SCAR Review at CVG [27-07-2005 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
There are nine different areas that can be improved, including Endurance (boosts your driver's healing rate), Focus (helps reduce damage to the car and driver during prangs) and Handling (pretty much self-explanatory that one). Your man behind the wheel also has the ability to intimidate the guy in front in classic white van man-style by driving right up his arse, causing weaker-willed opponents to lose control. This also affects you, unfortunately.

SCAR Review at Videogames Life [25-07-2005 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
Developer Milestone has admirably set out to make the A.I. believably erratic, but has done so by making it mindlessly aggressive. Other drivers have no qualms about violently shunting you around, and why should they? Every vehicle has a health bar up to 100, so that innumerable pile-ups can occur without any serious repercussions until one tap on the bumper or trip across the grass instantly kills off your car. The drivers� aggression, combined with their complete ineptitude on the earlier levels, gives the A.I. drivers the feel of a horde of prisoners on day release.

Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo Patch Released [11-07-2005 | IS | Comments (0) ]
This patch is intended to fix the "Protection Error" crash, repeatedly reported on WindowsXP and Windows2000 operating systems.

Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo Interview [06-05-2005 | IS | Comments (4) ]
SCAR features 25 different Alfa Romeo models, ranging from current road vehicles to GTA �tuned� versions to real race cars, as the 156 racing in the touring car championship. We also included a few historical models, including the most successful Alfa Romeos of the racing history of the company. Talking about tracks, SCAR includes more than 20 courses of three different types: real tracks (as Laguna Seca, Donington Park, Hockenheimring and Valencia), road courses set in Italian locations (Toscana, Veneto, Sicilia and Campania) and city tracks set in Milano and Firenze.

S.C.A.R. Demo Released [04-05-2005 | JZ | Comments (24) ]
Get the chance to reinvent your driving experience and download the SCAR PC Demo, which is now finally available on the official site of the game. SCAR will set you standards in the driving genre, with its fully innovated RPG systems, and with the genre defining handling system.
Test your skills competing with the more than clever AI and make your way to the first races of this demo.
SCAR will release on may 27th on PS2 and PC, while the Xbox version will follow short after.

Scar is developed by Milestone, developer of famous driving game series as Screamer and Superbike, acclaimed as the best motorbike simulation game ever developed.

S.C.A.R. RPG Trailer Principles [08-04-2005 | IS | Comments (1) ]
If you wish to know something more about SCAR - Squadra Corse Alfa RomeoTM Role Playing skills, take a look at this trailer. You'll see what it means to intimidate or being intimidated, to wear your driver with the right gears, or to "Tiger" your performance..

Get ready for SCAR: reinventing your driving experience.

Black Bean is the games label of Lago Srl, which is part of the Leader Group. Leader SpA has been the leading independent distributor in Italy since it started business in 1984. Leader is based in Gazzada (Varese) which is situated 30 miles north of Milan in northern Italy.

Black Bean philosophy is to focus on a wide range of games genre leveraging on an friendly gameplay, additional contents and fully localised products in order to give the player an immersive and addictive gaming experience.

SCAR Interview at XGaming [25-03-2005 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
Currently scheduled for release toward the end of this year, S.C.A.R. � Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo is the upcoming game from game publisher Black Bean and game developer Milestone. Versions of the game are in development for the PC and all current-generation consoles, as well as for various mobile platforms. We recently spoke with lead designer, David Goldfarb to find out more about the game.

Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo Screenshots [19-03-2005 | JZ | Comments (2) ]
Here are 38 new screenshots.

Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo Trailer [09-03-2005 | JZ | Comments (3) ]
Cool trailer showing all aspects of the game. Trailer is 1:16 sec long. Physics look pretty cool. You will need DivX codec to view this clip.

SCAR Interview - Submit Your Questions [07-03-2005 | JZ | Comments (4) ]
Here is your chance to ask Milestone, the developers of SCAR whatever you want. We will pick the best 10-15 questions.

S.C.A.R. : First Screenshots Released [07-03-2005 | IS | Comments (0) ]
Here are the first nine screenshots of SCAR - Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo, set to be released in May 2005.

Black Bean Unveil SCAR [07-03-2005 | IS | Comments (8) ]
Varese, 7th March, 2005. Black Bean today revealed the features that will be present in SCAR, a brand new racing simulation licensed by Alfa Romeo, and developed by racing sim specialists, Milestone, creators of the Superbike series and Racing Evoluzione.

SCAR, Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo, is a stunning racing simulation which combines both realistic car physics, and vibrant graphics together with classic Role Playing Game elements to become the first 'CARPG' ever developed.

For the first time in a racing game, players must improve their skills as drivers instead of modifying their cars, making the ability to match a set of skills to the different requirements of each competition just as much an important part of winning the race.

