Burnout Dominator - updated hands-on

Say you're playing any RPG or platformer, and your oversize-coated, boybandish hero is whacked with a mace over a cliff, sent tumbling down a ravine, finally grinding to a halt in a briar patch. Funny, but never a cause for celebration. So why is it, with so many racing games out there, that rolling a muscle car at 90 miles an hour is, time and again, one of the most satisfying experiences a gamer can have?

Anybody who's spent a legitimate amount of time in a game like Grand Theft Auto knows the hours that can be lost in attempts to kill a defenseless automobile. And we here at GamesRadar once again applaud the Burnout series for dropping the pretense of customizable suspension and hair-thin drive lines to better focus on the sweet science of metal mangulation. And after being garaged for over a year, the franchise is back in chaotic form with Burnout Dominator on the PSP.

Series die hards should be pleased to see the return of plenty of your favorite Burnout game modes, such as the obvious race mode, the pavement-clearing Road Rage mode, and the oppenent crushing Takedown mode. But here comes a turbo blast from the past: Boost Chaining. Unseen since Burnout 2, Supercharge Boost is activated byhitting the boostwhen the meterburns propane blue, then holding that mother down.

As long as you squeeze it out in one shot, and keep those daredevil stunts up, your boost meter will refill itself and act as a combo multiplier. This allows for a potentially endless boost as well as exponentially increasedpoints... so you can earn more medals... so you can unlock better cars... so you canearn more points, etc.

Boost linking and the fresh ability to drift are key to thenew andfrenziedManic mode. Ignore your pole position for a second andthrow yourself intolinking extremely reckless vehicular combos likeBoost Chaining, near misses, trading paint, driving into oncoming traffic, and locking up those wheels to coast around corners. This new mode is enough to make your driver's license burst into flames, as well as beingan undeniable blast.