Burnout 3: Takedown

Burnout 3: Takedown is the third game in the high speed racing series, Burnout. Released on September 7th, 2004, developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts, the game drew critical acclaim and a large fanbase.

Gameplay

To show the recipient of the takedown crashing, particles and car parts fly all over. (This can be disabled by the player). A player who crashes into traffic or obstacles himself or gets taken down by an opponent will have his/her boost meter reduced (but not below the minimum length). However, in the single-player mode, the player can apply "aftertouch" to subtly move his/her car in the direction held by the analog stick. Doing so allows him/her to direct his car into the path of an opponent's car approaching from behind. Successfully doing this results in an Aftertouch Takedown which will allow the player to retain the length of his boost meter.

This Aftertouch concept is even more important in the game's other primary mode, Crash. In this mode, the player is not racing opponents to the finish line. Instead, each Crash race allows the player to race at high speeds towards an intersection. It is the player's aim here to cause as much damage as possible by crashing into cars, trucks, flatbed trailers, etc. and therefore cause a huge pile-up, as approaching traffic crashes into the wrecks. The player is scored based upon the dollar amount of damage caused. High scores award medals which are used to unlock more tracks and cars. The player can attempt to get the highest score possible by steering towards various cash icons on the track, and 2x and 4x score multipliers. However, there is also a Heartbreaker icon which will automatically halve the player's score.

Burnout 3 features 173 different events in the offline mode, and 67 cars to unlock, including a City Bus, Fire Truck, and Garbage Truck for use in the Crash mode. There is also online play where up to six players can compete in a race, and eight players can compete in a Crash event. In online races, there is less aggression than in single player. Racers must focus on good drifts and avoiding traffic, not just takedowns, in order to win. This gives the online mode a different feel from single player. There is a racing variant known as Road Rage where players are divided into two teams. The blue team receives a three second head start and must drive a certain number of miles without being eliminated by being taken down. The red team attempts to takedown the blue team before they reach the finish line.

Locations

The game is split over three areas: USA, Europe and Far East. The exact locations of the tracks are just as differing as the tracks of previous Burnout series. A new asset to the race track environments are real-world landmarks and vehicles known famously to these locations: In the Downtown race track, Chicago's famous elevated subways can be seen, In the Waterfront race track, the San Diego Convention Center is seen, and in the Riviera race track, the Monte Carlo Casino is viewed briefly. As for the vehicular aspect, small three-wheeled taxis called tuk-tuks, which are found throughout Bangkok, can be seen in the Golden City track. The real names of these locations are never actually shown in the game, however.

The tracks are:

Location	Track Name	Real-life Equivalent
USA	Silver Lake	Rocky Mountain Nat. Park: a crystal-clear and silent lake surrounded by granite cliff faces and neighbored by a sleepy Main Street town: better wake up the locals with some serious burnage against the truss bridges!
USA	Downtown	Chicago: tackle the tight alleyways and congested avenues of a major city and send your opponents into the elevated train track supports. A circuit built for precision thinking and fast reflexes against heavy traffic.
USA	Waterfront	San Diego: the San Diego Convention Center and the San Diego Aerospace Museum welcome you to a fast-paced track filled with tight coastal turns, busy thoroughfares, and an intriguing tram system through the Gaslamp Quarter.
USA	Kings of the Road	Downtown - Silver Lake
USA	Lakeside Getaway	Silver Lake - Waterfront
USA	Mountain Parkway	Silver Lake - Downtown
Europe	Alpine	Autobahn: there's no law here, folks: the famous 80-and-up highway sends your car passed glorious castles, snow-capped peaks and perilously constructed toll booths and gas stations. A long track with a fast glimpse of Europe.
Europe	Vineyard	Avignon: traverse the beautiful winding roads of southern France and zoom by the ancient Papal Palace and the surrounding sidewalk cafes of Avignon: mind the 'winding' in 'winding roads': we really mean it!
Europe	Winter City	Vienna: Stephansdom, the U-Bahn, and the Hofburg welcome you to snow-clad Vienna, where the sounds of the waltz and serious crashing echo through alleyways and congested boulevards. The trans arE key to getting your opponents good.
Europe	Riviera	Monaco: live the good life amongst the Monte Carlo Casino and the affiliating luxury apartments of Monaco ont his track dedicated to the world-famous Monaco Grand Prix: take hose the turns hard, because there not easy!
Europe	Coastal Dream	Riviera - Vineyards
Europe	Continental Run	Vineyards - Autobahn
Europe	Alpine Expressway	Winter City - Riviera
Far East	Golden City	Bangkok: let the nation of Thailand overwhlem your senses as you race past ancient and neon-clad marketplaces and modern, sleekly designed monorails and highways: the riverfront is literally begging for some crash carange.
Far East	Dockside	Hong Kong: send your opponents over the edge along the steep roads and winding scenic routes just outside of central Hong Kong. You'll speed past a busy docking harbor, a vulnerable ferry terminal, and beneath the Lippo Centre towers.
Far East	Island Paradise	Koh Samui: immortalized as a place of tranquility and Buddhist spiritualism...not any more! Not only do the jungle trails give surprising crash results, but so do the sandy beaches and tourist-packed coach bus terminals.
Far East	Tropical Drive	Island Paradise - Golden City

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Burnout 3: Takedown featured near 40 songs and came complete with commentary from DJ Stryker from alternative radio station KROQ-FM in Los Angeles.

Awards

E3 2004 Game Critics Awards: Best Racing Game

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Burnout 3: Takedown

Gameplay

Locations

Soundtrack

Awards

External links