Burnout 3

[Leon Retro]

I agree, the music in BO2 was atrocious, especially that bass guitar rift that looped every 5 seconds

I`m now slightly worried about this title. Sure its going to be great, but have EA muscled in on Criterion and made changes that wouldn`t normally been accepted???

[Sega Ages]

There are massive billboards in the game advertising EA products like Need For Speed Underground 2 and Battlefields.

I'm driving along ready to apex or drift the corners with boost, and a bunch of other cars come along and start trying to crash into me instead of just overtaking. Gameplay style makes me sometimes think to myself while playing "Am I playing a racing game? Or a Twisted Metal game?".

I get the sense that Criterion weren't kidding when they said this was now meant as an online game primarily. (And that a Gamecube version would be a waste of time "because it couldn't have online") The game will probably be popular on Xbox Live

EDIT TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION:

Aha, but with the custom soundtracks does the music get louder when you boost?

No, I just tried it and it stays the same volume.

FINAL EDIT: Removed some negative impressions from post that were possibly not fair to judge by single-player alone, as Burnout 3 has a gameplay dynamic that could turn into something special online that's not necessarily apparent in single-player.

[Ravon]

Note 3: I'm driving along ready to apex or drift the corners with boost, and a bunch of other cars come along and start trying to crash into me instead of just overtaking. Gameplay style makes me sometimes think to myself while playing "Am I playing a racing game? Or a Twisted Metal game?".

I though the whole new concept of the game was it to be "takedown" .. as in your surpose to crash into other cars and they into you.... thus giving you boost when you do so.. allowing a more battle type type system to evolve

[Sega Ages]

I though the whole new concept of the game was it to be "takedown" .. as in your surpose to crash into other cars and they into you.... thus giving you boost when you do so.. allowing a more battle type type system to evolve

Yes there are rewards like "Revenge Bonus" for making someone crash who was previously hurting you. And punishments like losing half your boost gauge capacity for being taken down. These will probably come into their own during online play. I can't help but think that it would have been more apt for them to just rename this to Burnout 3: Corporate Takeover

EDIT: sorry my tone's getting too cynical I suspect. sometimes slips...

[Commander Marklar]

Flamebait, don't feed the troll kids

[Ravon]

lol, thats the one issue i have with it .. EA.. might aswell change there name to microsoft..

[mid]

Criterion have made it clear that Takedown was the emphasis for this one all along, really. If you want to play a 'clean' racing game there are plenty of possibilities out there. Its a decision to do something different, and I commend them for it.

Apart from anything else, am I the only one who has always used the 'nudge your opponent into traffic' and 'arrange a pileup to block the other cars' techniques, even on the original where it was rather difficult to achieve without crashing yourself?

[g-funk]

Can't wait for this, but I've noticed a few negative comments about the online part on another forum.

-No way to invite someone already playing Burnout 3. Although I can send them text messages! It's like a PS2 online emulator
- No way to invite someone offline to play (besides text messages)
- Cant have a friends only room, only passwords (requiring more text messaging)
- Cant tell who is talking during the race
- Having to sign back into EA after races
- Opponents car showed by a tiny image in the lobby

If this is the case I can see why MS wanted to keep Xbox Live a closed network.

[Plisken]

i saw the official tracklist for the B3 soundtrack, it's got 1208, motion city soundtrack and the donots on it,even though i'm sure 1% of the forum have heared of.

[AHL]

To the guys who already own B3: how is the new crash mode? It seems completely different from the previous games with all the icons. It looks like the simulation/realism aspect has taken a backseat now with your car spinning all over the place and blowing up multiple times.

[nonny]

Yeh the new crash mode takes a bit of getting used to but its actually just as fun... I actually came home last night to find the missus playing it which shocked me as she never ever plays video games with me.

She had seen me crashing it up last night online and wanted a go, ended up playing last night in party crash mode for a few hours.

The x2 and x4 multipliers mean its more about aiming for those to get scores now but the main thing to note is the aftertouch present in the single player game is not there online so its more like BO2 online in that respect. The icons are still there but its much harder to get them.

The crashbreaker seems cheesy at first but its a bit like chaining you crash together as you can time when your car explodes and pressing B detonates causing more carnage. Bottom line is no, it isnt realistic now at all but the fun is perfectly intact, there are 100 crash levels and all of them are well implemented. Favourite of mine is in the asian continent where you are able to hit about 30+ tuk tuks at one intersection... little vehicles going everywhere. One of my crashes looked like that scene from the matrix 2 with 100 agent smiths being thrown everywhere in slo-mo... getting the picture?

As for custom soundtracks and sound increasing, nah thats gone but I actually didnt notice it until you guys pointed it out! The flame burning sound when your using your burnout is now the most prominent noise. I miss the thumping beat from BO2 but it still keeps the adrenaline pumping in BO3, just different.

Oh and you can send/receive invites... its just there are two lobby areas, one for country and then the usual search engines outside that with optimatch, quick match etc... I was playing last night and getting invites from other friends playing BO3 as well.

[tyler]

Cant tell who is talking during the race

That can be quite annoying. Same with Outrun2 from what i can tell. PGR2 has the LIVE setup to a tee.

EDIT: No, OutRun2 lets you know, which is nice.

[Destrukticor]

whoah

bejesus almighty on a poo covered stick is this FAST! played about an hour, seemed like ten mins it takes a little getting used to trying to kill your opponents rather than just race them but damn if it isn't fun as all hell. What with this and outrun 2 tommorrow the racing genre has quite literally exploded.....
back to it....

[AHL]

Thanks a lot for the detailed information Nonny!

[Fat_Bob]

OK I've knocked up abput 5hrs both single and multiplayer with my housemate.

First off the negatives... music is attrocious, ok it will be to some peoples tastes but what happened to variety? SSX3 had a great selection of music tracks that never got boring. BO3 sticks to the grunge/rock/indie sound and never gives up. As mentioned before... thank god for custom sounds.

Secondly the adverts. Is there any real need? Is this how EA marketing see the future. TBH I don't mind a bit of corperate sponsorship (Wipeout?!?) but this just looks stupid. It spoils (nearly) the look of what has always been a very stylised city racing game.

Right now onto the postives and there are many.

Once you get your head round the fact the game has taking a major change in gameplay your brain will want to explode. The AI and general way the game uses the "takedown" idea is astonishing. Whether it be a boost nudge into a water tanker, a cheeky aftertouch into a truck or a 200mph game of chicken with your buddy who finally stacks it into a lorry as the contents explode taking out another five cars. This game will keep a constant smile on your face, even better you rarely end up cursing the controls or the computer.

BO3 has that x factor in spades. It's the same grab me feeling that can be seen in the GTA and Tony Hawk games. The idea of finding a track, getting gold but still replaying the level because you know something new is going to happen is a very rare commodity in games today. It makes you think why hasn't this been done before?

Even better is the fact that B03 is a big game, not only big but also challenging. I've clocked up a fair ammount of time but have only dented single player. Crash mode seems to be more skilled and less of a side track like it felt in BO2. Throw in takedown & elimination and thats not even considering playing online. This game is big and with the sandbox feel it will last for ages.

Play elimination and get to the last lap when there are only two of you left, then run your opponent into the lake for a signature takedown and cruise through to victory. Doesn't get much better than that!!

I think with or without EA this game was always going to be special. The fact that it manages to do something truely original in what has become a stagnent genre deserves the highest of praise.

oh and the gfx aren't bad either.

FB