For Burnout 3 and 4, we again led on the PS2 and then shipped on the PS2 and XB. This made it relatively easy for the first two titles to ship across PS2, GC and XB, with the PS2 being our lead platform.
PARADISE BURNOUT CHASING CARS SONG SERIES
In the ideal scenario you would be flipping back and forth between these two high adrenaline stages, constantly on the edge of your seat – pure arcade thrills!ĭS: How was it working with a series across multiple platforms and console generations? Did the toolset evolve for each title or did you start from scratch on each occasion?īM: Criterion built RenderWare, a middleware solution (which included the RenderWare Audio component), so all our titles were built on that. When we (the original three person sound team of Stephen Root, Peter Bishop and myself) joined Criterion, from Acclaim, the game (codenamed SRC or Shiny Red Car) and the team making it were crying out for audio.Įveryone knew that without compelling sound, it was going to be very hard to sell the extremes of thrashing a car to its limits against competitors whilst weaving in and out of traffic and then the visceral, destructive, and yet in its own way rewarding, experience of ploughing head long into a crash.Īs a team, not just the audio group, we all knew that those were our two big “Hollywood-esque” moments, so a lot of energy and effort went into selling them.
A series that would go on to span eight years, eight games in total crossing ten different platforms.Ĭhances are you’ve owned, played or at least know of this series that was a defining part of my high-school and early college years. I have crystal clear memories of my roommates and I constantly swapping controllers as we tried to best our times on the Airport Terminal 3 track in “Burnout 2: Point of Impact”.įor those who’s memories are a little hazy however, here’s a refresher…īen Minto was kind enough to search though his memory archives and share some of his insights and tales from his time on the series. Ben worked as a audio designer on the series from the initial “Burnout” in 2001 though to 2008’s “Burnout Paradise”.īefore we delve into the interview, here’s a gameplay clip that features several of the things Ben discusses below.ĭesigning Sound: What role did sound play in the series, how was it viewed within the development team?īen Minto: Sound was key to the overall experience. One set of headphones, two blimps, and three steely looks is all that was needed to define the sound of the”Burnout” games. It was the year that Yuri got his revenge.Īnd it was the year that this photo happened… Burnout Audio Team (left to right) audio programmer Peter Bishop, audio director Stephen Root, audio designer Ben Minto It was the year Final Fantasy dropped to a single Roman numeral as it reached the “X” milestone. It was the year the gaming world debuted the gruff yet dulcet tones of Max Payne. So allow me if you will, to take you… back in time! To end this month of “Burnout”, I thought it might be fun to reinterpret the theme title and take a look at the sound design for a classic series of racing games that bear the same name.