Pros: Excellent racing gameplay
Cons: Bad graphics engine
The bottom line: Is Burnout Dominator worth the money? Hands down, the answer is yes. It may just be the best Burnout title to date.
Burnout Dominator has been getting a lot of good press recently and for good reason. Despite its flaws, the game is truly great! Some say that it's a step too far back in the Burnout series and dock the game a few points for that alone, but what about those of us who didn't get a chance to play the original Burnout games? We finally get to see a glimpse of what Criterion had in mind when creating the original and its sequel.

Gameplay is where Burnout Dominator well dominates. Criterion removed the crash side of the game as well as minimized the number of Road Rage races. Instead, Dominator's gameplay focuses on racing. Whether racing against the clock, against a certain point goal (in the new Maniac Mode), or against other AI cars, Dominator centers much more around racing than around being a 200MPH demolition derby. While the mass of crashes in the older Burnout titles were enjoyable, focusing the game almost completely around racing has made for a game that's simply much more fun to play.

Unfortunately, while Dominator might just be the best game in the Burnout series when it comes to gameplay, it has a few problems that make it a lot more frustrating than it should be. For starters, it's obvious that this iteration of the game is more difficult overall. The AI cars seem to be relatively faster and more accurate than they used to be, and while more forgiving than its predecessors at lower speeds, Dominator is extremely touchy at high speeds. Barely nick this or tap that and your car will be sent tumbling. Either the collision detection is a bit off in this game or the barriers were set back just a little too far.

One other very large issue with the game is the graphics engine. While the game doesn't look bad, it doesn't look good either. There have been many PSP racing games that have had far better graphics than Dominator. To be honest, most of the time, it feels like I'm trying to play the game after someone sneezed on my screen and forgot to wipe it off. The streets and general traffic look very gritty and grainy, and a bad draw distance doesn't help things. For a game that encourages players to drive in excess of 200MPH while facing oncoming traffic, this game does a bad job of letting you know what's ahead of you.

While Dominator has its graphical and AI flaws, the amazing gameplay more than makes up for them. It'll probably take a good while to get used to the look of the tracks as well as the traffic before you can truly begin to race comfortably at high speed in the wrong direction, but it does come with time.

Is Burnout Dominator worth the money? Hands down, the answer is yes. Just be prepared to deal with some irritating flaws that, if addressed pre-launch, could have made Dominator the best racing experience on PSP.