burnout5
Latest
Videos: Burnout Paradise from GameTrailers
While we didn't get a chance to get hands on here at X3F, you're welcome to check out Joystiq's outlook on Burnout Paradise. In the meantime though, we have a bunch of video from GameTrailers. The first of which is a gameplay trailer that shows what some readers complained that the teaser lacked: crashes. The game runs silky smooth and on top of that eye candy we have a trifecta of videos for you after the break. The first is more gameplay, followed by a developer interview that covers a new feature: "Road Rules". The last one goes over the open world of Paradise City. Enjoy.
Burnout Paradise screens careen online
Electronic Arts released a slew of screenshots for Burnout Paradise after the Press Conference earlier today. Shots show off an exotic and muscle car racing through the streets of Paradise City. Joystiq has some impressions up, though the only version showing at E3 is the PS3 version. Either way, the game is looking great, and we'll try to get some time to talk with EA/Criterion about the 360 version and should the versions be identical, get some hands on impressions, blasphemous or not.
Burnout Paradise's Teaser collides with Marketplace
The beautiful, serene, and surprisingly crashless teaser trailer for Burnout Paradise is now available in glorious High Definition on Xbox Live Marketplace. While some of you readers complained that the lack of destruction didn't really do anything for you, the focal point was the city that will be literally at your disposal in the new gen aggressive racer. The trailer weighs in at 36.23 MB, which sounds about right for 60-ish seconds of content. Does it look like the new hawtness compared to the YouTube version we showed you before?
New name for Burnout 5 + new trailer and screenshots!
Criterion announced today that the tentatively titled Burnout 5 is now officially called Burnout Paradise. To commemorate the occasion, they've also released a handful of new screenshots and a sexy teaser trailer.Burnout Paradise is supposed to mix up the Burnout experience by providing a kind of free-roaming gameplay with online integration that sounds similar to Test Drive Unlimited, though not a lot of details have come out yet. I'm a bit wary about it myself, I rather dislike free-roaming gameplay in racing games. I liked the arcade-y feeling of the earlier Burnout tracks, and I'm worried you're going to lose some of the pacing by making it a sandbox racer. At the same time, Criterion has a fantastic track record and they haven't let me down yet.What do you guys think? Do you think sandbox style gameplay will be beneficial to the Burnout formula?
Burnout Paradise emerges from Burnout 5 cocoon
Burnout has always been paradise for degenerates like Rosanna Arquette, but EA has announced that the next iteration of the series will draw the rest of us into her and Elias Koteas' sick game, as Burnout 5 becomes Burnout Paradise. Besides the assertion that the game "proves that crashing is awesome!" (take that, James Dean) there's not a lot of info that we didn't already know in the official announcement. It's an open-world approach to the game and there are crashes. The release says that you'll "experience the most explosive pile-ups in the series' history," but they don't have any scientists backing that up, so we really don't feel comfortable reporting it. Luckily, you'll be able to do your own research when Burnout Paradise hits Xbox 360 and PS3 this winter.[Via Gamertag Radio]%Gallery-2874%
Burnout 5 screens crash into internet
Over a dozen Burnout 5 screens hit the internet recently. The screens were evidently part of an exclusive preview. We looked around and found a Burnout 5 preview posted at GamePro.com. At least, the preview used to be there. It has since been pulled at the request of Electronic Arts. Still, the screens and the preview are floating around, as things tend to do on the 'net. Lord knows how long it will be up, so you'd best take it in now.For the sake of our readers, we'll summarize what's new. First of all, Burnout 5 (working title) is an open world game. In other words, you no longer choose your events from a menu. Instead you activate them inside the world (known as Paradise City). As Criterion's Alex Ward describes it, a race could turn into a road rage, which could turn into a pursuit, eventually ending with the player being taken out by another driver. Since you crashed anyway, why not record it as a crash mode run? According to Ward, this is the experience Criterion is aiming for in Burnout 5. Speaking of crashes, the cars now contain 80 destructible parts, making for some much more detailed "accidents." Another new feature is the driver's license, which acts as a player's stat tracker. As a player increases his stats, his driving level will increase, allowing him to take better control of more advanced vehicles. The idea behind this is to keep players from simply unlocking the "best" car and leaving it at that. Without a high enough skill level, a good car becomes harder to drive. Hit the "read" link for more screens and info.[Thanks, DjDATZ]
Finally! Burnout 5 screens make their entrance
Well, this involved a little more detective work on the part of bloggers than normally expected. Some images of Burnout 5 were posted up on GamePRO's website, but were quickly removed. That aside, all we know about the game is that it's going to incorporate the HD EyeToy somehow and be a much more open experience than prior iterations. But where are the screenshots?Luckily, someone from N4G posted the scans before they were removed and we can enjoy them to our hearts content. Guess what? They look pretty. Yeah, it's another car/driving/racing/kaboom game, but it's a pretty good one. Let's hope it stacks up well next to all the competition on the PS3 and 360!
Camera support for next Burnout? Why? How?
Computer and Video Games has an extremely short story (more like a haiku, really) in which Criterion's Alex Ward hints at digital camera support for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Burnout 5. Our first thought upon reading this was, "Why does this game need camera support?" Is there going to be some sort of wave-your-hands-to-move- the-on-screen-steering-wheel mode? Is the game going to display our twisted, mangled faces as we react to the twisted, mangled cars on screen? Are they going to let us take pictures of our own car and then blow up an in-game model of it? Because that last one would be kind of cool.Our second thought was, "Hey whatever happened to the HD EyeToy promised for the PS3?" The thing was shown off way back at E3 2006 working with SingStar and gimmicky card battle game Eye of Judgement. Since then, the Sony camp has been dead silent on the peripheral. The best information we were able to find is a cryptic October interview with EyeToy designer Richard Marks that calls the device "a concept rather than a product line." Since the PS3 supports data from practically any USB webcam for video chats (even the Xbox Live Vision cam), has the idea of a specific, Sony-branded EyeToy fallen by the wayside?
