Burnout Paradise Review

By Kristan Reed Published 23 January, 2008

Half as nice?

Version tested: Xbox 360

Approaching the first blockbuster release of the year fully expecting to be mildly irritated by it can't be the best mindset. The spittle-flecked Internet response to the demo even prompted Criterion's Alex Ward to deliver a characteristically uncompromising Christmas message, in which he urged the public to, "Try [Burnout Paradise] for yourself and make up your own mind. Don't let the Internet do it for you."

The problem with Ward's terse response to public criticism is that it puts a whole number of the game's contentious changes at the forefront of your mind before you even play it. You do want to try it for yourself to make your own mind up, but also to find out if the naysayers were right all along. For such a hotly anticipated update to a much-loved series, there's been a curious cloud of negativity hovering over it.

If you've managed to avoid the noise, good for you - it's probably for the best. The good news is, when you actually get to play the full game (as opposed to the confusing demo), some of Criterion's choices start to make a lot more sense. Some. After a while, you might even empathise with Ward.

Like many of you, the demo made me want to throw things. The bad news is that the full game starts in exactly the same way, with one of the least helpful introductions to a racing game I've ever come across. I don't know about you, but I like structure. I don't mind being seamlessly shepherded along for the first few minutes so I can get my bearings. But, by design, Burnout Paradise basically dumps you in the middle of 250 miles of open road, tells you to start your engine and lets you get on with it.

Superstar DJ

'Burnout Paradise' Screenshot 1

Do not test your eyes. The screenshot's supposed to be that blurry.

By way of helping hand, the instantly dislikeable American DJ, Atomika, chimes in with tips as you pass by events and items of interest. There's no specific thing you have to do - you can keep driving around the entire map marvelling at the new game engine, if you want to - but this is the game's first error. There's an initial sense of confused bewilderment as you wonder where you're supposed to go and what you're supposed to do. Soon enough you drive towards a set of traffic lights, and DJ Atomika will suggest you might want to enter one of the events by holding down the left trigger and then the right to get started.

Depending on which direction you head off in, you'll have the choice of entering straightforward first-past-the-post Races [watch Kristan do this on Eurogamer TV], takedown-based Road Rage [and this] challenges, as well as the all-new Marked Man and Stunt Run events (more of which later). The main tweak you'll immediately notice in the races is that Criterion has completely abandoned the concept of tracks, and gone with an open-ended approach reminiscent of Rockstar's Midnight Club. Instead of being shepherded along by invisible barriers and arrows, you're now free to take whichever route you want to. The aim is simply to get from A to B before everyone else - how you get there is entirely up to you.

In theory, placing such trust and freedom in the hands of the player is liberating, and far more befitting a modern approach to racing gaming. Your knowledge of the multi-layered city is something you can build upon as you go along, taking advantage of sneaky shortcuts and back alleys which may give you a crucial edge - especially in the more built up parts of Paradise City. In practice, the dense intricacies of this utterly beautiful city can be completely baffling to the newcomer as you find yourself repeatedly swept off-course by snaking, interconnecting, multi-layered roads. Again, just like Midnight Club, the only solution to such failure is repeat play, and the organic process of mapping out the city in your own head.

Restarting the debate

'Burnout Paradise' Screenshot 2

Excellent! It's our old friend my Jaunty again. 10/10

Exploration takes time, and not least because of the decision to not allow you to restart events. Whereas comparative openworld city-based games like various Need For Speed titles allow you to routinely skip to the menu to select whichever unlocked events are available, Criterion demands that players either take the time to trek back to the start line (maybe five miles away), or plump for another event. As annoying as that sounds, it's genuinely not as irritating as you assume. The dense, interesting design of the city distracts you, and, rather than get bogged down trying to crack a single event over and over (often a frustrating thing to put yourself through anyway), you'll shrug and get stuck into something else - maybe spying an opportunity to smash into more billboards and private property fences, attempt a new super-jump you hadn't seen before, try out your Power Parking skills between parked cars, or just get cracking on another event. There are always plenty to choose from.

