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Burnout Feature Feature
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
TVG recently had the chance to pop over to Criterion Studios, and checked out their eagerly anticipated Burnout...
Racing games, eh? If thereâs one genre that is oversubscribed, itâs that one. Le Mans 24hr, Ridge Racer V, Formula One 2001, Gran Turismo 3, the list goes on into the far distance with each one claiming to be the âKing of the Roadâ. All those claims and counter claims are soon to be put to the test though because Criterion Studios (the game development arm of Canon) has joined the grid and could jump straight into pole position in November with their very own Burnout. Derek dela Fuente joined the creative director, Alex Ward, behind the wheel.
First of all, Burnout has absolutely no storyline behind it, a throwaway element in most other racing games anyway. âOur game is arcade racing in the traditions of Out Run and Sega Rally. Racing games donât need a story unless itâs part of a bigger picture. GT3 is the best simulation whilst a game like Driver is mission based: we didnât want to attack any of those preferring to look at Burnout as a racing game in real, exaggerated, situations. Many games place their cars on streets, but those streets are empty: ours arenât.â Exaggerated reality? That needs an explanation, I think. âWe have lots of vehicles on our streets. If you drive on the wrong side, the oncoming vehicles will swerve, flash their lights, use their horns, etc. The exaggeration comes in when you crash: although you see the spectacular impact in a cut scene, your car doesnât suffer damage and you can continue your race. It looks real, but it isnât.â This is a valid point: I drive a beat up car everyday and itâs not much fun. âBurnout is all about the exhilaration of speeding, not crashing, getting to the next checkpoint, unlocking another car and another course.â
âWhat about the cars?â I hear you shout. Itâs coming right now! Initially, there are five types of fictional vehicles to select: a supermini (such as a Renault Clio), sports car (Toyota Celica), Saloon (Mercedes), muscle car (Dodge Viper), and a truck. âThere are no licensed cars because manufacturers donât like their cars to be smashed up.â Donât think that all you have to do is jump in the quickest car to win. There is no advantage in speed with these: each vehicle is balanced to have a top speed of about 120mph. What is different is in their handling ability. âWeâve removed traditional difficulty levels by including it with the car you select. The mini will be easiest to handle, the truck hardest. Any car will be able to beat another if the driver is good enough. This is a game that your mum can have fun playing. Many people only like driving trucks and if thatâs you, you have as much chance of winning as anyone else.â As for the environments, itâs set in the cramped, twisting roads of Europe and grid based America. âThey arenât real locations, itâs to give the player a chance to race on roads theyâve never experienced.â
So far Burnout may sound like any other racing game, but it comes into its own when you actually race. The courses, and there are 14 in total, will be populated with close to 300 other disparate vehicles, all adhering to the rules of the road: a kind of âintelligent transport systemâ. You, and your three opponents in the race, have no constraints, however. Each has the task of making the next checkpoint before the time elapses and their AI instructs them to drive recklessly. âIn a game like Gran Turismo, the computer cars are rather dumb. They sit on a fixed racing line. Our cars drive like maniacs, weaving in and out of the traffic.â This recklessness from both you and your adversaries does, however, have a means to it. For every second you race on the wrong side of the road, an on-screen bar begins to fill. When itâs full you have a turbo boost, or Burnout, used to propel you along at stratospheric speeds (140mph actually) until the bar empties. âThe Burnout is a reward for the player who takes risks. Run the bar down without crashing and you immediately gain another half bar as a reward for the skilful driver.â
Unusually for a racing game, there will be more than one high score table to get yourself on. Burnout has all the traditions of fastest lap, quickest race time and stuff, but forget those; your aim is higher. The obvious accolade is best driver but you can also impress your mates by being crowned worst driver by causing accidents; the more severe the crash, the higher the âinsurance payoutâ to you. âWinâ enough throughout the game and go to the top. But it doesnât end there because there will also be a table for the most impressive crash. âLots of players want to see car crashes in racing games and this is a way of giving those people something to aim for. It isnât a Destruction Derby game; the task is still to cross the line first.â But what happens when you do cross that finishing line? Although Burnout still has a few weeks work in it, Criterion Studios arenât about to alter anything, which includes the sequence of races in this Championship based racing game. Raced over three courses, if you come first overall in the first âGrand Prixâ you unlock a âduelâ mode. Otherwise known as a âface-offâ, this lets you race another car that you keep if you beat it. (If you lose, this mode is still available.) The second âGrand Prixâ leads to the opening of a âMarathonâ, which is two European courses seamlessly joined. âFour laps around here is going to take about 30 minutes. This particular mode was inspired by Need for Speed.â For those nervous âboy racersâ, if you finish a âGrand Prixâ in at least third overall, youâll be allowed to move to the next one. One further mode to be unlocked (without giving too much of the game away) is âSurvivalâ. Remember that in the normal course of a race, crashes are an integral part; in this mode theyâre to be avoided at all cost. Youâre allowed but a single indiscretion before youâre out. To compensate for this, the points awarded for your carefree outlook on driving (towards your turbo bar) are doubled.
Iâve played many a racing game over the years, but this is the first that has given me a realistic sense of speed. In fact, when I raced through a red light at a junction, I was startled when another car drove straight into the side of me. When that reaction occurs, the developer knows they have more than a decent game in the making. With the âwhooshâ of the passing cars adding to the sensation of speed, the sound of your driverâs heartbeat quickening, and the excitement generated, both developer and publisher (Acclaim) could be celebrating Christmas a few weeks early. You lot, on the other hand, will have to wait until the end of November to find out if itâs all true.
