Burnout Revenge is speeding toward its mid-September release date, and we recently got to check out one of its most anticipated game features: online play. It's great to take on the game's wily artificially intelligent opponents, but the real challenge and the real trash talking begins when you start racing friends via Xbox Live or the PlayStation 2 network adapter. The game is poised to bring even more networked multiplayer fun than ever before, so let's get right to the good stuff.

　　Good clean fun… at over 100 mph.

　　Burnout Revenge supports up to six players online all competing in five different event types: race, road rage, and three multiplayer variations on the popular crash mode--party, tour, and battle. Just as you might expect, races are first-to-the-checkered-flag affairs for up to six drivers. You can choose to race through 10 rounds on any of the tracks you've unlocked in the game. Just as in the previous game, a little bumping and rubbing isn't just acceptable, it's encouraged. Also just like last time, a key component of Burnout Revenge's single-player game--the slow-motion aftertouch takedowns--is taken out of multiplayer races. What's interesting is what is left in: namely the traffic-checking feature that lets you carve through traffic in the single-player game exactly as you can when playing single-player races or in world tour mode. Even though you can get through traffic pretty quickly using traffic checking, it's still a hindrance in races where every second and every drop of nitro boost counts. As such, traffic checking is sure to make online races that much more challenging.

　　As in Burnout 3, road rage online pits two teams of players against each other in a high-energy chase sequence that plays like something out of John Frankenheimer's Ronin--but on steroids. One team plays the pursuer, chasing down its opponents with reckless abandon in the hopes of taking each opponent out. The goal for the escapees is to run the entire length of the race without getting taken out by any opposing team members. Once one race is complete, the two teams switch sides, and you start all over again. The extreme variety in Revenge's tracks plays a big role in online road rage sessions. With huge jumps, blind corners, and plenty of immovable objects to smash into, your job won't be to just avoid your foes, it will be to survive on the ever-changing and always precarious Burnout Revenge courses.

　　In the single-player game, crash mode has received a big face-lift (check out our previous Burnout Revenge preview for more). Crash mode is a big part of the online experience in Burnout Revenge as well, and for good reason: It's one of the most fun and accessible ways to get your friends who hate racing into the game. And who can blame them? Crash mode isn't about racing, it's about mayhem--controlled mayhem, sure, but mayhem nonetheless.

　　So many places to race, so many places to crash.

　　Burnout 3 featured a crash party mode, and it's back in Revenge. Here, drivers simultaneously vie against one another to rack up as much damage as possible on any of the specially designed crash-mode tracks found in the game. You aren't on the course at the same time; instead each racer is driving on his or her own version of the same track. The rules are simple: Whoever creates the most vehicular chaos and racks up the most amount of damage (measured in dollars, of course) wins. Just as in the single-player game, there's a crashbreaker meter that builds up as the cars pile up on the road. Once you've filled it up, you have a handful of seconds to rapidly press a button to charge up your crashbreaker, blow up your car, and pile on the structural damage.

Extract Your Revenge

　　Different rides in the game have different crashbreaker power levels, so a small sports car won't be able to pack nearly the same explosive punch as the Madden bus or the diner truck, for example. At the same time, it's tougher to get the maximum out of a crashbreaker when using the big trucks; you'll need a much quicker than normal button-mashing finger to do so. Crash tour mode is an extended version of crash party mode. Each round has a preset minimum of damage you'll need to achieve before you can move on to the next round. Just as in the other modes, these crash mode events can take place on any crash mode course you've unlocked; you can either choose your favorite courses to tackle, or you can randomize which tracks appear.

　　Traffic checking will play a large role in Burnout Revenge's online races.

　　Perhaps the most intriguing addition to Revenge's online feature set is the crash battle mode. Here, all participants are on the same crash mode course at the same time. You're still looking to create as many fender benders as you can in the allotted time. However, the twist is you'll have to directly compete with your opponents, who may be looking to take you out as soon as the race begins. Strategy should play a big part in online crash battle sessions, both in terms of approach and car selection. Because Revenge's crash mode courses feature so many different paths to success, knowledge of those courses--and where traffic tends to pile up--will be paramount to your success. By tossing in opponents on the same track, the complexity and fun bumps up immediately, because the first person into a wreck gets credit for whatever mayhem results. Do you attempt to take out your opponents right away to leave the rest of the course open for you to pick off as you please? Or do you race to the intersection, looking to become the first to set the wreck chain in motion?

　　Here's where car selection comes into play as well. Provided you've spent some time with Burnout Revenge, you'll have a pretty good selection of whips to choose from in crash battle mode, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Big trucks can withstand plenty of punishment and can force their ways deeper into the crash mode fray. On the other hand, the quicker, more agile, yet more fragile sports cars will give you a leg up when racing to the intersection to bring down the thunder on unsuspecting bystanders. Which ride you use in each event will dramatically change how you approach it.

　　As you race online, you'll be building up both race and crash progression points, which will open up new tracks the more you race. The better you perform online, the more points you'll earn, and the quicker you'll unlock items in the game. You can take a look at your progress in the game by accessing the "progression" screen on the online menu. By winning races, you can also improve your race rating and crash rating, with the ultimate aim of earning a "1" ranking for both.

　　It was just a love tap.

　　As in any online multiplayer mode, more players equals more fun. Unfortunately, we were only able to test Burnout Revenge with just two players online and thus weren't able to get a taste for some of the riotous mayhem that will surely erupt when three-man teams take each other on in road rage matches or when six blistering motorized blurs make their ways to the intersections in the Deconstruction Site or Cars Attacks! crash mode courses. Nonetheless, our brief taste left us hungry for more online fun thanks to rock-solid performance and enough speed to peel back the skin on your face...even if you're sitting in your living room at home.

　　Stay tuned for more Burnout Revenge coverage as we dodge traffic on our way to its mid-September release.