First Look at Burnout 5 (page 3 of 3)

Technical Takedown

Burnout 5 may find release on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, but for the Criterion team, the PS3 version will be a huge focus. While Ward did say that it was simply too early to be able to accurately predict exactly what would be in either release, he noted that the team is attacking the PS3 with the same fervency they did the PS2. 1080p over HDMI, for instance, just isn't possible on the 360 at this point, although it's a foregone conclusion on the PS3. The PS3's Sixaxis controller will provide additional control options the 360's doesn't have. Plus, the PS3's advanced processing capabilities make it particularly suited to the physics-intensive crashes that are going to be taking place.

Burnout 5's new physics engine will allow fracturing of cars into 80 different parts, over 12 from Burnout Revenge's vehicles."

And, boy oh boy, will those be some spectacular crashes. The new physics engine Criterion has implemented will allow fracturing of cars into 80 different parts, a massive leap from the 12 destructive components of Burnout Revenge's vehicles. You'll be able to shear roofs off of rides, shred doors and windows, and even tear entire cars in half during takedowns and crashes.

The visuals are only half of the action, however; a huge amount of work has also been put into the audio, which has been beefed up to react dynamically with the intricacies of every crash. A devoted process will track the movements of each element in a crash sequence and assign sounds to match the visual proceedings. Thus, instead of the bland, regurgitated sound effects of previous titles, Burnout 5's audio will, figuratively and literally, blow its predecessors away.

The Long Road to Paradise

Much to our collective dismay, there's still a long wait ahead of us before Burnout 5's release, and much that we still don't know about the game. Our ignorance is centered mostly on Criterion's plans for online gameplay, which will completely replace split-screen gaming. "When you switch to HD, drawing everything twice is really hard to do," Ward explained. As for specific online details, the team provided few. "We have some killer plans there," [appropriate dev name] said, "but we can't talk about them yet. Rest assured, they are killer. We have so many ways we want to innovate online, [to] push racing to a new place."

For our part, we'll just have to wait and see what the future, and the Criterion development team, will bring. Once it does arrive, it'll definitely be at least three things: mind-bendingly fast, jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and unquestionably, awesomely fun.

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