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How Metascores Are Calculated
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 GAMES: 
Burnout 3 takes the hit series even further, now featuring a unique "crash and burn" racing concept and a one-of-a-kind special effects engine that delivers spectacular visuals. The intensity heats up as players race, and often crash, their way through oncoming traffic in an attempt to claim the top spot. Boasting multiple single-player and multiplayer crash and race modes, Burnout 3 offers players the opportunity to race through busy city streets and be rewarded for taking risks that result in heart-pounding action and electrifying crashes. [Electronic Arts]
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more... 100
Xbox Nation Magazine
Hands down, the best arcade racer ever made. Ever. [Oct 2004, p.99]
 100
Australian GamePro
The speed of the game is incredible and as the roads and lights blur past you, it feels more like you're flying in the Millennium Falcon than some street machine dodging through traffic.
100
Operation Sports
This is only marginally a racing game - it's a game of destruction and chaos that holds more in common with a first person shooter than with a true racer.
100
Maxim Online
Easy controls help you play chicken with oncoming traffic at speeds so real, you can practically feel the G-forces pinning your jowls against your ears.
100
GamePro
To say that this game is "fast" is an understatement - it absolutely blazes, so much so that blinking becomes a liability. [Nov 2004, p.96]
100
GameSpy
The new king of arcade racers. Think about everything that was brilliant about its predecessors -- the whimsical take on the laws of physics, the gorgeous graphics, and the completely insane emphasis on crashing -- and multiply it by ten thousand.
100
AceGamez
What with the totally aggressive but fun gameplay, the sheer madness of the speed at which you drive, the incredible quality of the foreground, background and moving visuals and the pumping soundtrack to run alongside it, you'd be a fool not to have Burnout 3: Takedown in your collection.
100
Entertainment Weekly
The combo of racing and combat is brilliantly addictive. [17 Sept 2004, p.25]
100
Sydney Morning Herald
Every lap is terrifying...Polished to perfection, Burnout 3 is faster and more thrilling than any previous racer.
100
RewiredMind
Astonishingly good...This is pure, balls-out speed that will cause even the most hardcore of gamers to rock from left to right as they barely miss ramming a truck at two hundred plus miles an hour.
100
Gaming Age
The visuals are cleaner, more vibrant, and oozing with a slick presentation. The audio is, to coin a phrase from Good Times, “Dy-no-mite!”
100
Stuff
You should buy it even if driving games rank somewhere between stepping on Legos barefoot and Saddam on your list of dislikes.
100
G4 TV
With its killer combo of great gameplay, awesome destruction, and cool physics, EA has taken what was a fun diversion and made it into a near masterpiece.
100
games(TM)
Burnout 3 is special. It's not just another racing game, and despite lacking certain features car enthusiasts hold dear (such as customisation and ultra realism) it's easily the most fun we've ever had with any racing game. [Oct 2004, p.96]
100
Gamestyle
Racing games have now changed forever, and entirely for the better - for that there can be no higher recommendation. It's that good.
100
The New York Times
Takedown is nearly flawless, with crisp graphics, a rousing punk-rock soundtrack and smart level design that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It is not just the best driving game I have ever played, but one of the best games of any genre this year.
99
Worth Playing
I am no longer a fan but now a full-fledged junkie! I would certainly consider Burnout 3 to be the "GoldenEye" of racing games!
97
Kombo
The videogame equivalent of Hurricane Ivan; everyone that has come into contact with it has either been stuck with an immense sense of awe, or had their life changed in a significant manner.
97
GameBiz
It’s the best racing game on the current gen consoles. I doubt we will see a better racing game until Xbox 2 or PS3 hits. Burnout 3 is a must have title on the Xbox.
97
Console Gameworld
If you want more than this from an arcade racer, you’ve got to be crazy. It's all here in spades!
97
3DAvenue
The best console arcade racing game ever and perhaps the best of all time, even topping the mighty "Daytona USA."
96
Da Gameboyz
With amazingly addictive gameplay, fabulous graphics, astonishing speed and enjoyable online gameplay (when EA's servers are cooperating) one cannot help but not want to play this title all the time.
96
TotalGames.net
A work of art, a piece crafted to such infinitesimal detail that every second of the experience has the capacity to cause the player to gasp with exhilarated pleasure from the opening race of the coupe series, right through to the final, devastating Crash Junction on the Burnout world tour.
96
Team Xbox
Even EA haters will be anonymously purchasing Burnout 3: Takedown like it was underage porn contraband, not being able to deny its absolutely addictive offerings.
96
Inside Gamer Online
Without a shadow of a doubt the best in the series and arguably the best arcade racer in history.
