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The announcement of Burnout 5 this week won't have come as a shock to anyone ("Did you honestly think we'd NOT do a Burnout on PS3?!" quips Criterion's ever effusive Alex Ward) - but that doesn't mean we're not excited about the prospect of a next gen overhaul for one of our all-time favourite games.
But in typically enigmatic fashion, the press release for the game delivered, well, absolutely no information about the game whatsoever. Apart from that bit about it being a "complete reinvention". Yeah, thanks for that Alex!
Being unable to just leave it at that, we decided to collar Mr Ward to attempt to extract some more concrete information about Criterion's latest, and possibly greatest project. Slipperier than an eel in an oil spill, Ward wriggled out of giving us too much information, but it seems likely that the next Burnout will adopt the open city approach favoured by Need For Speed, but with the added bonus of "always having something to do". Like smash up cars, for instance.
With better damage modelling promised, more "space" and a jazzed up approach to the online side of the game, it promises to be the ultimate Burnout. Read on about Criterion's new game, thoughts on a sequel to Black and how the company's coped with its transition to EA ownership...
Eurogamer: Burnout 5 is pitched as a "complete reinvention" of the series. Can you elaborate on what you mean by that?
Alex Ward: What we mean is that we're starting again and building a next-generation game from scratch. People expect a lot from the new hardware. I know I do.
Eurogamer: It sounds like the game will be an openworld driving experience - is that the case, and will it feel more like Need For Speed in that respect, with the player driving to and fro to different events?
Alex Ward: You'll have to wait and see. Burnout and Need for Speed are connected in the sense that they are both driving game and they are both published by the same publisher.
We do totally different things in our games.
The original Burnout from 2001.
Eurogamer: On the same topic, can you skip the needless driving around if you want to, or does the driving between events in itself provide a meaningful gameplay element (such as actually driving along and discovering a massive crash junction, etc).
Alex Ward: For starters, it's Burnout. So the action is always around the next corner. We feel that sometimes this style of world can lead to a 'find the fun' factor where there isn't much to do. In Burnout there is always something to do. Like ploughing into cars for example.
Eurogamer: Revenge was a surprisingly big game, all in all. Will 5 be as big, in terms of actual play area?
Alex Ward: The new game has more 'space' (note I am being careful what I say there) than any other Burnout game yet.
Eurogamer: Ever thought of combining Burnout and Black and letting people get out of the car to run around and blow shit up?
Alex Ward: No.
Burnout 3: Takedown.
Eurogamer: Burnout has always featured incredible damage modelling. With the power of next gen machines at your disposal, how much better can it get?
Alex Ward: A lot better. We can now simulate the energy traveling through a vehicle at the point of impact. For us, it's about spectacular car crashes.
Eurogamer: Last time around, it took Criterion until Burnout 2 to really tap into the power of the PS2. Will it take a similar amount of time before you can really begin to explore the true potential of 360 and PS3? In the case of the 360, has the Revenge port given you a chance to really hit the ground running?
Alex Ward: Port is such a dirty word to us. Whenever we bring our games to a new format we always try and do something different or unique for that hardware. Looking across the 360 library so far, we don't see Revenge 360 as a port. We spent significant time developing the 'Live Revenge' feature as well as working on visuals and adding new content. I think it's still largely a misunderstood feature in the eyes of the specialist press. In fact, we just explored this topic on our website www.CriterionGames.com. We're enjoying the hardware a lot so expect something special.
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Comments: 1-46 of 46 in total
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Anthony_UK
01/09/06 @ 06:41
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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!
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most recently on 01/09/06 @ 08:08
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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!
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most recently on 01/09/06 @ 08:33
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"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...
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most recently on 01/09/06 @ 08:41
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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 ;) |
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Mr_Whacker
01/09/06 @ 08:05
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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.
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Ignatius_Cheese
01/09/06 @ 08:25
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No question as to whether a Wii Burnout title would be considered...? Or are we already beyond that? ;o)
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prettyboytim
01/09/06 @ 08:28
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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. |
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asphaltcowboy
01/09/06 @ 08:33
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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
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most recently on 01/09/06 @ 09:35
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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? |
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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. |
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kangarootoo
01/09/06 @ 09:08
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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.
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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. |
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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. |
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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.
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CrunchinJelly
01/09/06 @ 11:21
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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. |
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reality_cheque
01/09/06 @ 12:04
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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?
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asphaltcowboy
01/09/06 @ 15:02
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"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! |
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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...
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"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.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 01/09/06 @ 18:27
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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... |
Comments: 1-46 of 46 in total
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