Criterion Games, known for their hard work and stellar dedication to keeping content flowing on Burnout: Paradise, have been hard at work on their newest title, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. However, some interesting, new information has been unearthed regarding some additional help Criterion Games is receiving.
While visiting Criterion Games’ office, Eurogamer’s Digital Foudnry discovered that DICE, while simultaneously working on the multiplayer for the upcoming Medal of Honor, have also lent assistance to Criterion, by aiding development for Hot Pursuit. Criterion art director Henry LaBounta had this to say about the partnership:
“It’s been a great collaboration actually. Early on we set style guides for what we wanted to create out of this game, to offer players the ability to see a wide variety of types of environments from the deserts to the mountains to the forest to the coastal routes and so forth.
“We started talking to them about what we wanted to do and they got excited about the project; they have a very talented team of artists at DICE led by Johannes Söderqvist, their art director. We created all the roads here, we did a lot of work to get the gameplay right before we made it look pretty. They took those roads and those style guides and delivered 110 per cent on what we were looking for with the final result.”
Adding, was the senior engineer for Criterion Games, Alex Fry:
“The DICE guys… I’m not entirely sure how many artists they’ve had working on this but it’s around 15-25 I think. It’s not a huge amount of artists, but they’ve done a great job.
“We designed the world here, handling guys and the world artists worked together to make sure the game world drives well and feels right. Once we finessed that and locked all the roads down, Henry set out the art style and how this game was going to look. Then we built in core locations… this is going to be seaside, this is going to be the mountain range, we wanted a bridge here… we mapped out the rough lay of the land and then DICE with our art director went in and turned it into something beautiful.”
One can only hope this partnership will breed ingenuity and quality. However, given Criterion Games’ track record, one need not worry about quality; these guys are at the top of their game. PlayStation LifeStyle will be sure to keep you up to date on this game, as Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit will race to retailers in November of this year.
