Baja: Edge of Control Preview

E3 2008 Preview

Should off-road racing games be fit for an arcade? Or should they be closer to a title like Gran Turismo that has a lot of depth? That's the question debated when THQ dove into their latest racing project, Baja. Robb Rinard, Game Designer of Baja, told GameZone that he didn't want to create another clone-game experience. His belief was that you can't create a true off-road racing experience without making it a simulator as well. The end result is a game looks like it could have been played in arcades but is much too deep for that to have ever been true.

Massive terrain was one of the first ingredients added to the Baja concept. It has taken three years to develop, but the end result is a game with 700 miles of drivable surfaces. A large chunk of the world is dedicated to the Baja 1000, a four-hour race that's based on the real event, which is over 24 hours in length. During an average race, players may find themselves cruising the area for 15 minutes before the race is won. This was a major concern for Rinard, who knew that gamers would cringe at the idea of seeing too much of the same course. However, in doing hands-on focus groups with kids (not their only target market but still an important one), they learned 15 minutes is perfectly acceptable when the course is fun. The kids explained that in most racing games they turn left over and over, and are bored while speeding through a straightaway. Baja escaped these issues with a superior level of terrain variety. Not just in one course, but at every drivable surface.

It was hard to make out the sound in the game, but Rinard says that 57 different truck sounds were recorded in order to create a truly rewarding and fulfilling automobile experience. Sixty-eight licensed vehicles will be playable, and there will be 95 courses to race. These numbers won't mean anything until the game ships. But then again, neither did having 15-minute races -- until they were play-tested by gamers.

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