Operation Sports:

Burnout 3: Takedown: Crash 'n Burnout

Spectacular, cutting-edge graphics. A blazing sense of speed. Unique and exciting gameplay. These are reasons to ownBurnout® 3: Takedown™ from Electronic Arts. Here's one more: Smashing up cars by the dozen is a heck of a lot of fun.

Burnout 3: Takedown's crash modes provide the Xbox® gamer with 100 different crash junctions to choose from in both single- and multiplayer modes. While ringing up hundreds of thousands of dollars in utter devastation is the goal, there's actually quite a bit of strategy and challenge involved in crash mode. Careful planning and split-second timing are critical to success.

The moment before fiery carnage.

When you first load a crash junction, you're treated to a flyover of the crash area, and you'll immediately notice that there are strategically placed icons littered around the map. Collecting these icons (or at least the correct ones) is a must if you're aiming for big-time scores. The yellow road sign with a lightning bolt icon gives your car a turbo boost for maximum speed. While this can make your car slightly more difficult to control, it also gives you the best chance of catching big air off of ramps and hitting your target with the most force possible. Bronze, silver, and gold coins can be picked up for instant cash, and the yellow "x2" and green "x4" icons double or even quadruple your final tally—guaranteeing a huge total—unless you're unfortunate enough to hit the red Heartbreaker icon, which cancels out the multipliers and cuts your final score in half, all but ensuring a very disappointing run. The Crashbreaker icon instantly detonates your vehicle, sending every car around you flying in an explosion of vehicular carnage. Not only does it elicit gasps from fellow gamers, the flying cars do even more damage to others around them, making the Crashbreaker your ace in the hole.

Each crash junction also lists the number of vehicles that you need to wreck in order to earn your own Crashbreaker, independent of any icon-grabbing. Reach the required number, and a note on the screen flashes, instructing you to tap the red B button to activate your Crashbreaker. Time it right, and even more destruction is at hand.

That's going to need a new paint job, and then some.

Before you start your run, take into account the direction and speed of traffic, the location of the icons, and take a look for larger vehicles like buses and semi-trucks that can block the road and create tons of secondary damage. Sometimes, plowing into an intersection with the hammer down isn't necessarily the best plan, so watch the flyovers carefully. Plotting your course beforehand can make all the difference in the world, because once you hit the gas, you're relying on your wits and reflexes to pull you through.

Burnout 3: Takedown hands you even more control of your crashes with "aftertouch." Mastering aftertouch is the true key to success in crash mode. After your car first makes contact with another car, a ramp, the side of a building, or anything else, hold the green A button to enter "Impact Time."
Impact Time slows everything down around you, and you can use your Xbox controller to steer your car through mid-air or along the ground. While you won't have total control of the car, you can nudge it any direction, and this lets you collect another icon or two, or perhaps start another chain-reaction wreck by sliding into oncoming traffic. It takes some getting used to, but when you've mastered it, you're able to reach scores that you could only imagine before.

Total wipeout … oh yeah baby.

In multiplayer crash events, the rules change just a bit to add even more excitement to the already adrenaline-fueled mix. In Double Impact, a two-player mode, a new icon is added to the mix. Collect the "switch" icon, and your score automatically is swapped with that of your opponent! In competitive crash modes, both players race for the same icons to ratchet up the intensity, and in team modes, both teammates must pick up the same x2 and x4 multiplier icons on their respective runs for the multiplier to be applied to their team. For a wild time playing Burnout 3: Takedown with friends, select Party crash mode, where up to eight players can get together—either solo or in pairs—and wreak havoc as a group. To sweeten the pot, all of the multiplayer crash modes are available to play online with Xbox LIVE®!

When it comes to the exhilarating, one-of-a-kind crash modes of Burnout 3: Takedown, the following warning applies: DO try this at home (on your Xbox, of course)!

Article by Shawn Drotar, Managing Editor, OperationSports.com