'Burnout Dominator' Developer Q&A
Via worthplaying
Burnout Dominator is an all-new installment of the Burnout series, loaded with intense racing action and dozens of retina-searing World Tour events. Burnout Dominator Senior Producer Nick Channon gives us some more details ...
Q: Who has the honor to talk to us? State your name, rank and position!
My name is Nick Channon. I am the Senior Producer on Burnout Dominator.
Q: Burnout Dominator serves as something of a halfway release between 2005's Burnout Revenge and the forthcoming Burnout 5. Tell us a bit about the decision to take another stab at a last-gen Burnout title – when did the idea first come about, and at what point did EA UK begin the development process?
NC: The game has been in development for just over a year, and basically it's all about making the best games we can for the individual platforms. We wanted to create a game that was all about testing the user's dangerous driving skills, and felt that PS2 and PSP were the best platform to do this kind of a game on.
Q: How involved was Criterion in the actual development of Dominator?
NC: Fully.
Q: Burnout Dominator puts more of an emphasis on the racing elements of previous series entries, eschewing the Crash and Traffic Attack modes in the process. What was the driving force in redefining the focus of the series for this particular entry?
NC: We've been looking for an opportunity to bring back the idea of "Burnouts," and Burnout Dominator felt like the perfect opportunity to do this. We wanted to make sure we built the game around this great feature, and as such the focus of the game had to be all about driving as dangerously as you could and avoiding the crash. Thus creating a game that really captures the essence of Burnout, the thrill of weaving in and out of traffic, doing huge drifts and generally driving like a Maniac.
Q: Using Burnout Revenge as a basis, tell us a bit about how the racing experience has changed in Burnout Dominator.
NC: The races themselves haven't really changed, you can still drive aggressively and take down your opponents, however the introduction of Burnouts has changed the boost mechanics , and as such changes the way you use boost, which really gives a cool new feel to the races.
Q: The ability to check traffic in Burnout Revenge fundamentally altered the core experience, which sometimes made it tough to go back to the previous Burnout titles. With that element missing from Dominator, do you anticipate that gamers will have trouble adjusting to the modified experience?
NC: No I don't think so. The important thing for us was to create a game that felt very fresh and new. This game's focus is on avoiding the crash and testing your driving skills to the limit. The ultimate pay-off is the Burnout and chaining these together and fighting to avoid the traffic.
Q: On that same note, will elements of the core Dominator experience make their way to Burnout 5? If players adjust their style of play for Dominator, might they have to do so again when Burnout 5 hits later in the year?
NC: You'll have to wait and see. Burnout 5 is an all-new game with a completely different design.
Q: What can we expect from the new tracks in Dominator? Will they be like the winding, multi-path courses of Burnout Revenge, or more like the straightforward tracks of previous entries? Will any "classic" tracks from the previous titles be included?
NC: All the tracks are brand new and unique to Burnout Dominator. They have been built from the ground up with the new game modes and mechanics in mind. They feature big sweeping drift corners and wide motorway sections for weaving in and out of traffic. They do feature alternate routes, some of which you need to unlock with the new Signature Shortcut feature.
Q: Will there be any considerable non-visual differences between the PlayStation 2 and PSP versions of Dominator? Will the two interact in any way?
NC: The big difference is that the PSP version will feature ad-hoc play for up to six players, with Race, Road Rage and Maniac modes being available. Additionally, the user will be able to upload their high scores to a central web site to compare how they rate against other players from around the World. They will also be able to share their scores with friends through ad-hoc, and we will be releasing two unique tracks through download post-release.
Q: Sony is currently pushing its PSP downloads, offering demos for various titles. Any chance there will be a downloadable Burnout Dominator PSP demo? If so, what would it include, or why not ?
NC: As mentioned, there will be two tracks available for free post-release.
