Posted on Friday, May 22 2009 @ 22:24 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
Codemasters proudly announced FUEL has been granted a Guinness World Record for being the largest playable environment in a video game. This upcoming racing game for the PS3 and Xbox 360 will be launched on June 5th and features 5,560 square miles (14,400 square kilometers) of accessible in-game terrain, that's almost half the size of a small country like Belgium. Driving from one side of the map to the other will take you over 3 hours straight.
Guinness World Records presented Codemasters and Asobo Studio with a certificate that officially documents:
“Largest playable area in a console game: The largest playable environment in a console game is 5,560 sq mi (14,400 km²), and is featured in FUEL (Codemasters, 2009). The area features rivers, deserts, forests and mountains and was demonstrated at the offices of Guinness World Records, London, UK, on 20 May 2009.”
“We’ve been very impressed with the technology powering FUEL, and I’m pleased to welcome Asobo and Codemasters into the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition,” said Gaz Deaves, Video Games Records Manager for Guinness World Records, “What we’ve seen from FUEL places it right at the cutting edge of the open-world racing genre and really raises the bar for games developers in the future.”
“We knew FUEL was going to be big,” said Phil Wright, Producer, Codemasters, “but to have this confirmed officially by Guinness World Records justifies our faith in this ground-breaking title. No other game comes close to offering the variety of environments, the range of vehicles or the sheer size of FUEL. It’s one of the most innovative racers ever, and we’re thrilled it’s been recognised as the biggest console game of all time.”
To celebrate the award, today Codemasters has released a new video featuring David Dedeine and Sebastian Wloch, two of the co-founders of Asobo Studio, who explain gameplay features and the technical challenge in creating the record-setting FUEL. The video is available from www.fuel-game.com (in the Downloads section).
FUEL’s world is one of staggering size and beauty. To put it into perspective, if players choose to drive from one side of the map to the other, it will take over 3 hours straight. This unprecedented virtual playground offers 19 environmental regions and features some of the most dramatic weather effects ever seen in a racing game. FUEL’s free-roaming nature allows players to pick and choose their route, races and career progression, offering almost limitless ways to play.
