Mature Gaming » criterion

Burnout Crash dated – Kinect support revealed

gazzara — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:05:44 +0000

Brace for impact! Criterion Games, an Electronics Arts Inc. studio, today announced that Burnout CRASH! will release on Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network worldwide on September 20, 2011.

Burnout Crash! reinvents the studio’s fan-favorite crash mode, offering accessibility and compulsive fun for those new to the series and gameplay depth for franchise veterans. Players are rewarded for causing traffic chaos as they trigger explosions and destroy everything in sight. The game will be available as a download title for £7.99 USD or 800 Microsoft Points.

Burnout CRASH! is inspired by the ease and excitement of pinball arcades, TV game shows and 80s pop music. Featuring EA’s revolutionary Autolog technology, players connect, compare scores and face off against friends for endless competitive gameplay and challenging fun. In addition, the all-new Autolog Challenges feature let’s players up the ante by sending direct head-to-head challenges to their friends.

With three exciting game modes, 18 crash junctions, and a variety of unlockables combined with nostalgic throwbacks to the original Crash Mode,Burnout CRASH! packs an explosive mix of content into one downloadable package. With a game mode designed exclusively for Kinect, 2 to 14 players can compete on one television in an all-out party battle!

Burnout Crash announced by Criterion and EA as a digi download

gazzara — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 08:27:46 +0000

Traffic got you down? Blow it up! Criterion Games, an EA studio, today announced Burnout CRASH! The next instalment in the internationally acclaimed Burnout series will explode onto Xbox LIVE Arcade and PSN in Autumn 2011.

Criterion Games has gone back to its roots with Burnout CRASH! by bringing the series’ fan-favorite Crash mode to the forefront, adding new top-down gameplay, exciting features and Autolog to let players compete with their friends while embracing their road rage.

In the game, players are rewarded for causing traffic chaos by crashing into cars, triggering explosions and destroying everything in sight. Powered by the acclaimed Autolog technology, players will be able to connect, compete and compare high scores to earn the master of disaster crown, as well as use the all new Autolog Challenges feature to go head to head with their friends.

“Burnout CRASH! is a crazy mix of pinball and game shows,” said Richard Franke, Creative Director, Burnout CRASH! “We’ve evolved the core gameplay which everyone loved about Crash Mode, and expanded the whole experience using music, style and Autolog to create what we feel is the most mindless fun you can have on any gaming platform.”

Burnout CRASH! packs countless hours of reckless chaos into an easy to pick up, but difficult to master gameplay experience. There are three explosive game modes available across 18 crash junctions in six unique locations, each requiring different skills and strategies to maximize damage and destroy everything in sight. With a variety of player vehicles to unlock, high-value targets to seek and destroy, and crazy surprise features to discover, players will be hooked on an adrenaline-fuelled rampage to the top of the Crashwall.

Burnout CRASH! is also EA’s first Xbox LIVE Arcade title to feature a game mode designed exclusively for Kinect in which two teams use gestural controls to play on one television in a party battle! For more information, please visit www.criteriongames.com.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit – Unlock 3 cars in the 1 million challenge

gazzara — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:04:46 +0000

EA and Criterion have challenged Need For Speed: Hot pursuit players to unlock 3 new cars to play in game.

By getting the car showcase trailer showing below via youtube viewed one million times, Criterion will unlock three gorgeous convertibles for your racing pleasure. Included is the Bentley Continental, Dodge Viper SRT10 and a Lambo Murcielago LP650-4 roadster.

Well, what are you waiting for, we have cars to unlock!

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (PS3, 360) – Reviewed

gazzara — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:57:05 +0000

I think it is fair to say that the Need For Speed franchise has been through a tough time trying to re-identify itself after losing the ideals of what the original titles brought to the table.