In addition to choosing their favourite Alfa Romeo, players will be given the opportunity to choose their own race gear which will best improve their performance, as well as tune the levels of each of their different skills which will include: reflexes, hand-eye coordination, and their ability to cope with the stress of racing high speed circuits. Another unique skill is the Tiger Effect, which will give drivers the ability to turn back time and correct any potentially dangerous mistakes.

In SCAR, AI competitors are also based on a complex combination of skills and features which come together to form an opponent best adapted to the cars, course, and player, giving rise to countless alternative outcomes. The actual skill system is based on nine different abilities, divided into three tiers of experience. Skill sets include:

Heart: Increases driver's basic health capacity (Driver Condition).

Vision: Increases Tiger Effect capacity for Driver.

Intimidation: Ability to intimidate other drivers and cause them to make mistakes.

Handling: Improves effective vehicle grip and Driver's ability to handle the car

Acceleration: Increases overall acceleration and reduces gearshift time.

Recovery: Reduces effects of vehicle crashes and effects.

Focus: Allows Driver to reduce Condition damage to car and self.

Anticipation: Improves the Tiger Effect's duration and potency.

Endurance: Driver's basic healing rate. Improves Driver Condition regeneration rate.

A variety of different courses means that players will have the chance to compete on both race-circuits and in Fast & Furious street races across exotic Italian locales which range form the Tuscany hills to the Naples seaside, or battling it out in the streets of Florence and Milan.

In the management part, the player will be distributing skill points to develop his driver according to the different races, purchasing new vehicles, accepting or declining various offers from different sponsors, visiting the test track, as well as tuning and maintaining his own collection of vehicles.

Milestone have also developed an innovative AI system that adjusts the performance according to that of the player, requiring them to distribute skills and gain points in the same way. In fact, during any race, the cars will engage in a compelling duel to beat each other and achieve maximum skill points.

Finally, remaining true to Alfa Romeo style, the music is 100% Italian style remixes of the original Ennio Morricone songs to give the final touch of flavour to this highly anticipated game from Milestone.

SCAR will be available in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish for PS2 and PC platforms towards May 2005, followed by Xbox version.

Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo Announced [08-02-2005 | JZ | Comments (8) ]
VARESE, ITALY � 24th January, 2005 � Black Bean announced today that it has signed an exclusive deal with Alfa Romeo to develop a racing videogame based on the prestigious Italian car brand.

Black Bean's acquisition of the worldwide Alfa Romeo rights underlines its determination to make an impact in the world of multiplatform videogame development and publishing. The Alfa Romeo brand is well-known and synonymous of stylish sport cars.

The game is being developed by award winning developer Milestone, critically acclaimed for its Screamer franchise, the Superbike series published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports brand and the recently released Racing Evoluzione, an Xbox exclusive game published by Atari.

S.C.A.R. � Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo (this is the title of the game) is in development for the PS2, Xbox, PC platforms and Mobile and will be released in the second quarter of 2005.

"We are thrilled to be working with such a strong brand", said Marco Minoli, Head of Marketing at Black Bean. "Italy is traditionally a country with a few number of companies working on the development and publishing segment; our intention is to create synergy with local strengths, such as car design and styling and prestigious brand like Alfa Romeo which have a high level of awareness both nationally and internationally".

"Working on S.C.A.R. with Alfa Romeo is really exciting", said Antonio Farina, Milestone's President, "it is in fact a dream come true for us: to combine the leading-edge of Italian technology both in real life racing and in simulation to produce a game which celebrates the Italian leadership in driving; Alfa Romeo is not only a winning company nowadays (being one of the leading brands in the World Touring Car Championship, ndr), but a glorious brand from the early years of racing, and this will be reflected in the game".

"Driving an Alfa Romeo", said Hans Hoegstedt, head of Marketing and Communication in Alfa Romeo, "is not like driving an ordinary car in an ordinary context. It is pure driving desire turned into a car which is also the expression of one's personality. When you are in the driving seat, your hands on the leather steering wheel, you are at one with your Alfa Romeo: the road before your eyes, the tyres's grip on the road, your heart beating at the same rpm of your engine."

"This new alliance with Black Bean, allows us to offer our clients as well as all those who share our passion for driving the chance to re-live the unique experience of being at the steering wheel of an Alfa Romeo"

Black Bean is the games label of Lago Srl, which is part of the Leader Group. Leader SpA has been the leading independent distributor in Italy since it started business in 1984. Leader is based in Gazzada (Varese) which is situated 30 miles north of Milan in northern Italy.

Black Bean philosophy is to focus on a wide range of games genre leveraging on an friendly gameplay, additional contents and fully localised products in order to give the player an immersive and addictive gaming experience.

Milestone was founded on 1996 in Milan, by Antonio Farina. The company's first products were the successful Screamer series of driving games published on the Virgin Interactive label. In the following years Milestone has specialised in the production of racing simulations and has rapidly become the most successful games developer in Italy.