Burnout Officially Next-Gen Bound
And just wait until you hear where the series is headed this time.
Published: August 29, 2006
The original Burnout was something of a surprise. Whereas Criterion Software's RenderWare platform had been around since the inception of the PlayStation 2, the examples shown off were, well, rather embarrassing, and it wasn't until Criterion decided they needed a proper in-house demonstration of the engine that it started to click. Then a little game called Grand Theft Auto III came around and suddenly RenderWare was anything but a joke.
But it was the Burnout series -- and in particular Burnout 2: Point of Impact and especially Burnout 3: Takedown -- that made it plain to see that RenderWare was no one-trick pony. Moreover, it was capable of creating a game with visuals that just shouldn't have been possible on the PS2 hardware -- especially at the time. But they were, and what's more, the Burnout games were continuing to get better as they shifted from pure racing while cheating death to something a little more destruction-minded.
By the time Burnout Revenge came out, the series had fully embraced the idea of destruction, with a bigger, longer, deeper Crash Mode and the ability to "check" traffic moving in the same direction out of the way. The question remained, though, where was the series headed after this?
The answer? Burnout 5 is going next-gen, and bringing with it a scope that's truly befitting the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Burnout has become free-roaming. The traffic-clogged highways and sun-starved alleyways of Paradise City will be the new environs with which to dispense your road rage, and the potential for destruction here is staggering.
"Burnout 5 is a complete reinvention of the series, built from the ground up for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360," teases Alex Ward, director of game design at Criterion Games. "To create truly next-generation gameplay, we needed to create a truly next-generation game, from top to bottom."
Criterion (and proud poppa EA) are keeping most of the details secret for now, but there are some sure things. The vehicle deformation has gotten a next-gen kick, allowing for cars to be ripped completely in twain, and the city is one, massive, continuous streaming world where "every intersection is a potential crash junction and every alleyway is an opportunity to rack up moving violations." Those violations are actually added to your driver's license, allowing you to build a rep strong enough to get challenges from other burners.
As one of the office favorites since the original came out, you can bet we're watching this series like hawks. As soon as new information comes our way, we'll make sure you're the first to know about it.
But it was the Burnout series -- and in particular Burnout 2: Point of Impact and especially Burnout 3: Takedown -- that made it plain to see that RenderWare was no one-trick pony. Moreover, it was capable of creating a game with visuals that just shouldn't have been possible on the PS2 hardware -- especially at the time. But they were, and what's more, the Burnout games were continuing to get better as they shifted from pure racing while cheating death to something a little more destruction-minded.
By the time Burnout Revenge came out, the series had fully embraced the idea of destruction, with a bigger, longer, deeper Crash Mode and the ability to "check" traffic moving in the same direction out of the way. The question remained, though, where was the series headed after this?
The answer? Burnout 5 is going next-gen, and bringing with it a scope that's truly befitting the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Burnout has become free-roaming. The traffic-clogged highways and sun-starved alleyways of Paradise City will be the new environs with which to dispense your road rage, and the potential for destruction here is staggering.
"Burnout 5 is a complete reinvention of the series, built from the ground up for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360," teases Alex Ward, director of game design at Criterion Games. "To create truly next-generation gameplay, we needed to create a truly next-generation game, from top to bottom."
Criterion (and proud poppa EA) are keeping most of the details secret for now, but there are some sure things. The vehicle deformation has gotten a next-gen kick, allowing for cars to be ripped completely in twain, and the city is one, massive, continuous streaming world where "every intersection is a potential crash junction and every alleyway is an opportunity to rack up moving violations." Those violations are actually added to your driver's license, allowing you to build a rep strong enough to get challenges from other burners.
As one of the office favorites since the original came out, you can bet we're watching this series like hawks. As soon as new information comes our way, we'll make sure you're the first to know about it.