Criterion unveiled their first Burnout title in two years at Electronc Arts’ Summer Showcase today. The game, Burnout Crash!, was leaked by the ESRB weeks ago.
The game plays as the ESRB description entailed, just like the popular Crash modes from Burnout Revenge and other early games in the series: drive your car hard into traffic, and try to cause as much collateral damage as possible. Also as expected, the game is an Xbox Live Arcade/PlayStation Network downloadable game.
However, even though the game was described as “cartoony” by the ESRB, what isn’t expected is that the game is a top down racer, instead of a 3D racer like others in the series. The look of the game harkens back to the original Grand Theft Auto game.
Criterion creative director, Richard Franke, describes it thusly: ”Burnout CRASH! is a crazy mix of pinball and game shows. 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.”
The Crash mode of the Burnout games was very addictive - hopefully, Crash! will replicate that replayability.