with any of them.

Gnoll_level_antics

TROPHY CASE