Like other Burnout games before it, Burnout Revenge is about as far removed from a driving simulation as you can get while still involving driving. It's better described as a crashing game; a lushly-depicted, instantly playable, way-over-the-top crash-bang-smash-'em-up with a mandate to mangle the competition to gain booster power which is then used to thrust yourself out of sticky situations (as when an opponent is side-swiping you into oncoming traffic), propel you into them if it's to your advantage (like when buddy is ripe for a ride up a guard rail) and, ultimately, rocket you across the finish line.

Like most good things in life, getting there is most the fun.

If you've created a collision worth watching, the view switches to slow motion movie mode, swooping and panning around the event horizon while your car is momentarily switched to auto-pilot, allowing you to rubber-neck the glory of your deeds like you might in a Matrix movie.

Like any sequel worth its salt, Revenge adds a few new modes (like Road Rage and Traffic Attack, for example, which are pretty much self explanatory) and gameplay elements; the more endearing of which includes the use of regular vehicular traffic as your own personal shuffle pucks o' destruction.

There's an unprecedented amount of ramps and assorted smashables too, allowing you to really get creative when setting up chain reaction pile-ups and collateral damage aplenty.

Too, you can now participate in those slo-mo doom sequences if it's you that's doomed, picking your eventual landing spot so it will do some damage; a death-throe Kamikaze option with the potential to take out everything in the vicinity and mess up the roadway for anything else coming up behind. That alone adds all sorts of depth to the full throttle action of the single player experience, but you can also do multiplayer mayhem online with up to six players, which can really ramp up the challenge of it all, because there are more than a few self-trained and certified maniacs out there ready to take you on and take you out.

[TIP: If you have a Madden NHL 06 game save file, it will unlock the heavy hitting Madden bus in Burnout Revenge.]