Burnout 5 roars onto the grid

Burnout is easily one of our favourite racers here on CVG. You can forget your fancy wheel-nut-perfect simulations and g-forces modelled to the nth detail, just give us balls-out automotive action and some gratuitous carnage from that master of destruction Criterion, and we're happier than a pig in the proverbial.

So welcome, though hardly surprising news today, in the form of the announcement of Burnout 5, a twin next-gen successor burning up Xbox 360 and PS3 to deliver the awesome thrills, spills and mayhem which has long been the series' hallmark and one of its most attractive USPs.

Promising the most explosive gameplay yet and a brand new direction in the form of the 'seamless racing battleground of Paradise City', it looks like Burnout 5 will feature no loading and no waiting either, as you'll be able to cruise around your new home and set up races and challenges on the fly. One interesting morsel though is the development of a new driver's license feature, which records your every smash, crash and burn behind the wheel in a hall of infamy. Attract enough heat and you'll soon be going head to head with some of Paradise City's most infamous burners - legendary racers who'll stop at nothing to stop you crossing the finish line.

"Burnout 5 is a complete reinvention of the series, built from the ground up for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360," said Criterion boss Alex Ward. "To create truly next-generation gameplay, we needed to create a truly next-generation game, from top to bottom."

Sounds splendid. Not many more details to share with you at the moment other than Burnout 5 is set to roar off the grid in 2007. We'll bring you more soonest.