You'll also notice other tweaks, like the ability to drive through an Auto Repair station to repair your vehicle, or the Gas Station to refuel your boost meter. Both are helpful additions that mitigate potential frustration when the heat is on. For example, the all-new Marked Man [watch it on Eurogamer TV] event is a hugely likeable point-to-point affair where the idea is to reach your destination without being smashed to pieces by pursuers. By keeping Auto Repair station locations in mind, you can get yourself out of a tight spot, no matter that your damage is critical and the screen has drained of colour to indicate your imminent doom. Elsewhere, Stunt Run tasks you with pulling off "outrageous manoeuvres" by drifting around corners, barrel-rolling off ramps and performing combos to reach a points-target. However, sometimes a quick visit to the Gas Station at an opportune moment will give you extra boost just when you need to hit that nearby ramp at top whack. And so on.

One extremely cunning and thoughtful element of the new approach to Burnout is how each part of Paradise City and the events within them have been tailored to the types of vehicle present - Speed, Aggression, and Stunt. For example, a car with high Aggression stats might well be perfect for ramming cars off the road in Road Rage events, but hopeless in Stunt Runs. A speedy car may well be great for races, but will be a bit feeble for Marked Man events, and so on. Using the right car for the job is essential - a point DJ Atomika is keen to stress when you fail an event yet again. Tearing through the undulating countryside in the more barren Western sections of the city, you'll learn, is much better suited to Stunt-savvy cars, giving you the chance to take full advantage of the many ramps and Super Jumps hidden away.

Who needs Paradise, I'd rather have you

'Burnout Paradise' Screenshot 3

Downward jaunt! Not so fond of the 'on the slide' connotations here: 6/10

To keep you involved, Burnout Paradise has you try and improve your driving licence rating, and, in turn, gives you better cars to drive. To rank up, you have to win a certain number of events, and Criterion gives you the freedom to meet that target via a combination of whichever events most appeal to you. So, for example, if you're not really a fan of Stunt Run events, and have more joy with Marked Man and Road Rage, then that's up to you. However you want to race your way to an upgrade, the game doesn't force you in any given direction. Rather like Burnout Revenge, eventually the stakes are raised to reach the next tier, so you will have to start attempting more of everything over time, but no longer are you bound to meeting star-ratings to get there. If you win a race, job done. If you reach your destination in Marked Man, all good. You won't be forced to do re-runs of everything to reach Perfect ratings, but to compensate for that there's generally a lot of other stuff you can spend time with, which is very much a good thing.

The replacement to the inspired Crash mode of old is the new Showtime mode [watch it on Eurogamer TV], which you can, bizarrely, activate at any time by holding down some shoulder buttons. At that point, the idea is to smash into as much traffic as possible, but not in the manner you might expect. In Showtime, you earn boost by hitting other vehicles, and when you hit the tarmac you can basically bounce yourself back up by using the Ground Break manoeuvre, therefore making it possible to keep the momentum going by hitting more traffic, earning more boost, and therefore more Ground Breaks. Hitting buses is the key to the really big scores as they grant you a multiplier, but given the random nature of the traffic flow, it's often down to blind luck as to whether enough buses appear. The whole thing is completely bonkers, obviously, and it's fun to try and top your best score, but I can't deny that it's really no substitute for well-designed, challenging Crash Junctions of old. Incorporating Crash Junctions (as they were) into the new game might not have worked, but binning one of the best parts of Burnout is a pretty hefty sacrifice.

We Love Katamari Burnout

Elsewhere, you've also got the option to try and beat the best time and best Showtime crash on every single street in the game by selecting the Road Rules option via the d-pad. While not necessarily integral to making progress, it's another way to kill time in a game already chock-full of tasks and challenges. There are also point-to-point races for specific cars, called Burning Routes, which in turn unlock even more cars, so the incentive to plough through them too is quite high if you're determined to truly mine the game for gamerpoints (for 360 owners, at least) and overall completion. However, particularly irritating is the fact that you can't simply skip to a menu and change to another car on the fly. In order to do so, you either have to drive to one of the five Junkyards dotted around the map, or switch the game off, reload and select your ride when you start. As a direct consequence of this tedious mechanic, I've hardly bothered to do any Burning Routes, because it's simply easier to go and do something else instead. It's puzzling why Criterion would ever think this was a good idea (the game, after all, stops to load in every single event, so I'm not sure why allowing you to do this would be any different), but in tandem with the no-restart policy, this hard-line attitude comes as no great surprise.

