Gameplanet: Burnout’s Crash Mode has been a fan favourite for many years, but why this game, and why now?

Richard Franke: Since Burnout Paradise we've known that we wanted to give Crash Mode its moment in the spotlight, as it's never been lavished with the attention it deserved when it was just a side mode. We tried out a few different ideas but they always felt to us that they were carrying too much baggage from the previous games. I was then tasked with going back to the drawing board and reinventing Crash Mode. I decided to focus on a few key things: enhancing the crazy fun spirit of the original game mode, keeping it accessible and adding gameplay depth and replay value. It's actually been a couple of years since then and for a while it was just me and the Technical Director, Toby Nelson working on prototyping all sorts of ideas. Then when it began to snowball we added a few people as needed, up to a core team of about 12 or so at its largest. The games development has been wonderfully organic, and now it's ready to be unleashed upon the world!

Gameplanet: Burnout Crash appears to focus the kind of simpler pleasures found in decades past: pattern recognition and timing, for example. As game development matures and establishes itself alongside film and TV, is it in danger of marginalising “fun”?

 

Franke: We feel that there is a place in games for a product that has the finely honed gameplay of Nintendo and the exuberant personality of Criterion. You saw a hint of it in Big Surf Island with all the 1980's references and over the top gameplay. With Crash we decided to go balls out and just express our sense of humour completely, inviting everyone to the party, but without forgetting that there needs to be a good game underneath it all.

Gameplanet: This is the studio’s first downloadable title. How is the development process different to the creation of a full retail game?

Franke: I touched on it earlier, but with this game we were able to allow the game to flourish totally under it's own steam. We worked on it alongside Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and decided to approach it from our dream development process; use XNA to get to a playable prototype as quickly as possible, then iterate it repeatedly for months so that we could be absolutely sure that it was ready and as good as possible before we even revealed it. It's not often that game developers, especially internal ones, get the chance to do that. We deliberately removed ourselves from the shackles of complex graphics engines and rigid development cycles, to be able to lovingly craft this into one of the best games we've ever made.

Gameplanet: After this experience, would you choose to develop a title for the downloadable space again? What would it be?

 

Franke: Personally I have loved every minute of making this game, I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to work on it, and would love to do it again. As to what I would do next... I'm not sure yet but I feel Criterion may start diversifying a little. That's not to say that we won't be maintaining our existing franchises in the future, but we are very excited about the possibilities that new online and mobile technologies are bringing to games, and are looking for ways to leverage them in ways that will evolve the games we make. We definitely feel that there is a renaissance coming to the interactive entertainment industry, and we want to be at the forefront of that.

Gameplanet: Why the change to an isometric view? Is it a question of size limitations?

Franke: At an early stage in the development process it was actually a self imposed limitation, in order to allow us to iterate gameplay more quickly, though very quickly it became a necessity as the game evolved, and we started putting all sorts of gameplay into the environment around the junction. Pinball was a big inspiration for us, and we really wanted to emulate the 'easy to learn but hard to master' nature of that game. Putting in hidden bonus vehicles parked around the backs of destructible buildings, alternate ways to drive into the junction, and all the skillshot based gameplay meant that pretty quickly the player relied on that viewpoint to be able to really strategise their approach to every crash junction. Of course the simplification also enabled us to increase the scope of the destruction in a small game such as ours, but really I think it was less conscious a decision than you may think, the game just demanded it really.

 

Gameplanet: Beyond the change in perspective, the game is a radical departure from the Burnout series’ established aesthetic. Why the more cartoon-like appearance?

Franke: We had to pick our battles, and I really wanted to focus on gameplay for this one. Plus I wanted a game that wouldn't intimidate non gamers by looking like some hardcore gamers product. This is very much a game for Burnout fans and their friends and families who may be unfamiliar with the series. Everyone is invited to this party! Plus, there is a lot of stuff going on that screen, so simplicity made it easier to read what the heck is going on!

Gameplanet: There are three modes announced for the game. What others were initially in consideration?

Franke: It actually works the other way around. We started off wanting to do one game mode. Then it split into two as we'd done so much iteration that we had too much gameplay for one mode, plus we wanted a mode that was more traditional (Pile Up) and one that was a little more out there (Road Trip). The last game mode (Rush Hour) came about because we felt it would be nice to give the player a mode where they had to worry less about mechanics and just let themselves go wild!

 

Gameplanet: Why have you chosen to support Kinect?

Franke: Kinect was actually announced after we'd started this project, but we were very excited by the opportunities the technology seemed to offer. Plus our game very much suits those social occasions where Kinect seems to work best so it seemed like a natural fit.

Gameplanet: Currently the title is exclusive to Xbox Live. Are there plans to bring it to other platforms in the future (not just PlayStation 3 but also mobile, for example)? Is that something you’d like to do?

Franke: The game is actually not an Xbox Live exclusive, it was always our intention to bring it to both XBLA and PSN. The mention of Kinect may have confused some people. The game will be available on both platforms this Autumn/Fall [spring NZST].

Gameplanet: Is this the future of the Burnout license or a one-time spin-off?

Franke: This is very much a spin-off. We love Burnout more than anyone else, though that is not to say this product is any less Burnout than any of the others.

 

Gameplanet: Is Crash Wall linked to Autolog? Will players be able to use their existing Autolog?

Franke: The Crash Wall is powered by an evolved version of the Autolog you saw in Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. You will be able to sign in to this Autolog using the same ID you did before, though this one will only give you Burnout Crash recommendations. We have also added a major new feature this time, called Autolog Challenges. This enables you to have a head to head battle with every one of your friends over who controls the Crash Cup! You can ping challenges to each other asynchronously to play at your convenience, and the game will track your winning streaks and losses for every one of your friends.

Gameplanet: You and I both know those cars are driving on the wrong side of the road! Why must a UK-based developer pander to US audiences in a game where road rules are clearly optional anyway?

Franke: Burnout Paradise had a very US-centric viewpoint, and the central idea of the 'Road Trip' in Burnout Crash seemed to fit this. There really wasn't any 'pandering' involved. Honestly!