96
Gaming Target
Aside from some minor annoyances (the announcer/DJ can get a tad tedious) Burnout 3: Takedown is an absolutely exceptional game and it’s quite frankly hard to imagine how the next one could be much better.
95
Xbox Solution
Bone jarring impacts, oncoming traffic flying through the air, takedowns, crash junctions, this game is just shy of being perfect. Some of the most awesome, if not the best, crashes you will ever find in a racing game.
95
Electric Playground
This is one of the best games I’ve ever played involving cars, asphalt and disregard for public safety. It is a must have for any gamer’s collection, anybody who ever had fun smashing hot wheels cars into each other, or anyone who likes destruction.
95
eToychest
We’ve been driving computerised cars around virtual racetracks for years now, but in Burnout 3 you do it so fast, and the enjoyment from going so fast comes so easily, that playing another racer is going to feel like driving a bus after taking a spin in a Ferrari.
95
VGPub
My jaw also hit the floor when I had my first crash. In many racers cars just get a ding or probably no scratches at all. In Burnout 3 your car comes out looking like one of those high school driver’s education videos.
95
PGNx Media
A strong candidate for the coveted Game of the Year award, Burnout 3: Takedown is one of the best arcade racing games to come out in years.
95
Extreme Gamer
Taking a screaming fast car and driving it into a busy intersection creating a massive car pile up costing millions of dollars is not only fun, but addictive.
95
Game Over Online
A wild, edge of your seat, white knuckle ride that fulfills any speed freak’s cravings. What’s more, it’s also one of the best games that’s been released this entire year.
95
GamingTrend
The only question you can ask yourself is how much time can you give a game that sucks you in and doesn’t let go?
95
Warcry
Burnout 3 will remind you why you started playing games – not because of the competition, or to enter into some fifty hour experience grinding session online, but because of an experience that constitutes such pure fun that it’s impossible to stop a grin breaking out on your face.
95
Game Power Australia
Put simply, this is one of the best racing games of all time...[and] one of the most fast-paced, visceral racing games you will ever play.
95
Xbox World Australia
With its outstanding graphics, highly addictive adrenaline pumping gameplay and its terrific emphasis on carnage and destruction, this is not a game to be missed by anyone who has even just a passing interest in arcade racers.
95
GameSpot
Even if driving games aren't normally your thing, Burnout 3 is still right for you. It's that good. It ranks among the best racing games ever made...An amazing achievement that anyone with a pulse will probably love.
95
IGN
Offers up insane speed, unequaled crash sequences, and a truly new style of gameplay. It has reinvented the wheel, so to speak...Burnout 3 is astonishing. It's one of the best arcade racers I've ever touched.
95
Gamezilla!
EA has struck absolute gold with this title.
94
My Gamer
The game’s crashes, smashes, and explosions really make you feel like you just inspired a 50-car pile up in the middle of a busy intersection.
94
Next Level Gaming
This game does for the arcade racing genre what "Rallisport Challenge 2" does for the rally section. It's just that good.
94
Xequted
Perhaps one of the most enjoyable racing games we’ve ever been given the chance to play, mainly owing to the immense rush you get from the sheer velocity of game play.
93
GameZone
The game’s speed progresses from Andy Dick insane to Charles Manson insane, always pushing the envelope and always keeping gamers glued to their TV, white knuckling their controllers.
93
WHAM! Gaming
Even without the car crashes, Burnout 3: Takedown would have been a superb arcade-style racing game. But the incredible vehicular carnage makes it a thing of profound destructive beauty.
93
Official Xbox Magazine
Powersliding through a curve at 75 mph and missing a tractor trailer by a hair's breadth should prompt a few calls to your cardiologist. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll scream until you giggle. The pure visceral experience of Burnout 3 is as intense as racing gets. [Oct 2004, p.58]
93
Game Informer
With incredibly realistic damage modelling transforming every crash into a work of art fit to be framed and hung on the walls of Paris' Louvre museum, Burnout 3 is a visual dynamo that will floor players with its speed and gorgeous vistas. [Oct 2004, p.122]
92
ActionTrip
Regardless of the fact that I'm not a racing fan, I found this to be a very, very good game, and absolutely hilarious when you think about the fact that it promotes driving like a dick and taking down your opponents with underhanded and brutal tactics.
92
XGP Gaming
Barreling your vehicle down the road towards your impending doom will cause uncontrollable giggling, with the excitement of a kid on Christmas, at the mayhem you're getting ready to unleash and witness during your replay.
92
AtomicGamer
Criterion has done it again with Burnout 3, as this is about the best you can get when it comes to arcade racing.
