Burnout Revenge preview

[TomO]

Pro-G (http://www.pro-g.co.uk/previews/pid/589/73/) has some hands on impressions of Burnout Revenge on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

The Revenge subtitle is a major clue to the newest feature in the game, though. It's related to takedowns, of course, but is actually a clever little system that could really spice up multiplayer games. Once somebody takes you down an indicator will appear above their head, showing the car you need to get revenge on. Obviously taking them down comes with some rewards, and you will get an extra boost for any revenge takedowns you make.
It looks like EA and Criterion are on to another winner.

[Goronmon]

Burnout 3 was IMO, one of the best games of last year. The sense of speed was insane, the crashes were amazing, it was just pure fun.

Edit: My point being that I am really excited to see what they can do with the next iteration :D

[Furious Wang]

Sounds like a nice feature. But....

Dear EA,
Please drop the rubber band AI from your otherwise brilliant video game. This is 2005 and that shit doesn't belong in any game, Arcade Racer or No. No game should punish you for doing well.

Thanks assholes.
-Wang

[Atorak]

Dear EA,
Please come up with a different method of progressing through Burnout Revenge. I loved your last title, but if I had to do one more pointless race so I could come 15% closer to getting a marginally better car, I was going to jump out a tenth-story window. Mix things up more like Gran Turismo please.

Thanks,
Atorak

[bapenguin]

Dear EA,
You suck.

Thanks,
bapenguin

[Hijinx]

Burnout 3 was IMO, one of the best games of last year. The sense of speed was insane, the crashes were amazing, it was just pure fun.

Edit: My point being that I am really excited to see what they can do with the next iteration :D


I've said all year that Burnout3 was the best $50 purchase I made last year. I'm numero uno on the Burnout4 list.

[agentgray]

Yes, say bye bye please to rubber band. Code some real AI, not AI that has to cheat. Otherwise give me rubberbands.

[teh_bear]

Think i'll sit this one out. As much as i loved both 2 and 3 i think the EA-ification of the series is a little too obvious and bad (just glad they didn't name it Burnout 2005), and with all the other games i need to get (damn you Nintendo DS!) and the X360 just around the corner i really can't justify spending that money on what sounds like a minor update.

[Metal Jesus]

There is no other game I am looking forward to more this year.

That said, yes that AI sucked ass and ruined the game in the later stages.

[kid cabelgo]

anybody remember the crazy AI in mariokart 64?

sometimes the rubberband thing would go out of wack, and one of the AI racers would go flying around the track at super speeds for entire laps, even when you weren't winning.

[Royal Fool]

Burnout 3 best game of 2004? Not in my opinion, I really disliked the super-random takedown events (Not exactly simple to accurately "plan" to reach and take out an enemy car at some predefined location on the track), lame-ass music, terribly linear progression (Although it's leaps and bounds beyond what Burnout 2 offered) and overall it felt kind of restricted, although that didn't seem to apply to the AI difficulty or the challenge level of the crash events...

I think EA is well on track to running this franchise into the ground, much like nearly anything they touch.

[Goronmon]

You know, I'm honestly getting sick of the constant random EA bashing, its getting worse than the MS crap inside of the gaming circle.

If any other company other than EA were responsible for Burnout, it would have gotten instant acclaim. But since its EA you get the close-minded anti-fanboys who will come up with any reason to put down anything they do.

IMO, I wish more companies would run games into the ground as well as EA seems to be doing with Burnout.

[Tricky Thumb]

You know, I'm honestly getting sick of the constant random EA bashing, its getting worse than the MS crap inside of the gaming circle.

If any other company other than EA were responsible for Burnout, it would have gotten instant acclaim. But since its EA you get the close-minded anti-fanboys who will come up with any reason to put down anything they do.

IMO, I wish more companies would run games into the ground as well as EA seems to be doing with Burnout.