Burnout 5 to employ Vision Camera
There hasn't been a great deal of information surrounding the next installment of the Burnout series, so far referred to only as Burnout 5. As such, we feel it our responsibility to inform our readers of even the tiniest bit of Burnout related news. Today's bit of news is actually fairly exciting, as it seems that the Vision Camera will be used in the game. So far we don't know how it will be implemented, but it will definitely be featured in the game. Speaking about Burnout 5 to CVG, Criterion's director of design, Alex Ward, said, "How you use the controller is key, how you play the game online, how you use the HD Eye Toy and the 360 Vision Camera online is really important."What uses could the camera have? Face capturing for the drivers perhaps? Could it be used for taunting, as in Command & Conquer 3? Anyone have any ideas?
New Burnout 5 info and screens!
So... there have been four other Burnout games? Really? Geez, must've missed the boat on that one. Perhaps they jumped consoles every other time or something, but I really don't recall four other of these games -- maybe two. Anyway, some new info has surfaced about the fifth title in the Burnout series. What's the info? Well, pretty much everything. Too much to even begin to list, but we'll try. Cars will have over 80 different parts that will react realistically upon explosion, crash, wall-bashing, etc. Crashing is one of the main focal points Criterion is going for -- if it looks crappy, it's not next-gen to them. Don't be confused, they're going for real physics, but not realistic physics: "Real physics don't make for great gameplay all the time. If we want to blow the car up, we'll blow the car up. Like when they blew up the Death Star--there's no fire in space." Audio is getting a major facelift, but through non-traditional means: "Going back to the idea that absolutely real is a bit boring, there's a lot of audio in there that isn't traditional." Examples include trees, electricity, and apes screeching in agony. For crashes, apparently. No longer are there "areas" or "tracks"... a seamless world awaits you! As Criterion said, "We analyzed the layouts of some big American cities and cross-referenced those against the best tracks from previous Burnouts. We can't go actual size--we've had to be a little constrained-- but we're definitely bigger than any other open world in any other racing game." To get to the end of these "open worlds", it would take about five or six minutes of top-speed, uninterrupted driving. Tilt function will be used in full -- one such use will be to control the way your car flips and spins, including the direction. The L2 and R2 buttons will be more sensitive, now used for the brake and accelerator, respectively. So, press down real hard on the gas at the get-go, you'll get a (giggle) burnout. Braking hard is always good, though. Always. There will be downloadable content -- possibly different play modes for download. Whew. There's a lot more, but it's riddled inside the text over at the 1up preview page. If you're interested, check it out. If not, well, why did you read this far down? Anyway, it seems exciting and "next-gen", so we'll keep an eye on this puppy as well.
Pedestrians spotted in Burnout 5
1UP recently posted this Burnout 5 image along with a lengthy preview (originally published in OPM). Clearly, we seen pedestrians strolling the sidewalk. So what's the explanation?Our gut tells us there won't be people in Burnout 5. 1UP's accompanying preview seems to agree, quoting audio director Nick Laviers, who states, "You don't see human beings in Burnout -- it's all about cars." It's unlikely that EA and Criterion would want to push the boundaries of the E(10+)-rating that Burnout Revenge managed. Throwing people into the carnage could lead the ESRB to smack the next Burnout with an M-rating, drastically reducing the potential consumer base. The image posted above is likely conceptual, or perhaps appears in some sort of FMV clip. Although we'd love to see Criterion experiment with ragdolls crashing through windshields (with first-person perspective replays!), we know better than to pine for some Carmageddon-like action.
Criterion seeks 'verisimilitude' in Burnout 5
New buzzword: verisimilitude. It's the term Criterion front man Alex Ward borrows from the director of the recent Superman flick; it's the term that defines the focus of Burnout 5's crashes. That is to say, "[if] you don't believe the crash is real, then it's not going to frighten you," Ward recently told Newsweek's N'Gai Croal, "...The first crash you see on PlayStation 3 has got to go way beyond everything you've ever seen, beyond anything that we've ever done."Note Ward's usage of "PlayStation 3." Criterion is Sony developer at heart, and Ward isn't shy about his allegiance. Regardless of Sony's miscues, Ward's transparent loyalty is a reminder that big-time developers are dedicated to delivering for PlayStation 3. Then again, Burnout 5 is also headed to Xbox 360. Will we be able to discern a difference?
Surprise! Burnout 5 coming to Xbox 360 and PS3
With EA's overwhelming fondness of pumping out game after game in successful franchises, it should come as a shock to no one that Burnout 5 has just been announced to come to the 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2007. This time, however, it seems that Burnout will not rest on its laurels and is getting somewhat of a makeover.This new Burnout will take an open-world approach and allow players to jump in and out of menus with every intersection "a potential crash junction." The game will take place in the fictional Paradise City and has been promised to include "the most explosive pile-ups in the series' history." The game will surely be a nice addition for the 360 and PS3, but where's the Wii support? You mean to tell us that EA couldn't come up with a cool version to take advantage of the Wii remote? We're also curious if the PS3 version will take advantage of the tilt function in the controller.[Thanks, JamesO]