92
Electronic Gaming Monthly
The speed is staggering, and the smashes spectacular...Burnout 3 blows the doors off its predecessors with bliteringly fast online play, a massive single-player mode lousy with unlockables, and all the right gameplay tweaks. [Oct 2004, p.100]
92
GameSpot AU
Burnout 3 online is extremely good fun -- it's fast, frantic and the gametypes encourage plenty of teamwork, plenty of adrenaline, and naturally enough, plenty of crunched fenders and vehicles gracefully flipping through the air before ploughing at high speeds into concrete pillars.
92
Armchair Empire
If you can put up with the loading screens galore and a bad soundtrack, Burnout 3: Takedown is an arcade racer that should please hardcore and casual race fans.
91
Ferrago
One thing is undoubtedly beyond question - Burnout 3 is THE most intense 4-wheel experience known to man.
91
Game Revolution
With outstanding physics, an unmatched sense of speed and a wealth of game types, it easily blows the doors off the competition. And that’s all the realism I need.
91
Xbox Evolved
With a robust single-player mode that includes a ton of unlockables, even those who don’t plan on playing online should still consider picking up this game.
90
GamerFeed
Burnout 3: Takedown's drivers are vicious and just as eager to snatch victory from you as you are from them, and it takes a matter of skill to really survive, not to mention keep in the race. Some rookie drivers may be frustrated by this, but I for one appreciate the challenge.
90
Total Video Games
Every aspect comes together to create a gaming experience that is one of the most polished and perfected we’ve ever seen, regardless of genre – you simply need Burnout 3: Takedown now.
90
Edge Magazine
Crucially, it's everything a racing videogame should be: a relentless, unwavering and phenomenal assault on the senses.
90
NTSC-uk
Burnout 3 has turned an obsession with high-speed destruction into a masterpiece. No idle sequel, no mere upgrade, Takedown is nothing short of a declaration of war – a nosebleed racer that's faster, angrier and more explosive than practically any video game you’ve ever seen.
90
1UP
The Takedown system is what makes the already pretty good Burnout series amazing... Burnout 3 delivers the purest hit of awesome so far this year.
90
PALGN
Takes "Burnout 2," completely reworks it, adds a stack of variety, speeds up the game play, introduces more modes to take full advantage of the crashes and never stops sending out the challenges. It is the arcade racer to own, bar none.
90
EuroGamer
As it stands, it's the offline arcade racing game to end them all, with an online implementation that falls frustratingly short of expectations.
90
GameCritics
Takedown, whether it's making my heart pump or the hair stand up on the back of my neck, not only represents a dramatic step in the right direction for the series, but also for the racing game genre in general.
90
Adrenaline Vault
Burnout’s World Tour circuit is both lengthy and addictive. However, once you’ve beaten all the competition, filled your garage to its fullest, and amassed a complete collection of trophies, the single-player game does lose some of its luster.
90
Yahoo! Games
An eye-opening, awe-inspiring psychotic arcade racer with addictive, high-energy and often hysterical gameplay. EA and Criterion really hit it out of the parking lot with this one.
90
GMR Magazine
The only missteps are a super class of cars that are almost too fast for the courses, an abundance of loading screens, and a mostly terrible soundtrack—the latter two problems solved by the Xbox version.
88
Jolt Online Gaming UK
At the end of the day, Burnout 3 is a little too simplified for our tastes.
88
BonusStage
The game’s controls are simplistic and some of the tightest out there.
86
RealGamer
Presentation wise Burnout 3 looks great, despite the fact that car models aren’t the best looking or most detailed to grace the Xbox, also it’s probably worth noting that none of the cars in Burnout 3: Takedown are real cars although a few do look like some well known cars.
85
MS Xbox World
Technically, Burnout 3: Takedown is not as realistic or advanced graphically as an xbox specific title such as "PGR2," but this is an arcade racer with arcade racing visuals.
84
netjak
All in all this is a solidly built offline title that stalls and dies once you try and take it online.
84
XboxAddict
EA's online offering is extremely lacking in this particular game. Well maybe not lacking but poorly done.
80
Times Online
An explosively over-the-top romp.
80
GamerArchive
Slick, pulse-pounding fun that will have you shouting happily at the top of your voice in shock at the addictive and visceral action onscreen...[But t]o see the computer rewarded for slick driving, and yet not lose anything for crashing is a demoralising and frustrating experience that detracts from the single-player game.
75
Play Magazine
A dose of high-quality gaming fast food that tastes fine but leaves you wanting something that sticks. [Oct 2004, p.77]
Andrew gave it a10: James S. gave it a10: Natashiand B. gave it an8: Paul M. gave it a10: Steve P. gave it a10: Jonny B. gave it a10: Tony T. gave it a10: |
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