'Burnout Paradise' Screenshot 4

Blur and jauntiness! Best of both worlds: 10/10

One thing definitely worthy of praise this time around is the seamless online implementation, which makes it extremely simple to dive into a multitude of multiplayer challenges without feeling like you're being hauled off into a completely different game. Because the whole city is fully unlocked for everyone right from the start, there are no arbitrary restrictions on where you and can't go, merely a decision to make on how many players you want to team up with, and which car you want to use (from your own unlocked selection). If you simply want to 'Freeburn' around the streets with pals, attempting to find more barriers and billboards to smash through, or more Super Jumps to discover, then that's fine. If you want to beat your friends' Road Rules times and crash totals, you can do that too. If you have a camera attached, when you beat their score you can send them a 'Smugshot' to rub it in a bit more. In addition to a myriad of challenges specific to the number of players in the game, you can also go for ranked or unranked races for up to eight players. Admittedly the servers were a tad barren when we went online yesterday, but the whole thing seemed silky smooth and lag free, so it's definitely something to try out if you have the option.

Speed racer

In technical terms, Criterion has come up with something extremely special, which puts to bed any lingering fears of its ability to tackle the new generation of consoles. Running without a hitch at 60 frames-per-second on both systems, it's a beautiful-looking game whether you're running it on an old CRT warhorse or a brand new 1080p monster. The lighting techniques and the use of colour are terrific, with subtle, beautiful effects that create a distinct ambience in-keeping with the feel and character of the previous games. There's no sense that the team is trying too hard to show off new techniques, instead delivering a grittily pretty environment that's as intricate and thoughtful as any we've seen in an openworld game.

'Burnout Paradise' Screenshot 5

No jaunt, no points: 0/10

The cars, too, have a rough and ready feel, often beaten up but still attractive in their own way. Crashes and crash replays have that same familiar wince-worthy impact - aided and abetted by typically lavish attention to detail on the audio front. If you want a game to show off a new AV set-up to its full punchy, face-wobbling potential, then you won't go far wrong with Burnout Paradise. The only slight minus point is, again, DJ Atomika himself (although, to be fair, he stops short of being unbearably cheesy) and some questionable soundtrack choices, including what appears to be every in-house track from every Burnout to date. Thumbs up for Adam and the Ants and LCD Soundsystem, though. You can never have too much Stand & Deliver in your life, I find. Da Diddly Qua Qua, indeed.

Anyway, there's no doubt that Burnout Paradise is a fine arcade racing game that will once again attract a strong following from a discerning audience prepared to live with it and get used to its intricacies. Every mode (apart from, at a push, Showtime) works brilliantly, and with a great online mode seamlessly woven into the game, there's an awful lot to love about this openworld reinvention of Burnout. What's abundantly obvious is that the more time you're prepared to invest, the better it eventually becomes, and the less some of its irritating design oddities will bother you. In truth, I would have preferred to select events on the fly, change vehicles on a whim, and restart failed events when I choose, but nor is it a deal-breaker that these features have been omitted. Once you (reluctantly) adapt to the demands of the game, a massive amount of fun awaits.

Burnout Paradise isn't everything it could have been, but what's here is still worthy of serious consideration for anyone hell-bent on demented arcade thrills.

8 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (136) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • the_dudefather #1 4 years ago

    1000/10 for DJ atomica

    NOT!

  • JediMasterMalik #2 4 years ago

    I'll be having this tyvm.

  • pjmaybe #3 4 years ago

    Good review. Thank christ this wasn't an instant 10.

    The last comment pretty much summed up how I feel about BP from the demo. It's not everything it could (nay SHOULD) have been but what's there should fill the games drought void for a while...

    This is DJ Atomica, statin' the bleedin' obvious, looking out of the window downtown at a bunch of people rear-ending each other

  • fil0 #4 4 years ago

    It is evident that a lot of thought has gone into the design of this game. I was a bit put off by EG's 8/10 but I'll try it anyway ;) .

  • Lexx87 #5 4 years ago

    I've got too many games to play to get invested in something like this

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #6 4 years ago

    I've clicked straight on comments without looking at the review in order to predict the following:

    There will not be a single screenshot of the game actually in play anywhere in the review.

    Am I right?

  • Whizzo #7 4 years ago

    Assuming the demo was like the final, you can get the DJ to shut up most of the time unless introducing new events by switching off "Tips" in the menu which is handy.

    My copy should arrive tomorrow and I'm rather looking forward to it, the demo was a lot of fun just to arse about in online so having all of the city to play in should be worthwhile. It reminded me of the old Midtown Madness 3 days, which were epic.

  • BM #8 4 years ago

    Hmmmmm, might have to be a rental first for me too.

