Price: £39.99 Players: 1-2 Ok, so it's been about a year since the original Burnout was released, but it had some problems. Have they been addressed here? Partly, yes. One problem was that the crashes seemed like tacked on extras which didn't sit right with the gameplay, whereas the Xbox equivalent seemed to be decidedly more meaty and... well, just right! It's difficult to describe because I've enjoyed games on both consoles and in this case the Xbox thrashed the PS2 hands down. The Xbox version also scored points because after a crash you could get back on the road a lot faster than the PS2 original - at least THIS is something that has been improved upon here. Sadly, though, this PS2 sequel is missing the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound that the Xbox original had. Why?? The PS2 is just as capable - and both can even go one better with DTS, which sounded fantastic on EA's SSX Tricky - but we're left saddled with Dolby ProLogic II. Yes, that's right, DPL.. II, which, after you've been spoiled with the delights of DD5.1 and DTS, isn't much of a difference from DPL. Still sounds loud, but rather flat by comparison - what a missed opportunity, given that there's no split-surround audio action.

Burnout 2: Point of Impact begins with the "Offensive 101" mode - a training mode, basically. You need to pass the relatively simple tasks, particularly if you've played the original, before progressing to Championship mode. From there on, the game starts proper. You can play in a Championship, single race, time attack or "Crash" mode, the latter allowing you to cause as much damage as you can in 12 zones, the first one sending you down a hill into a busy crossroads, at which I caused nearly $1m worth of damage in my first go (later ones offer gold medals for causing over $35million worth of damage!) - imagine throwing a rubber ball around in a china shop and watching a chain reaction take place. The other modes speak for themselves and the more races you win in the championship mode, the more other races open up for you.

The graphics do look better than last time and move very well and, despite my reservations, I will continue to play this sequel on the PS2 to see what it has to offer, but it just doesn't quite excite me as the Xbox outing did for Burnout and I know that when it gets this sequel, the outcome will be miles better than this one as the Xbox version will instill the same adrenaline feeling of actually being scared as I career down the roads, as well as a far better feeling of being INVOLVED! I just hope we don't have to wait too long for it. Oh, and I wish they'd included programmable controls too. It's a bit fiddly to have the brake as the square while the 'X' is accelerate. I wanted to use the L2 and R2 buttons for these, respectively.

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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2002.