Burnout 3
Burnout 3 was easily the most immediately enjoyable game at the show, and possibly the best. While the first game in the series was all about avoiding heavy traffic, and the second more about fast driving and chaining speed boosts, the newest game in the acclaimed series takes a new direction – taking out the enemy. Fans of the first two games have voiced their concerns about the direction the series is taking, namely the continuing reduction of traffic and the new ‘battle’ system further reducing the racing feel that made the first game so popular. Though these concerns do still remain, since traffic was very low in the demo (though apparently it was set to ‘Low’ traffic, on the highest setting it’ll be more like the original game, so the developers claim), the sheer enjoyment that was had from the game was just impossible to ignore. The handling is similar to that of Burnout 2, whilst the speed you travel feels even quicker. Indeed, if Criterion had not implemented this new Take Out system, then Burnout 3 would just feature a few tweaks to improve what we’ve played before. The graphics are now slightly more detailed and the vehicles now crash and fall apart in a far more convincing way (so much more debris flying about). Now, the player is given the chance to slow down time during crashes and throw in ‘after-touch’, meaning you still have limited control to cause further havoc. The representative was keen to point out that the team has been playing an awful lot of Burnout, Burnout 2 and interestingly Sensible Soccer for inspiration, which at least explains the after-touch. In another minor tweak; the boost can now be activated whenever you want, rather than waiting for it to reach the top. You can also increase the length of the burnout bar when you cause an enemy to crash. Also, the presentation in the front end has been given a complete overhaul, though it actually seemed over-complicated with too many different screens presenting themselves before the game started.
Now that the bias has shifted into more aggressive driving, the game is more ferocious and intense than it has ever been. In fact, it looks likely that Burnout 3 will be the most aggressive and satisfyingly violent driving game ever created. Imagine the most over the top car chase, where multiple drivers are each desperately trying to destroy the others by ramming and aggressive blocking and you should get an idea what to expect. The demo featured a fairly simple track, but it had a number of perfect opportunities for massive crashes. At one point, I was racing side by side with another vehicle at a ridiculous speed, both forcefully hitting into each other, while at the same time avoiding oncoming traffic. Towards the end of the straight, an intersection of the road created a perfect slamming opportunity, and so one vehicle pushes hard into the rival, blocking them to one side of the road, so they are unable to turn away from the rapidly approaching end of road. Despite desperate steering at the last second, a spectacular crash shows the rival car completely decimated. Extremely satisfying. Add in the fact that this was played online versus the people at EA Canada with absolutely zero lag issues, and you have one incredible multiplayer experience. Expect this to become a hugely popular title at parties.
Single player was played briefly and the AI was easily as aggressive as the folks at EA, though perhaps a worry is how the AI was able to catch up so easily and end up beside the car. As long as there are no obvious areas of exploitation against the computer, the single player game should also be very strong.
The rep wasn’t so keen to reveal details of the popular Crash Mode, but could confirm that it would at least return. Since the Take Out system is now the focus of the main game, it seemed logical to ask if players could race simultaneously into crash junctions, however the rep refused to comment, though he did add with a wry smile “you won’t be disappointed”. Make of that what you will. No word on downloadable content, but there will be full world online rankings for every stat in the game. Best times, biggest crashes, most air etc.
The PS2 version was also at the show, and it surprisingly ran just as well as its Xbox counterpart.
This is going to be huge.
Klik om te vergroten...