  • LOLLERS #9 4 years ago

    When you can't restart an event, is it likely to become more annoying the more you play, since when you reach the end of an event there are less available events to play? If you see what I mean...

    I guess the event hang around even after you've beaten them so you can improve your rating or whatever.

  • TLKCydonia #10 4 years ago

    R.I.P. Burnout

  • miiiguel #11 4 years ago

    R.I.P. Burnout

  • Cloudane #12 4 years ago

    You know what?

    I look forward to the day that Burnout 2 is made as an 'Xbox Originals' download than this version to be honest.

  • mingster #13 4 years ago

    it actually sounds quite good and like someone said Midtown Madness'ish which was cool.

    shame about the crash modes as i liked them but all else sounds good.

  • siro #14 4 years ago

    Is it even faster than Takedown/Revenge? That's all I'm asking of it. :)

  • Danoxth #15 4 years ago

    Solid game then, wonder if the wallet will allow for this purchase.

  • jonsaan #16 4 years ago

    Am I the only person who thought Crash mode was a bit pony? I won't miss it.

  • Derblington #17 4 years ago

    Nice review and it touches on most of the issues that I have with the game (I have a far bigger problem with them than Kristan though and wouldn't give the game a score so high).

    The open world design with wide roads, etc, has removed a lot of the skill for me and it feels far less hectic and fun, far more generic racer. That the navigation system isn't good enough (and can lead you to fail races), the lack of retart (to prevent any loading in game according to Ward, yet the pick a car screen takes *ages* to load each vehicle everytime you look at each one), that you have to trudge around to change a car, that the events wipe clean after each license upgrade means that you can just redo the same tracks and the over reliance of the world map to a) find races and b) win them (causing a horrible stop-start effect) just add to the frustration.

    Yeah, it looks nice, yeah, it's smooth, yeah, the online nav is cool but I don't want to play something technically great, I want to play something great fun. Some of he design choices are bizarre and they should have been made better. It just doesn't feel quite like Burnout anymore...
    Edited by 1 at 23/01/08 @ 15:34

  • Kiigan #18 4 years ago

    100% correct, Stuart :)

    PS when's WoS coming back?

  • T4RG4 #19 4 years ago

    MEH 7/10 if you HAVE to have Burnout again, although I think this is its fat sister.

    Too many good games around to tempt me to purchase this.

  • Midnight_Raven #20 4 years ago

    Why does everything have to be an "open, free-roaming world" these days? What´s wrong with a more structured approach? I mean, open world is nice and all, but I think a more traditional menu system could be implemented as well. You know, for old farts like me.

  • Daymare #21 4 years ago

    Only five spots where you can change your vehicle in such a big enviroment, considering the type of the car is very important for your success in particular events you can't choose off the menu or restart!? It's like the developers where asking themselves: "is our core gameplay good enough to distract player from such atrocious design decisions as, let's say, no menus?" And then they went "yeah, let's try and call it another reinvention of our series!".. Was there really no one to raise his/her voice in their meetings and point out that, you know, menus and restarts are good!?

    I really *can't* get over this stupid design decision and the fact that they choose to exclude "Crash Mode" because of it. They went backwards to go forward. And when the next Burnout comes along there's gonna be "Crash Mode Is Back" tags all over the boxes and posters, Grrr! Their desing philosophy can also be understood as: "leave your options open by taking tried and proven options out so you can reinstate them again."
    Edited by 1 at 23/01/08 @ 15:47

  • mcwildcard #22 4 years ago

    I'll wait until WipEout HD.
    Thanks for trying though.

  • Schiraman #23 4 years ago

    I really hated the demo, and TBH this review does very little to reassure me. One to avoid methinks.

  • paulf #24 4 years ago

    if videogaming is to progress as a medium it needs developers to take design risks. I for one applaud Criterion for having the balls to radically alter a series that wasnt necessarily broken. Sure it may not be to everyone's taste but if you want the old Burnout experience why not play the older games?

    Tbh I was pissed off with the demo when there was no restart but then once i played online I forgave them it was just so much fun driving around like a maniac and trying to find how to smash through the billboards.

