Burnout 5 Comments by Kristan Reed

Alex Ward: Not concerned one bit. Burnout was an original game started by myself and my team.


Is it me, or was the original burnout (as great as it was) not just an almost exact copy of Thrill Drive, i personally don't know how they got away with it!

Surely traffic checking in BO:4 was more than just a game mode, in that you could hit traffic going the same way as you in any mode, something you couldn't in previous Burnouts. In fact, to complete some Burning Lap challenges, you HAD to check traffic in order to build up the necessary boost.

Traffic checking = Lame Mc Lame.

It actually stopped me buying the game, once I'd experienced the demo.

Traffic Checking was a nice new addition, but I don't see them keeping it in. Dodging both sides of the traffic was what it was all about.

Love everything about Burnout, the online mode in the 360 version was so addictive. MAde you wanna smash the twats in who play on Live!

"Yes. I think all games are moving towards heavy online gameplay. We've certainly got some great ideas for that area."

Nooooooo! Sure you have a friends list but you have to endure so many idiots to find people you CAN tolerate. Some of us are just plain unsociable and would prefer a nice OFFline game from time to time!

It doesn't help that none of my friends have 360s...

On they subject of traffic checking, I think it was a lot of fuss about nothing - I thought it sounded absolutely awful until I actually played it. There are still a hell of a lot of things you can hit such as large vehicles and people driving the other way. Not to mention it is a lot of fun to launch a car into an opponent:-)

Then again, people constantly bitch about Burnout3 as well...

Lost interest after they did the rubber banding stuff in 3 and 4. In 2 you felt you could own a race because you were good at driving and dodging the traffic. In 3 you were screwed once you got the formula 1 race cars because a single crash meant you never caught the leader again. Same problem in 4.

They really should have stuck to the burnout 2 formula and removed the stupid rubber band effect. If I'm 8 seconds ahead of someone, I don't expect them to boost past me in the last few meters of a race. That should be physically impossible yet it happens in burnout 3 and 4!

I'll be watching this development closely and any mention of a rubber band effect in the races and "I'm out" as they say in dragons den ;)

He's a pretty boring person to interview...didn't really say much apart from EA PR garbage!

I disliked traffic checking, personally I think the best game in the series is Legends on the PSP. I really bet he's bored of making Burnout games.

Its quite simple. I like driving games where you actually need to steer so Burnout got rubbish after 2. Shiny and flashy and all that but where's the game? I borrowred the 360 version and it was ages before I encountered any challenge in single player. It just felt like it was a tool to massage my ego with its crass awards and shouting 'Awesome' at me regardless of what happens in the race. Fact is I scraped round the barriers, was surprised when I got takedown. And you gave me a gold for that.

Will we get a Saint's Row review today ? Pretty please ?

No question as to whether a Wii Burnout title would be considered...? Or are we already beyond that? ;o)

Is it me, or was the original burnout (as great as it was) not just an almost exact copy of Thrill Drive, i personally don't know how they got away with it!

I worked at Criterion at the time. There was a Thrill Drive dual cabinet in the Criterion offices.

Burnout was a much better game, though.

Really enjoyed Revenge on Xbox, and whilst I wasn't a fan of the Traffic Attack game mode, being able to check traffic going in the same direction as you was a good thing I think. It means you can spend a lot more time concentrating on ramming the hell out of the opposition!

EDIT: and whilst the rubber-banding was annoying in 3, I felt it seemed to work quite nicely in Revenge - there was always someone to smash up and let's face it, that is now the focus of the game, rather than actually racing!

Therefore, I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do on 360/PS3

B2 was the pinacle of this series.
Had B3 on the xbox - sold it. Quite poor but still purchased Revenge on the 360 - it is terrible. So BOOOORING.

Haha Alex Ward is one fucker that's sure of himself.

the thing I disliked about Revenge and what eventually made me give up and sell it was just the progression sustem, it just made getting through the game a real slog, in the end I was just staring at the menus looking for an interesting event to do and just thought forget it, this is just too much, it's not fun to navigate the sloppy menu system, it's the same race over and over again....I hope they sort this out for 5 but to be honest that interview today and the news yesterday just puts me right off.

Why have a press release if you let someone like that speak for you?

i never got what people liked about burnout. Could never stick with it for more than a few sessions.
Hope this" reinvention" may still do it for me though...

I'm a huge fan of the Burnout series and thought that Burnout 2 and 3 were the best games in the series. I like Burnout 2 for it's reliance on skll and 3 for its sheer thrill factor. Revenge wasn't quite as good as either but it's still a great game.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Criterion can do with a true next-gen sequel but I hope they don't continue to dilute what made Burnout 2 and 3 so good in the first place. And I really hope they go back to having a more skill-reliant game and lose the rubberband catch-up A.I. which seems a bit cheap these days.

On the "original concepts" issue, I'm not sure he quite got the question. Half the original concepts he listed (BO and Sims being the two main offenders) are well down the sequel route. EVERYTHING is original the first time around.

That said, I don't particularly care if a game is original so long as its good. Originality is nice, but it won't shore up poor gameplay. Good gameplay is king IMHO.

I wonder how many staff they will "Burnout" this time around.

Well heh-ho, I'll stick my two penneth in and say I have progressively enjoyed every title in the series with B:R on the 360 be my favourite yet. I even like the traffic checking - it is interesting though how the checking is a real black and white for people, you either love it or hate it it seems.

I recently went back to B3 given it's recently been made backward comp and I was surprised by how much I prefer B:R to it.

