Burnout Legends Hands-On

During a recent meeting with representatives of Electronic Arts and Criterion, we were able to get our hands on a playable work-in-progress version of Burnout Legends. Confirmed for the PSP earlier this month, Burnout Legends won't be based on the upcoming Burnout: Revenge, but it will, instead, bring together all the best features of Burnout, Burnout 2: Point of Impact, and Burnout 3: Takedown.

The two circuits we had the opportunities to race on, for example, were instantly recognizable from the last two Burnout console games. The PSP game's eight modes of play will also include the popular pursuit mode from Burnout 2: Point of Impact, which was conspicuous in its absence from last year's game.

During our brief time with Burnout Legends, we found the game was virtually indistinguishable from the console games on which it's based. The visuals (and in the car damage models, in particular) weren't quite as detailed, of course, but the sensation of speed was right up there with WipEout Pure...especially when we managed to fill up and use our boost meter without piling into oncoming traffic.

The exact number of tracks that will appear in Burnout Legends hasn't been announced yet, but we do know that Criterion has something quite special planned for the game's vehicle roster. Burnout Legends will feature a total of at least 25 cars, but the only way you'll be able to add to the randomly selected five you start the game with is to race against other players who have them. The details are still being finalized, but Criterion was quick to point out that the cars you start the game with will let you compete in any class. As a result, you won't actually be at a disadvantage if none of your friends shares your impeccable taste in racing games.

Another neat feature of Burnout Legends (which we'll be trying out at E3) is an option to play a single race demo against friends who don't have a copy of the game by using the PSP's wireless functionality. So, assuming the demo is any good, that might be a great way for you to convince your friends to each invest in a copy of the game. And if they do so, you would be given the opportunity to unlock some additional cars.

Further information on Burnout Legends is scarce at present, but we'll bring you details just as soon as we've had an opportunity to play the E3 version.