    In a world of 'me too' fps copy cats and yearly incremental sequels this may not be the Burnout that everyone was looking for but it looks like a breath of fresh air to me

  • L42yB #25 4 years ago

    @Daymare - I can *kinda* understand the decision. They are discouraging the annoyance of repeatedly playing the same race over again and again until you beat it (which has been the sort of thing that has made me stop playing games like this in the past). But still... not sold on their solution for it either... will probably rent it for a weekend and see if I want to play it anymore after that

  • daz_john_smith #26 4 years ago

    What about Offline Splitscreen Multiplayer? Has that been dropped?

  • miiiguel #27 4 years ago

    "They are discouraging the annoyance of repeatedly playing the same race over again and again until you beat it (which has been the sort of thing that has made me stop playing games like this in the past)."
    On the other hand, that was what kept me going for another go, again, and again, and again... (and even to place myself closer to the telly).

  • asphaltcowboy #28 4 years ago

    Cool! Will be picking this up around payday - enjoyed the demo - hopefully I can get internet sorted soon to smash and crash some EGers! Not too unhappy about losing Crash Mode, it was never my favourite, although I'm genuinely disappointed that aftertouch seems to be a thing of the past, I always liked being able to get the last laugh after slowly maneuvering my car into the path of some poor so-and-so!

    EDIT: Yeah, is there splitscreen? I hope so! :(
    Edited by 1 at 23/01/08 @ 16:04

  • Fitzmogwai #29 4 years ago

    Write out one hundred times:

    "I must not confuse REIN with REIGN"


  • DrDamn #30 4 years ago

    @daz_john_smith
    I would like to know this too. What single machine multiplayer options are there - if any?

    @Rev Stu Cambell
    Screenshot wise absolutely correct, but they have stuck in a number of gameplay videos which is nice.

  • FlamingCarrot #31 4 years ago

    Hats off for the great V8 noise if nothing else.

    So where now for the arcade racing genre? Think the barrel is just about scraped. I have hopes for GRID and love GT5 Prologue (on Jap import) but the days when i loved Screamer, Burnout even Outrun are a warm memory. Is it me or has the law of diminishing returns started to take hold?

  • monkie_king #32 4 years ago

    What is the deal with that Power Parking? I tried it 4 or 5 times in the demo, got a lucky 100%, and there didn't seem to be any incentive to ever do it again. Do you have to try parking in different spots around the city or something?

  • ElNino9 #33 4 years ago

    After playing the demo I think this is a fair score. I shall be picking this up on Friday. :)

  • Lim-Dul #34 4 years ago

    Ha, ha! The screenshots are ace! This seems to be an ongoing "insider joke" in racing game reviews but I completely agree that tilting the image makes it much more awesome!

  • fightman3b #35 4 years ago

    sounds shit to me, wont even be bothering with a dual-layer for this one, thats how pure the crap criterion have just dumped is.

    pity the saps that actually BUY it!

  • coach_mcguirk #36 4 years ago

    Amusingly, the Edge review (9/10) describes DJ Atomika as "likeable".

    Hopefully this will arrive tomorrow or Friday morning. First act when I put it into the drive - turn the built in music and (hopefully) Atomika off OFF OFF.

  • miiiguel #37 4 years ago

    fightman3b, mate... punk IS dead.

  • GamesConnoisseur #38 4 years ago

    You cant win! Never satisfy gamers who get tired of the same old game updated/repackaged every time or you take the game in new direction too far and get pillored!

    I m one who admire Criterion for trying and certainly will be giving this a good go, as EG even said there is fun to be had!

  • oreillymj #39 4 years ago

    If I can't shut that annoying prat of a DJ off completely, then no sale for me. It's THAT annoying.

    I'd gratefully appreciate a comment to that affect from perhaps the reviewer.

  • monkie_king #40 4 years ago

    oh, regarding Kristan's "old CRT warhorse" comment, I'd really advise against it. Playing the demo in SD was extremely frustrating, as oncoming walls, ramps, cars etc. can't be spotted against the general grey mush until you're about to hit them at 150mph. Far more playable on a big HD set.

  • Daymare #41 4 years ago

    "They are discouraging the annoyance of repeatedly playing the same race over again and again until you beat it (which has been the sort of thing that has made me stop playing games like this in the past)."

    It's nice to be discouraged not to do this or that but they are forcing us to play the open-world-do-anything-go-anywhere-be-free game their way which is kind of contradictive to me. And you're going to be repeatedly play same race over and over again one way or the other, if it's a hard race and you'll want to finish the game - the difference here is, you will leave the hard races for later (and get a better cars for them), but when there's going to be only hard races left, no restart option is just going to bug you even more.

