Crash 'N' Burn E3 2004 Updated Impressions

Let's face it--wrecking cars is stupid, brain-dead fun that anyone can get behind. Watching the utter carnage that ensues from slamming car into car, or wall, or whatever blunt object you can think of at crazy speeds just makes for a visceral thrill the likes of which can't be simulated elsewhere. Perhaps it is for this reason that the Burnout series has enjoyed so much success and why clones of the game's basic concept are starting to emerge regularly. Developer Climax's upcoming racer, Crash 'N' Burn, is one of these games. However, some pretty spectacular crash physics, degradable tracks, and a healthy mix of car customizations seem to help the game stand out among the pack. We took a look at the game at E3 2004 and got a feel for how it's coming together.

Crash 'N' Burn will feature 10 different race types, including a standard race, destruction derby, team racing, and even something called kamikaze racing (which we'll get into later). The game isn't so much centered around a huge roster of cars or real-life race tracks as it is centered around simply being able to destroy cars, and destroy them good. The damage modeling on the cars is really quite impressive. Scraping against the edge of a wall will produce the right kind of damage effect, and slamming your car into others will make for a lot of airborne vehicles, as well as a lot of debris on the track. Cars can split right in half, and though it wasn't shown in the demo we saw, apparently drivers can be sent flying from their cars as well. While we'll say that Crash 'N' Burn isn't the prettiest racer we've ever seen, it does still manage to pack a nice visual punch with all the damage you can do.

A big part of Crash 'N' Burn's chaotic charm comes from the sheer amount of garbage you can leave strewn throughout a track. Pieces of cars, oil leaks, and even the fires that start when cars explode all stay persistent throughout a race, and all of it will severely screw you up when running into it. Your car's ability to survive on the race track is determined by a damage meter on the screen, so while you might do a lot of cosmetic damage by slamming into walls and such, the meter is really all that matters.

While all of this is cool, if the driving weren't up to snuff, these aspects would be meaningless. Fortunately, Crash 'N' Burn seems to play pretty well. The game is quite fast, and the variety of race types is very cool. The kamikaze race is the one we spent the most time with in our demo, and it was an absolute riot. Essentially, eight racers start racing in one direction, and another eight start racing in the opposite direction. Eventually, cars will come into contact, and basically, you've got a lot of chaos on your hands. Additionally, the game will feature online play for both versions, and it will be for up to 16 players. Rankings, voice chat on both systems, and all that fun stuff will be included as well.

One additional option in the game is Crash 'N' Burn's car customization system. Though we didn't see a whole lot of it, it basically boils down to your being able to tweak every component of your car's appearance, including spoilers, rears, fronts, patterns, and logos. There's a pretty wide variety of options from what we've seen, and the game does feature some noncosmetic performance upgrades to boot.

Crash 'N' Burn left us with a good impression, and we look forward to seeing more of the game as its release draws closer. The game is currently set to ship for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 this fall. We'll have more on the game as it develops.