Burnout Crash!

The actual driving element is minimal, but if you like puzzle or arcade-style games, Burnout CRASH! is right up your alley. It's certainly charming and addictive, and for $10, it doesn't get a whole lot wrong. I'm just hoping that the next game that comes along with the Burnout name sticks a little closer to the roots of the series.

Tacked-on Kinect support is far from the only sign that Crash is not your typical Burnout game. But by focusing squarely on the type of play that the series is best known for, Crash successfully captures its spirit. You'll likely put it through its paces pretty quickly, but there are worse ways to spend 800 Microsoft points.

Burnout Crash! is quite stripped down compared to major games in the series, but considering the low price I consider it a fair trade off. This isn't exactly what I would have wanted from a new Burnout game, and I'm unlikely to be alone in that, as it does have some noticeable design flaws. But once you get over them you will find that this is a fun title, worthy of the Burnout name, and well worth the 800 MS Points asking price.

A game that leaves mixed sensations. It is fun and quite original, and is challenging for some times. But after the first hours it gets too repetitive, and it lacks a multiplayer mode or even online rankings. It is enjoyable and fun, and also well made, but the idea becomes limited quickly.

This top-down arcade game based on Burnout's Crash mode is addictive, but it could've used a little more focus on mindless carnage and less on planning and repetition.

Maybe having the Burnout name on it makes you expect something else, but as for what it is, a cheap downloadable game, Crash provides some fun for a reasonable amount of time.

Everything a downloadable title should be: simple, addictive and well priced. Those still in a strop that it isn't the 'proper' Crash mode that we've seen in Burnout games previously are missing the point. It is what it is, and it is jolly good fun.

Well-integrated social features fuel the competitive kinetic chaos of Burnout Crash.

Quite a pleasant surprise. It's short, sweet, and compulsively addictive while it lasts. Better still, if you're all about chasing high scores and roundhouse-kicking your friends off the winner's pedestal, you can ring quite a bit of value from this one.

Admittedly, this probably isn't the Burnout game fans were expecting when it was announced earlier this year. But for $18.90 NZ or 800 Microsoft Points, Crash! does offer up a manic, entertaining couple of hours for anyone with severe destructive tendencies.

Just because it says Burnout in the title you won't find Burnout inside – Burnout Crash will have to live with that criticism. Criterion took the popular Crash mode and turned it into a complete game, but leaving quality so much roadkill in some places. It's not really a bad game, though, just miles behind the original.

Burnout Crash provides some cheap crashy entertainment, but doesn't have much longevity. It feels like a mobile phone game that lost its way and ended up on Xbox Live.

Criterion do his own auto-inspiration from the classic Burnout Takedown and bring us an enjoyable "Crash" mini game that needs some skills and brings some fun, but nothing more.

Good for a quick burst of fun in the short term, but gamers looking for a test of skill would be better off playing Angry Birds. Yes, really. [Issue#115, p.98]

Download it, but keep your expectations somewhat calm. [Issue#78, p.100]

Mostly just crashes and burns. [Dec 2011, p.105]

Gameplay is repetitive, level design is not too good and the player's influence on what's happening is limited, so the game gets boring very fast. [November 2011, p.83]

Criterion's "side project" cannot stand on its own in a market full of great arcade games. It's fun and it stays true to the Burnout spirit, but the fun will last only for a couple of hours.

Fans of good ol' fashioned automotive mayhem with $10 to spare may want to give Burnout Crash! a shot. It can be repetitious at times, but the inclusion of autolog and the addictive gameplay make it a solid downloadable offering.

It's not a completely disappointing experience, but I felt like too much of my time with Burnout Crash was spent almost having fun. In a way, that's almost more frustrating than if Criterion had whiffed it completely, since you can see the game that you'd want to play right in front of you, and yet it remains just out of reach.

The curious structure of Burnout Crash makes the overall experience one of giddy highs punctuated by fist-clenching lows, and as such it's very difficult to recommend with any confidence.

There are deep, deep pockets of joy embedded in the mantle of Burnout Crash, but for reasons beyond understanding, you're going to have to do your chores before you're allowed to play them.

Burnout CRASH! suffers from a developer who has take a very simple premise and tried to beef it up make it worth the 800msp asking price.. The only fun mode is Rush Hour and that really isn't worth getting the whole game for.

Enjoyable in the briefest of playtime. While the overall concept turns Burnout's Crash mode into an addictive, destructive puzzle game, the graphics and sound will have you reaching for your console's power button.

Burnout Crash is fun as a mini-game, but not as a full arcade game. Its repetitive nature and unimpressive visuals will bore you and turn Crash into a barely interesting one trick pony.

I think nothing would have happened if Burnout Crash! never existed. Unless it's an advertisement, a reminder of the title just before the announcement of a next big installement. In any other case, you shouldn't bother. It looks nice and was obviously prepared by a talented studio. But that's not enough in the wake of boredom and frustration. It's subjective, I know, but that's the best description of the time spent with this game. Burnout Crash! is a perfect game for no one - it can't interest a fan of the series (and I'm one) as well as a regular player. The developers missed a corner here.

Turning Crash Mode into a dedicated game is, in theory, a good idea-no doubt some Burnout fans are salivating even as they read this-but the execution feels half-assed and thin.

If the Burnout name is to remain alive it'll need something with a bit more fire in its belly than this mediocre destruction derby.