Burnout Dominator Review

Burnout Dominator has no crash mode. There, now you know. If this was your favorite mode in Burnout games past, then this news will surely be disappointing to you. However, Dominator still provides for some great racing action so if you can forgive the omission of the crash mode you’ll find yourself enjoying the game.

If you’re new to Burnout, the game is all about over-the-top arcade racing that rewards you for driving dangerously. Driving on the wrong side of the road, narrowly missing other cars, and drifting around turns will earn you both points and also help to fill your boost meter. The boost meter can be drained at any time to give your car a turbo boost and really kick it into overdrive, but if you’re patient and let your boost meter fill all the way to full you’ll be rewarded with a super boost. The super boost doesn’t make you go any faster than the regular boost, but if you continue to drive dangerously while super boosting you’ll automatically refill the boost meter and you can keep going. Chaining your boosts in this manner also kicks in score multipliers that become vital to reaching your race goals in some of the game’s latter races.

Burnout Dominator can be enjoyed in a single race mode known as Record Breaker mode in which you select the track and type of race and then try to break your records for the race. You can even upload your best scores using the PSP’s wireless connection to see how they stack up against those of players around the world. However you’ll spend most of your time with the game in the main mode which is a progression of races and challenges. Doing well in the events unlocks new events, new series in other car classes, or cars for you to use in the events.

There are a variety of events in the game. Race events have you going up against other racers, but coming in first is not always the goal. There are events in which you must take out a given number of competitors before a timer runs out. There are also variations in which the last place car is removed from the race each time a timer reaches zero until there’s only one car left.

In addition to the races there are challenge events that set goals that must be met in order for you to earn a medal ad clear the event. The goals include drifting a minimum number of total feet around the turns in a track, scoring a set number of points by driving dangerously, or chaining together boosts. With the number of different race types available and the different car classes and tracks available there is a good amount of variety to the racing in the game.

Burnout Dominator does a good job of conveying a feeling of breakneck speed, but the size of the PSP’s screen can sometimes make it difficult to pick up oncoming cars and turns in the track. This is more so the case in the races that take place on city streets than the ones that have you racing down freeways. It’s not something that brings down the gameplay as a whole, but there will be some surprise moments when you’ll find yourself barreling headlong right into a wall.

The challenge events are enjoyable enough, but the game is most enjoyable in the races. There’s just something more exciting about a race in which you’re encouraged to take out your competition as much as you are to beat them. The game keeps races competitive in spite of all the wrecks, so you’re never really out of a race until the end. On the other hand, you can take out your competition and find them back on your tail before you know it. You may not like the idea that you can never really win big in the game, but when smashing into the competition is a big part of the gameplay it’s good to keep the targets nearby throughout the race.

Burnout Dominator is an enjoyable game, but I can’t help but be disappointed that there’s no crash mode in the game. This has been a signature mode of the game from the beginning of the series and its absence is very noticeable here. Also noticeably absent is support for multiplayer racing over Infrastructure mode, although there is Infrastructure support in the form of game downloads of things such as new tracks which is pretty cool.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 84%. While not a dominant entry in the Burnout series, Burnout Dominator serves up some enjoyable racing action.