Burnout Dominator is a racing video game developed by EA UK and published by Electronic Arts for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. It retains the core gameplay of the series, as players race at top speeds through dozens of World Tour events testing "reckless skill-based" driving techniques. This is the only Burnout game that was not developed by Criterion Games, and the first Burnout game in the series since to not feature the "Crash Mode". At the time Dominator was being developed, Criterion was busy working on Burnout Paradise and was waiting to re-introduce the mode in a new form for the latter title. However, Criterion Games are listed as "the makers of this game" in the game manual and credited as developer on the official Electronic Arts site.
Gameplay
The main focus in Burnout Dominator is the return of "Burnouts". Burnouts are the result of draining a complete boost meter without stopping. The boost meter in Burnout Dominator is primarily orange flames prior to a full boost meter, at which point in time the flames turn blue. Driving dangerously while using supercharge boost will light up the arrows on the boost meter, and when they are all lit, one can obtain a Burnout once the current supercharge boost has drained. The process can be continually repeated allowing the player to get a Burnout Chain. Prior to Burnout Dominator, Burnouts were last seen in . Features removed from the previous game, Burnout Revenge, include Traffic Checking, Traffic Attack Mode, Crash Mode, and online multiplayer support. Also, unlike all of the Criterion developed Burnout games, the PlayStation 2 version of Burnout Dominator does not support USB steering wheels such as the Logitech Driving Force or Logitech Driving Force Pro. The main single player mode known as the World Tour is split into 7 different series, based on the different classes of car that are in the game. The series are Classic, Factory, Tuned, Hot Rod, Super, Race Specials and Dominator. The vehicle lineup is mostly new with some cars from previous two Burnout titles peppered into the game. The events and new challenges in the World Tour include:
The other single player mode in Burnout Dominator is known as "Record Breaker", and this mode allows one to set high scores for Race, Road Rage, Time Attack and Maniac Mode, without being restricted to specific event/location/series combinations that exist in the World Tour mode. Co-existing with the Record Breaker mode, the PlayStation Portable version of the game allows uploading of high scores via the Burnout HQ option, which can be viewed in the EA Nation section of the Burnout Dominator website.
