Burnout: Dominator

Game: Burnout Dominator
Publisher: Electronic Arts
System: PS2
Review by Greg Cutcher


So you want to go fast in a car? I mean really fast? I mean extremely fast? So fast that you care about nothing else except your speed? Well then, step into Burnout Dominator, speed demon.

Burnout Dominator takes the element of speed overwhelms the game. The element of speed takes away from most everything else in the game such as the Gameplay and Graphics. Music is another element, but it is always playing in the background and never changes to how the game is being played, so it is not as strong as speed.

In any option of the game, put the petal to the metal (Hold down a button) and watch your selected car go 'Zoom'! Never a dull moment, speeding through lanes, avoiding cars, dragging about corners and narrowly dodging death until you hit the finish. Of course, there are ways to make you go faster and some 'nifty' things that happen if you are about to meet-your-maker.

In Burnout, you can literally 'Takedown' any other car on the road by ramming it or forcing it to the side so it grinds against a wall. If a car takes enough damage, it'll explode, flip and/or do a few things to which you can watch. With Takedowns, you can unlock hidden parts of the map by having a car explode near a wall that is blocking the way.

The name 'Burnout' comes from the game's core game feature. If you are willing to do what no sane man would ever do by going top-speeds, speeding in the wrong lane of traffic, dragging about corners and crashing other cars, you will increase your 'Burnout' meter at the bottom of the screen. As the meter increases, you can either use it right away to increase your speed or you can wait until the bar is full. When the Burnout bar is full, you can go ultra-fast, generally giving you tunnel vision. Unlike using the bar before it is full, the Burnout at the full bar will allow you to gain more to the meter and potentially achieve more full Burnouts in one go. Unfortunately, when Death arrives VIA you crashing, your resurrected self loses any Burnout he/she had.

In Burnout, instead of going to the Pearly Gates when you crash, you just have an instant replay of how you died. With this replay, the crash slows down to a crawl and you get to see how the crash happens from the moment of impact. You can control a rather limited camera as the car pops from one state of damage to the next, giving the crash a lame effect. On the explosive side, sometimes you can make your car go 'BOOM!', taking out other cars close to where you crashed. The downfall to this 'fun' bit is that the crashes get repetitive, predictable and are rather uneventful.

Speaking about cars, Burnout has many of them, including several series with a few different brands within each. However, even if you believe that these cars are possibly 'cool', don't kid yourself. These cars seem like well-decorated cardboard boxes with rocket engines within them. The PS2 version of Burnout Dominator does not give the best looking cars that one would expect in a current game.

Burnout Dominator does not give too many game features. With only the 'World Tour' to which you race and obtain medals and unlock cars, new maps and series. 'Trials' where you can make records with all the cars you've unlocked from the 'World Tour' and the maps you have completed. Finally, Multiplayer, where you can have players taking turns at the controller or split screen where you can race against friends.

With enough teeth-grinding, looking past the limited parts of the game and sometimes admiring what is trying to happen, you might come to appreciate Burnout Dominator. However, this game is mostly for those that love 'how-fast-can-you-go?' car games and/or just the Burnout Franchise. If you have limited or no interest in Car games and/or the Burnout Franchise, you should look to spend your money elsewhere.