    It does have to be said that this kind of design is going to bug some people more then other, since our gamestyles differ, but I presume it's going to annoy alot of people. It seems to me, when they decided they're going down this route, game developers didn't ask themselves one of the most important questions in game design: "is this feature fun?" Loading screens are not fun, I agree with them on that, but that's more of a hardware limitation, which should get straighten out when the next generation of consoles come out.

  • smelly #42 4 years ago

    Hmmm.. umm.. hmm..

    Will play demo and decide...

    Probably a purchase for me though

  • krudster #43 4 years ago

    Turn off tips in the main menu and he stops piping up.

  • DrDamn #44 4 years ago

    After a fair bit of digging found that offline the game is single player only. No split screen, no hotseat ... hence for me no fun and no sale. Big pile of cock.

  • BrokenSymmetry #45 4 years ago

    What is it with racing games not allowing a retry of races? PGR4 had this same annoying feature in its career mode.

  • smelly #46 4 years ago

    "There will not be a single screenshot of the game actually in play anywhere in the review."


    Its a racing game.. what do you expect? Them to use actual in-game shots and not replay screenshots? :-)

    Besides, we all know that gamers just play racing games to wank over the graphics - so the only reason to own a game like this is to watch the graphics on the replays while having a good hard hand shandy... Apparently


    (erm.. for the hard of thinking.. kryon, etc.. i'm not being serious... Although after reading kelly_h's "I'm going to rent this just for the graphics." I'm not actually sure any more..)

  • krudster #47 4 years ago

    Another thing worth noting about CRT play is the fonts are tiny.

  • jack_klugman #48 4 years ago

    There will not be a single screenshot of the game actually in play anywhere in the review.

    Am I right?

    Well done. Plenty of links to gameplay videos though.

  • Daymare #49 4 years ago

    @krudster

    How often did you use or have to use the map?

  • krudster #50 4 years ago

    Not all that much - because of the way the roads intertwine and overlay one another, it's not always that useful. I think the best way to get any good at the game is trial and error and simply memorising it. Luckily it's not that big a city, so after 4 or 5 hours you really start to get a feel for certain areas.

  • ronuds #51 4 years ago

    Does EA have to keep insulting today's youth by putting such ridiculously cliche characters like "DJ Atomica"?

    So dumb...

  • penhalion #52 4 years ago

    Finally a review I agree with. This is how reviews should go. It should be bloomin' obvious the reviewer actually played more than 2 minutes of the game. As a result I agree with nearly all of the comments and even the final score. Why doesn't the ps3 version have custom tracks would be my only question. It's the sole reason I'm getting the 360 version (the PS3 version seems to be mildly clearer for some reason!).

  • Triggerhappytel #53 4 years ago

    fil0 - "It is evident that a lot of thought has gone into the design of this game. I was a bit put off by EG's 8/10 but I'll try it anyway ;) ."

    Why on Earth would you be at all put off by a very good score like 8/10?!

  • brainbird #54 4 years ago

    I had a quick spin in Paradise today and I like it. It's not the classic Burnout formula, yes, but who cares? Call it Good-Racer-with-different-name if that's your problem. Because it IS a good game.

  • Daymare #55 4 years ago

    Ah, ok. I was afraid I'd have to be checking the map all the time (especially at the beginning and later parts of the game, when events will start to dry up) which would go against what they were trying to accomplish.

  • Derblington #56 4 years ago

    You will have to from my experience.

  • bivith #57 4 years ago

    8/10? As good as Burnout 2? As good as Burnout:Revenge on the 360??

    Surely removing half the game i.e. Crash mode merits losing several million points. The whole thing regarding no restarts, and not being able to select a car per event, plus this idiotic sounding Showtime thing, just all sounds idiotic and rubbish.

    Anyone got a copy of Burnout 2 they're done with?

  • krudster #58 4 years ago

    When events start to dry up, yes, you can expect to be checking the map to see what you haven't done yet, but you're talking about a few seconds here and there. One thing they definitely should have added was a means to plot some sort of sat nav to a specific location when you're looking for a location.

  • bivith #59 4 years ago

    "it actually sounds quite good and like someone said Midtown Madness'ish which was cool. "

    Midtown Madness featured real cities which helped immensely for that game. Burnout Paradise has no such advantage.

  • rudedudejude #60 4 years ago

    hehe n1 Rev.!

