It's always really interesting to go back to the first entry of a game series in order to see where things started. I played Burnout in the early pandemic days of 2020, after a childhood and teenage years spent with 2, 3, Revenge, Dominator and Paradise in varying amounts. I was bored, looking for something to play, and I quickly came to a realisation.
Burnout 1 sucks.
It's the most generic and boring arcade racer you'll ever play, with the world's slipperiest controls and only contains Burnout's iconic crashes as a way of blindsiding the player and allowing the AI to get ahead to the point of breaking the rubber band that should prevent them from getting impossibly far ahead. Just play 2 onwards, Burnout 1 is essentially Burnout in name only, and it shows.
Burnout 1 sucks.
It's the most generic and boring arcade racer you'll ever play, with the world's slipperiest controls and only contains Burnout's iconic crashes as a way of blindsiding the player and allowing the AI to get ahead to the point of breaking the rubber band that should prevent them from getting impossibly far ahead. Just play 2 onwards, Burnout 1 is essentially Burnout in name only, and it shows.