The inherent pleasure in destroying something mechanically complex is impossible to deny. Wisely, the Burnout series' creators, Criterion Software, have chosen to make this the dominant theme in the games. With absolutely no licensed vehicles, tracks set only marginally in the real world, and a host of play modes that cater brilliantly to man's more destructive instincts, you could say that the Burnout games are quite focused on their role, in the grand scheme of arcade racers. And given how elegantly executed the games have been, it seems unlikely that they'll be one-upped in this regard.

Watch your eyes.

Full Metal Avalanche

Burnout 3: Takedown turns things up a notch in two very meaningful ways. First, it encourages you to drive ten times more offensively than it predecessor. You may remember how Burnout 2's boost system worked: your meter would gradually fill in response to reckless driving on your part -- stuff like driving on the wrong side of the road, catching air off the peaks of hills, and the like. Once it was full, you were able to boost, until you inevitably hit something. Then, it was back to square one. Burnout 3 lets you boost at any time, so long as there's some juice in your bar. All the old methods for boost-acquisition still work, too, but Criterion has added a more efficient way to accomplish this: the destruction of your opponents. Cause one of your opponents to wreck -- score a "Takedown" on them, as it were -- and your boost meter will both grow in size, and instantly fill up. Driving in a manner that suggests a general disregard for their safety -- scraping against them, shunting and bumping them, and tailgating them -- will also incrementally jack up your boost meter, but the big payoff comes when you send them flying.

Fun with physics.
Of course, they'll try to do the same to you, and should they succeed, your boost meter is back to square one. You do have one countermeasure, for when things go wrong -- the "Aftertouch" effect. You can activate the Aftertouch system when your wreck is hurtling through the air. What it does is give you a limited level of control as to which direction it flies in, your goal usually being to cause it to impede the progress of your opponents (by making them crash face-first into it). If you can successfully do this, you get to keep your boost meter intact after a crash. The way it facilitates the enactment of revenge carries with it a high level of value, too, I'm sure, but it's somewhat difficult to measure intangible things like that.