Last night I had the most pressure I have ever felt in any video game.
Was playing Burnout Paradise and was on bikes. Was getting bored with the game I was in (there is always one idiot who heads off in another direction to ruin a challenge) and accepted an invite to another. It was a cars challenge though and I’ve not been in cars for some time and had completely forgotten my car of choice. I managed a few challenges and in between hit the garage to swap models (hell that thing is slow at time. Way too many keypresses needed). Got a car – I forget which but it was somewhere near the Carbon – and the challenge was at the Airfield. Got there no problem and it was a group challenge – 40 takedowns and 120 secs airtime (I think) – which was done easily and I did my fair share. Then it got tricky.
Barrel Roll through the suspended fuselage. In the right car or with the bike I can fly over the damn thing but the car I had just didn’t accelerate enough. 8 people in the game and slowly but surely the other 7 completed the challenge. But they don’t get that marked as successful unless everyone does it. I am flying around, doing my best to not slide too much in the last corner then boost up the ramp. In lots of challenges – and I do this too – when you are done you spend time smashing into other people, doing jumps, handbrake turns. But for me they were all parked on the left, all pointing at the jump, all making me feel really pressured. After many attempts I got the car speed perfect and completed the barrel roll. I was amazingly relieved and headed slowly to the airfield exit for another challenge. The game leader had other ideas – and chose for everyone to just jump through that same bit of fuselage. If I quit the game the challenge could stop – it’s done constantly by others and is annoying so this was not an option. Again, the other 7 – fast acceleration cars – completed while me and the sludge bucket tried and tried (if you have played BP you will know the corner I mean) to keep the speed up. Come round, slide a little too far, fly just under the fuselage, head right and around, repeat and all the time those 7 cars are parked, waiting. I did it. I breathed in. I swore. I peeled my hands off the controller and before the next challenge appeared I left the game. There really was no way I could have stayed in.
Plan: Find out which damn car I liked the first time. And practise power parking.