Following the massive success of Burnout 3: Takedown in 2004, Criterion reveals the next version in the franchise...

On its release in 2004 Burnout 3: Takedown garnered a lot of acclaim from within the industry and from gamers alike. It was also the first title in the franchise to be published by Electronic Arts since the company’s acquisition of Burnout developer, Britsoft firm Criterion Games.

The game managed to take the franchise to a new level and introduced one of the key features that is now very much an integral part of a Burnout title – Aftertouch, a technique that allowed gamers to control the movement of their totalled wreck of a car and direct them into the path of opposing cars and general traffic. It might have seemed like a gimmick to some but the addition of controllable wrecks lifted the game from being a good but disjointed experience, into a great game with consistent and fluid gameplay. It now meant that the Burnout franchise was no longer about having two types of gametype: race and crash. Instead the Takedowns enabled the boundaries between the gametypes to blur very effectively making the game very much a unique title in a competitive market.

In many ways the Burnout franchise has become the videogames equivalent of playing with toy cars as a kid, and for a lot of the time it’s almost like being back on the lounge floor with a couple of Hot Wheel cars – making the relevant revving noises and crash sounds before lifting the two cars into the air simulating the ultimate impact…and then starting all over again.

After the introduction of several features, not least the debuting of online gaming in Takedown, the question at Criterion surely must have been this: What can we do to evolve the series from here?

At E3 2005 TVG visited Criterion at the mammoth EA booth to sample the delights of things to come – Burnout Revenge, which is set for a release on Xbox and PlayStation 2 this Autumn; and as with Takedown, Revenge adds several new ideas to the formula that are sure to have the fans drooling for more. Burnout 3 was subtitled “Takedown” and signalled the franchise’s emphasis on well, taking down the opposing cars. This time around, the subtitle is “Revenge” and it doesn’t exactly take a rocket scientist to suppose what that’s all about…

For this new version of Burnout, Criterion have included the ‘Revenge Meter’, which gauges the tactics of players. In addition, the developer has created the game so that opponents taken out by the player will become rivals and become more aggressive towards the gamer as they seek their own revenge. In order to differentiate between an opponent and a rival, Burnout Revenge uses colour coded arrows above each race car, with green signifying a neutral opponent and red to indicate a revenge thirsty rival. Developed to compliment the new revenge style of gameplay, Criterion has also evolved the takedowns so that players can now use the camera to see right behind them, which is perfect for timing an Aftertouch collision or setting off a Crashbreaker (yes, the Crashbreakers can now take place during actual races) just as your rival comes close to you. Criterion has also integrated a new Grudge mode where rival cars will challenge a player to a grudge race if overly-provoked. Although taking part in the race is an option for the player to take, the mode does typify the ‘risk and reward’ philosophy of the franchise: win, and your opponents car will be unlocked in your garage. Lose, and players surrender everything that they’ve earned in the previous race. As with the last iteration, Criterion’s tweaks look set to change the way gamers actually play Burnout and for the second year running, the Britsoft company seem to have managed to push the franchise further into greatness.

Besides the introduction of the Revenge ‘ethos’, the game also sees the debut of multi-levelled tracks and the integration of a more open-world design, which in turn creates a new facet of gameplay to the Burnout franchise. The addition of multi-level tracks allows for a whole new form of wrecking the chances of opponents – the Vertical Takedown. Hugely satisfying to complete, the vertical takedown looks set to become a fan favourite when the game is released later on this year. Not only that, but the prospect of multi-route tracks will mean that the level of frantic action in the game is enhanced as gamers cut away from each other in the pursuit of quicker routes. It certainly seemed that way when playing through one of the available tracks at E3, and it was at that point that Criterion revealed a change in the franchise that some may not be too pleased about…

Looking away from the main mode, one of the key ‘adjustments’ made in Burnout Revenge is the removal of the icons from the Party Crash Mode; gone are the x4 multipliers and the hateful heartbreaker icon, instead Criterion have integrated a system where the amount of carnage dictates the level of multiplier associated with a crash. From their point of view, Criterion argues that the use of multipliers had previously meant that gamers were pre-occupied with working out the key route to the x4 multiplier, instead of trying to cause as much destruction as humanly possible. For some the move is a an exciting proposition, but for others (Bring back the multipliers! – Ed) the decision might end up being a bridge too far. Only time will tell as to whether the move will cause a possible Burnout 5 to reintroduce the icon system, but until then…

Criterion has also added to the gametypes within Burnout Revenge with the Traffic Attack mode, something that will whet the appetite for intense trails of destruction. This is the mode that makes you wonder why it hasn’t made an appearance before the fourth iteration of the franchise. The setup is this: players have a timer at the top of the screen, which counts down and ends when it hits zero. In order to keep the game alive, players have to crash into as many with-flowing traffic as possible – careering into oncoming vehicles will only hinder progress. The mode builds up to the most carnage inducing gameplay experience in a racing period, and may just overtake Party Crash mode as the favourite gametype in TVG Towers.

One of the features to be tweaked in Burnout Revenge are the locations of the races. In Takedown, gamers were left to race in ambiguous cities across North America, Europe and the Far East – this time the game have introduced tracks based on the real-world urban areas. Criterion were protective about all of the real-world cities that the game takes place in, but the demo at E3 did confirm that the action would take place in Detroit, Rome, and Tokyo – with more to be announced closer to the release date.

What is clear, and has been evident even before TVG tested the demo at E3, is that the visuals have taken on a much more realistic style. Whether this is just to lay down the foundations for the franchise’s debut on the next-generation consoles in 2006 or whether Criterion just felt that the time was right to push the graphics of Burnout towards a more photo-realistic setting is so far unanswered. What can be said is that Burnout Revenge comes across at this stage to be a continuation of the series, and evolution almost, where the gameplay of Burnout 3 has been enhanced and tweaked, and where additional options are integrated into the gametypes of the previous titles. The car classes have been simplified to just three types: Race, Muscle, and Crash, although Criterion are yet to reveal whether sub-classes are available below the main groups. The games is also set to feature online gameplay once again on Xbox Live and PS2 Network Play. TVG recently spoke to Criterion about Burnout Revenge, you’ll be able read exactly what they had to say about their forthcoming title soon.