What the fuck? People don't hate on EA because they're simply anti-EA, jeez. The reason people hate EA so much is because of the shit they pull on their developers and other developers. If they weren't so fucking underhanded and cruel about how they went about publishing their games I don't think people would hate them nearly as much. As it stands right now though, when you run around trying to buy out developers and firing others after they've been working on a great IP for you *cough*Desert Strike*cough* I think that people aren't going to appreciate you all too much.

[Goronmon]

What the fuck? People don't hate on EA because they're simply anti-EA, jeez. The reason people hate EA so much is because of the shit they pull on their developers and other developers. If they weren't so fucking underhanded and cruel about how they went about publishing their games I don't think people would hate them nearly as much.
I don't have a problem with the hating EA because of their practices, but a pet peeve of mine is bashing the games just because EA is involved.

I guess its just because I am a gamer first and a close-minded, judgmental hater somewhere way down on the list...

[gravey]

Sounds like a nice feature. But....

Dear EA,
Please drop the rubber band AI from your otherwise brilliant video game. This is 2005 and that shit doesn't belong in any game, Arcade Racer or No. No game should punish you for doing well.

Thanks assholes.
-Wang
I can't remember who said it, maybe Brian Clevinger from 8-Bit Theater, but somebody pointed out that rubberband AI might actually be a benefit in Burnout 3. In a typical racing game you don't want cars rocketing up to you, punishing what might have otherwise been an excellent lap time--but Burnout ain't exactly a typical racing game. What the rubberband AI does (if you'd like to think of it this way) is keep the opponents around you for as much of the track as possible, making each race tight, crowded, and above all, violent. Who are you going to take down (or who can threaten to take you down) when there's a 6 second gap between you and the rest of the pack?

Just looking for that silver lining...

[Goronmon]

What the rubberband AI does (if you'd like to think of it this way) is keep the opponents around you for as much of the track as possible, making each race tight, crowded, and above all, violent.
I actually agree with this. Part of the reason I always had fun with the game was that no matter how good I got, I was always duking it out with one more cars for nearly the entire race. Definately kept things interesting.

Sure, it may be frustrating for some if you analyze the way the cars are reacting, but if you just go with the flow and play the game, you could care less.

[DriveALW]

I'm excited about a Crash Time camera that you can actually control! My biggest bitch was trying to steer my flaming wreckage into cars coming up behind me when the *%$#@! camera was pointing in *completely* the wrong direction. #3 was awesome, rubber bands or no. Can't wait for this one.

[The Radical Cleric]

I agree Goronmon, the constant EA bashing is tiresome at best. I cringe to see the letters "EA" in any news post now, knowing the worthless shitstorm is soon to come...

[dr_qwandry]

DriveALW knows where the problem is.
The camera would be VERY fincky (sp?) when it came to crashing. If you could control it with the right analogue (sp?) all would be fine.

And elimination was a pain in the ass because of the closeness of the other cars. True it provided that added difficulty, but during elimination it was insane.

[KDups]

Burnout 3 was awesome, but besides the AI/progression/EA Trax issues already mentioned I don't like how they put such an emphasis on takedowns to fill the Burnout Meter. It was pretty useless going into oncoming traffic, squeezing past other cars, and powersliding around turns (in terms of filling the meter). It was all about the takedown. So if you were in 1st and the meter was empty it was a bitch having to wait for another car to catch up to get another takedown.

But I'll definitely be there for B4.

[Thenetcase]

I'm predicting that EA will close the entire programming group that makes this game with in 4 months of Burnout Revenge hitting the shelf.
Why? Because they are coming to the point where EA can make more money by closing them and riding on the laurels of their hard work.
Look at Maxis and the Desert Combat people.
I hope EA rots in the lowest hell for the crap they've put those people through.

-TNC-

[mister_slim]

I hope they keep the rubberband AI. They've already got a more reactive AI than any other racing game I can think of. I demand cars to run off the road. There was a reason Road Rage was the best mode.

[Goronmon]

I hope they keep the rubberband AI. They've already got a more reactive AI than any other racing game I can think of. I demand cars to run off the road. There was a reason Road Rage was the best mode.
Yup, Road Rage was definately my favorite...