I still remember the heady years of the early 90′s, sitting down and popping the original Need For Speed title into my 3DO for a monster session of racing and police evasion over 3 courses. Need For Speed II: Hot Pursuit provided the same enjoyment but with more flair as short cuts were introduced to try and beat your friends in head to head split screen battles. As time went on EA felt that they needed to follow the Fast and the Furious crowd and pump out games that imped your vehicles and take the franchise down a different route. Unfortunately, for me, this is where the franchise started to die. Many iterations of the franchise have been produced since but none have brought the feeling of the originals back into my heart. There have been some good versions, but unfortunately, not good enough.

And so, Criterion take the helm for the latest instalment of Need For Speed called Hot Pursuit. Not only have Criterion been shouting from the rooftops that they are taking the game back to its roots but they have also used the original two titles and brought them together. My thoughts have been weary over the last couple of months and I have instantly imagined the big build up that will be followed by the greatest disappointment but I am here to say that Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit is as close an immersive and entertaining experience that you will get without spending a shed load of cash on the original.

Yes folks, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit can hold its head up high as you get to enjoy the simplicity, the ass cheek clenching, pedal to the metal, white knuckle ride that put the franchise on the map.

The campaign itself brings flowing stretches of the Seacrest County roads to life as you battle your opponents, the police, roadblocks, spikes and jammers to create havoc along these stretches to become the number one driver in the county as well as the most wanted driver by the police. Set over a series of different events including straight up racing, head to head battles and time trials, selected by events that are opened up on the Seacrest County map, players will be rewarded with points for placing first, attaining the fastest time for a particular stretch of road, driving skills and police damage. These points will unlock new cars for you to drive which in turn will open up new events for you to race in. If you feel like being the hunter rather than the huntee? Then you will be able to drive down the Cops career route instead which runs parallel in the campaign.

The races themselves are fast and tense and each car brings its own handling and damage statistics to the road, all surrounded by sumptuous car modelling and scenery. The Need For Speed will also make you look for those little short cuts that can shave seconds off of your time to complete the course quicker but also try to beat your friends times that are registered via a new in game feature called Autolog which I will explain later.

If you think this is a run of the mill arcade racer then you can’t be further from the truth. Mix in aggressive police tactics in the form of bumping, bashing and a wealth of destructive tools at their disposal like spike strips, police roadblocks, emp jammers and helicopters to try and take you out and you will be thinking just as much about the different ways of trying to evade them as much as trying to find the perfect line down the roads. Need For Speed also rewards you for driving dangerously with nitrous boosts power ups given to you for driving on the wrong side of the road, drafting, drifting as well as taking short cuts which will give you those precious seconds to get away from your pursuer and perhaps jump a couple of places in the race itself.

There are only a couple of issues with the campaign and although not damaging to the game would help provide slightly more tension and faster reactions. For all the reward that comes with driving at high speed there simply is not enough traffic to balance the risk and reward of driving dangerously. Don’t get me wrong, there are enough cars around but when you put it next to Criterion’s other huge franchise Burnout then traffic feels non existent. A simple addition would really help take this game to the next level. The only other problem is the easy A.I. that you race against. I felt that the cars themselves and the different decisions they make are sometimes no erratic enough to give them any thought in terms of competition. Again, this is something that could get looked at. As I said, minor complaints in a near perfect Need For Speed experience.

And so, with the niggles out of the way we look to the multiplayer element of the game where one of my quibbles will immediately be negated as you take on real life competition. Games are easily selected and run along the same pattern as the campaign with up to eight players. Being able to setup a race with as many cops as you want has to be a standout feature as you battle your way through the deluge of chaos that will be heading your way. The multiplayer is also hooked nicely in the Autolog feature which will allow you to look for new racing friends as it will recommend some for you if you are Billy no mates, tell you what achievements your friends have completed, what times they have on a certain road for you to beat and also give you the ability to upload photos of your rides.

This social hub of the game provides the simplicity that Need For Speed has craved for a long time. The ability to jump straight into a challenge set by a friend is as easy as pushing a button. Autolog tracks your every move in the game and will supply your friends with all of your goings on and the option to beat them seemlessly dropping you into the action. Basically, this is Criterion’s big hurrah to the road rules challenges in Burnout Paradise but with a Facebook feel.