So I say; keep up the great work and the refinements; the Burnout games have now become my favourite series to follow.

Wow, lotta people saying B2 is their favorate.
Nice to know I wasnt the only one who thought that too

Both Eurogamer and Ward come off as complete tits in this article.

Eurogamer: Traffic checking was Revenge's 'big idea' but not everyone liked it. Will it be in 5? What's the big new addition to 5?

Eurogamer: Ever thought of combining Burnout and Black and letting people get out of the car to run around and blow shit up?

Eurogamer: Were you surprised by the level of success that Burnout Legends on the PSP had? It stuck to a much older model of gameplay than Burnout: Revenge had, but seemed to go down better with both critics and consumers

No wonder he sounds ticked off.

They had to try something to liven the man up! Anyone would think his whole family had just been in a carcrash.

EA'd.

I'd like to know if they are going to make the online actually work this time, as opposed to the horror that was playing 3 and Revenge online. I played loads of Revenge on the Xbox, and the frustration factor was immense. When it worked, it was brilliant. Problem was, it worked so infrequently. I haven't had annoyance levels so high since playing PC games over dialup.

I didn't buy Revenge, a) because of traffic checking, and b) because it had EA's "brown is in now, let's make all the levels look like an industrial warzone and do away with sunshine!" policy. If I don't crash when I hit a car and the skies are never blue in 5 it won't be getting a purchase. A shame, as 3 was utterly brilliant, until they completely broke it.

And Alex Ward is an arse reading from an EA corporate speech. He's clearly been told exactly what he must say. I've never read such a lifeless, robotic interview.

disc - "Haha Alex Ward is one fucker "

fixd.

After the plastic-fantastic graphical style of B3 I thought the brown industriual tinge of B:R wouldn't be for me. But then I came to really like it, and again, going back to B:3 this week I realised that I actually prefer the style of B:R.

I also realised what a difference HD made in B:R on the 360. At the time I bought it I thought it just looked a little nicer, but playing B:3 again made me realise it really was a relatively substantial improvement.

*I feel alone as I seem to be the only person who enjoyed B:R sniff*

Oh, and I really could care less for the online modes.

B:R was good, with spectacular graphics, except for the stupid dumbing-down (rubber band AI, traffic checking, tracks not needing you to steer). But I simply don't get this drive to include a 'free-roaming', sprawling driving environment in every damned racing game. EA, you did it with NFS and it worked - now try crafting some actual tracks for Burnout.

I'm glad a lot of people are still refering to Burnout 2 as their fav - it was simple to play, addictive and required skill...

Is it just me or does Alex Ward come across as a complete arse in this interview?

Looks like he's been hit with the EA stick one too many times already.

And there was me thinking I was the only one that liked each sequel more and more. I like traffic checking as it makes sense - why should I be able to hit my opponent in the rear and survive but not the tiny little hatchback, just because it's not a racer?

Oh, and I really could care less for the online modes.

Couldn't it's COULDN'T! ARGGGGGH!

Maybe he loves the online modes and therefore it *is* possible for him to care less.

@Zero BeatL Give it up man - they won't learn. I still hear this phrase a trillion times a day on the telly despite being completely illogical.

Oh well, I could care less.

Ooops... couldn't

Ward sounds like someone you'd never invite to a party.

Burnout 3 was braw, completely agree with Snowy in that traffic checking stopped me buying 4. No more weaving in and out of all the traffic, just plow through them, ruined a great game. I notice he refused to answer that question too. If TC is in 5, no sale.

"Ward sounds like someone you'd never invite to a party."

But if you asked him about it he'd tell you he'd been there anyway and that it was a fantastic and 100% original experience unrivaled in the party scene.

"No more weaving in and out of all the traffic, just plow through them, ruined a great game.

Er... ok, you definitely didn't play it, did you?
I still have to do plenty of weaving through traffic when I play!

Few games compare to Burnout 2 for pure, hypnotic gameplay - the challenge of linking burnouts together, the clever way in which all the traffic seemed to be in just about the same place every time, the way the music swooshed in and out when you pressed the burnout button. I played it again the other day and it kicked my arse a bit...

"Er... ok, you definitely didn't play it, did you?
I still have to do plenty of weaving through traffic when I play!"

You had to avoid every bit of traffic in Takedown, in Revenge you can hammer through loads without worrying. So aye, I did play it, and compared to 3 it's total pish.

Christ what a boring twat he was.

And Burnout 3 > Burnout 4. Traffic checking = boring.

End of discussion.

Anyone else hoping for some back to basics stuff?! Couldn't care less about the new ideas and modes, more Burnout 2 would be just fine for me, that actually required some skill.

SAVEABLE CRASH REPLAYS FFS

I really liked Traffic checking, smashing into the traffic and using the wreckages to take down your opponents was great fun

but then again, i don't like racing games.. except for the Burnout series

I can tell from reading these comments that not many of you experienced the best part of Revenge by far... and that's the online play.

You guys all say that Burnout 2 took more skill than B3 and Revenge, and that you could just scrape all the walls and hit cars and still win.

But really, if anything, B3 and Revenge take much more skill than B2 ever could simply because of online play. Because believe me, it's much harder to beat the best online racers in Revenge than to beat Burnout 2 offline. Burnout 2's career mode is nothing compared to B3 and Revenge online in terms of difficulty.

To win at Revenge online you gotta do some truly skillful driving.

I do agree that traffic checking is a bit lame and that Burnout 2 was MUCH better than the later games offline, but once you bring Revenge on Live into the equation, you've got stuff to think about...