BURNOUT 3: TAKEDOWN, Electronic Arts/Criterion
This aggressive-driving-required racing game makes an outstanding antidote to Beltway commuting -- as long as you don't try to apply the game's techniques on real-world asphalt. The goal is to win each race, of course, but it's not enough to finish first; you also have to take down your opponents' cars, usually by forcing them to crash into buildings, oncoming traffic and medians.
Burnout 3 screenshot
(EA Games)
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A complex Takedown System rewards all the destruction you cause with an increase to your Boost meter, which can mean an extra jolt of speed to rocket past your opponents or extra force when you shove one of them off the road. Players can also earn Boost by driving on the wrong side of the road or almost hitting other cars -- the more reckless you are, the better.
The graphics (smoother and faster on the Xbox) go over the top with each crash; a car will splinter into hundreds of pieces. Between those highlights, details such as the sparks that fly when cars sideswipe and the skid marks they leave on the highway make the game a pleasure to watch, not just play.
Among Burnout 3's nine racing modes, World Tour, which sends you to racing events around the world, will eat up the most time. But Crash Mode, in which your score reflects the carnage you can create, is the most gleefully addictive of the bunch. Up to six players can compete online as well. -- Tom Ham
PlayStation2, Xbox, $50
THE POLITICAL MACHINE,
UbiSoft
Although no one has yet made an election-simulation game that matches the gripping drama of debates over the superscript capabilities of 30-year-old typewriters, Political Machine comes close to capturing the absurdity of the 2004 campaign. The nuts and bolts of the game echo other election sims -- candidates travel across the country, giving speeches, launching advertisements, groveling for endorsements and holding fundraisers.
Here, players can choose from a variety of real-life political figures or create their own candidate, then adjust the country's political climate (for instance, you can randomize state population and wealth, allowing Montana to wield more electoral votes than California). Political Machine brings a whimsical attitude to the proceedings, representing candidates with colorful caricatures -- some flattering (Al Gore, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack), some not so much (Kerry, Bush). During the course of a campaign, your candidate can be dogged by jaded political consultants, give inappropriate responses to media personalities or consort with celebrity groupies.