Overall, Criterion have absolutely got what Need For Speed is about. Gone are the wishy washy Black Box shennanigans that used to fail the franchise year in, year out. When they said they were taking it back to its roots, they were not wrong. What we have here is a shining example of a big budget game that doesn’t need to be too complex to make it work. Sometimes, simplicity is key and the gameplay wins all the time. It doesn’t need to be massive (which it is by the way!). It doesn’t need a million customisation options and its main feature does not necessarily need to have a sandbox feel about it. It simply needs to be exciting but with a couple of fresh ideas implimented.

Criterion has finally done something a lot of developers should take note of. Provided a game that has a feel about it that makes you think back to the first time you played a franchise title that created the big beaming smile that you have chased for an eternity.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Autolog and Launch trailer

gazzara — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:28:56 +0000

With the release Electronic Arts Need for Speed Hot Pursuit getting closer by the day (November 19th), EA and Criterion are excited to be able to release the next instalment in the Need For Speed trailers.

This next clip reveals some of the functionality behind the Hot Pursuit ‘Autolog’ feature in a real life setting as Ben Collins and the Roll Deep crew fly around a racetrack in a bunch of supercars! What is Autolog ? Think Amazon recommends but in the most intense racing environment in videogames. Autolog powers social competition between you and your friends by comparing, and contrasting your times with each other. Autolog will take those times and throw them back to you to let you know who is the most wanted and ultimate enforcer. There is always a friend of yours that is trying to beat you!!

Also to whet your appetite is the launch trailer too which hopes to get you down the stores tomorrow to purchase it. Our Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit review will be live very soon but for those of you that are still unsure I can honestly say that Criterion’s version of the Need For Speed franchise is as close as you will get to the feel of the original.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit – power struggle trailer

gazzara — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:40:51 +0000

Need for Speed’s Seacrest County Police Department have some new recruits but will they be able to shut down Ben Collins, pro racing driver, stunt driver and man formerly known as the Stig?

Watch as Urban Music Award winning and MOBO nominated Roll Deep burn rubber in their awesome Lamborghinis in a bid to keep the racer at bay. Will Seacrest County’s finest shut him down or will their most wanted disappear in smoke? This is the final showdown!

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit is out Nov 19th – get exclusive cars by pre-ordering the Limited Edition at GAME now.

Last chance to play Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit demo

gazzara — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 13:28:45 +0000

You now have about 3 days left to download and play the Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit demo as it finishes on November 9th.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, developed by Criterion, looks to take this long established franchise back to its roots with traditional racing mixed with Police pursuits and all the short cuts you can find which releases in the U.K. on the 19th November.

Check out the video below for an explanation of what the demo is all about.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit – the ultimate chase

gazzara — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 11:26:19 +0000

EA have released a little teaser trailer for a real life pursuit they have set up with Hip Hop crew, Roll Deep and ex Stig, Ben Collins.

Filmed at a recent community event, this teaser shows the beginning of a real life cops and robbers chase involving the GT3 and Lambo as they battle for victory. The full chase will be released monday, which we will put up here. Until then feat you eyes on the teaser below and remember that Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit will be released on the 19th November. We managed to get hands on with this game and can say it feels nearly as good as the original!

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit trailer – uncovered

gazzara — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 09:32:44 +0000

EA have released a new trailer to the racing classic, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Criterion have promised to take this game back to its roots but with open world fare. After the hands on we had a few weeks ago we can honestly say that they have certainly achieved that as this trailer will testify to.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit autolog 3 trailer

gazzara — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 11:19:17 +0000

There is a real buzz about this game as the hands on we got last week feels bang on the money and like the originals.

At the helm is Criterion for Hot Pursuit’s development process so hopefully Black Box will not get their grubby paws on it and spoil the party. EA have released the latest trailer in the series showcasing some of the cop chase gameplay and the weapons at your disposal. Look out for our hands on report next week.