    You remind of that guy from HL2 and his shotgun, he's the last Rev. I communicated with I think.

  • BillyBrush #61 4 years ago

    WW2 - all played out..

    Burnout - still strong

    Jet engine sounds...mmm

    Graphics wise, it didn't look too hot to me...RR6 ftw

  • bivith #62 4 years ago

    This will be the first Burnout since Burnout 2 (which hooked me) I haven't bought on release day. I bought Revenge even after being bitterly disappointed by Takedown. I even bought it again on the 360. sad sad times. i won't bang on about it anymore though.

  • Daymare #63 4 years ago

    "One thing they definitely should have added was a means to plot some sort of sat nav to a specific location when you're looking for a location."

    Ah, yet another one of their questionable decisions. Why they didn't put the navigation system (that's in some of FPS', for crying out loud), especially since they've taken out restarts and select-an-event-and-car-off-the-menu, I really don't understand. That would have, after all, mitigate some of their problematic decisions, while still keep their "seamless" philosophy intact. These guys really have some balls:)

  • Eighthours #64 4 years ago

    What is it with racing games not allowing a retry of races? PGR4 had this same annoying feature in its career mode.

    You could restart mid-race, though.

  • Miths #65 4 years ago

    I'm picking this one up tomorrow - if only I could decide whether to get the 360 or the PS3 version.
    I love my new PS3, mainly because it's so wonderfully silent (bought it mostly as a Blu-ray player) compared to the 360 Vacuum Cleaner(tm), but the much better triggers on the 360 controller, as well as rumble, probably makes it worth sticking to forced use of headphones or neighbour unfriendly volume levels :).

  • monkie_king #66 4 years ago

    Something that's not mentioned in the review: can you exit from a race once you've started? In the demo, if you screw up and drive up the wrong freeway ramp and get lost, there's no way to give up. You have to trawl all the way over to the finish line even though everyone has long since disappeared over the horizon. Until you do that, you can't begin another event.

    If there really are 5-mile long races in the full game then that's a recipe for a complete nightmare.

  • dsmx #67 4 years ago

    I'm betting that the questionable game design decisions were EA's doing, so in the next version they can say look crash is back, look sat nav, look restart, etc.

  • oreillymj #68 4 years ago

    @krudster

    Can you also turn off the Rawk Toonz? They sound awful.

    Version reviewed? X360 I'm assuming. Can this be made part of a sticky for multi-platform reviews.


    Also, you need to lower the compression ratio on those videos. There's some serious atrifacts going on.

  • NewYork #69 4 years ago

    God, I had to click through, like, three pages to get the score.

  • PlugMonkey #70 4 years ago

    "Something that's not mentioned in the review: can you exit from a race once you've started? In the demo, if you screw up and drive up the wrong freeway ramp and get lost, there's no way to give up. You have to trawl all the way over to the finish line even though everyone has long since disappeared over the horizon. Until you do that, you can't begin another event."

    If you stop your car, the event ends a few seconds later.

  • Yodzilla #71 4 years ago

    This game is fucking awesome and everyone should buy it.

  • f01re #72 4 years ago

    "Why doesn't the ps3 version have custom tracks would be my only question."

    because Sony don't support it ...yet.

    Not Criterion's fault.

    Am I the only one who loved the demo and really like what Criterion have done ?

  • NewYork #73 4 years ago

    Of course you're not the only one.


    Am I the only one who likes chocolate?

  • Feanor #74 4 years ago

    "By way of helping hand, the instantly dislikeable American DJ, Atomika, chimes in with tips as you pass by events and items of interest."

    EA should bring back the DJ from SSX 3. He was genuinely entertaining and useful.

  • AOFanboi #75 4 years ago

    To the people complaining this isn't Burnout 2:

    GO PLAY BURNOUT 2 YOU WANKERS!

    Also: Replacing the puzzle subgame Crash Mode with a more interactive version is a plus in my book.

  • spindizzy #76 4 years ago

    AOFanboi: Well, I would but my PS2 is broken. Anyway, I don't want BO2 ... I want BO2's game mechanics, with new tracks and modern graphics. I loved BO1, loved BO2 even more and have been really disappointed ever since. Fine if you like the new stuff, but off the back of the demo (which I thought was the worst BO game by a country mile), and the reservations expressed in the review ... I'll not be buying this, and will keep whinging about Criterion being fuck ups ever since BO2. ;-)

  • BBIAJ #77 4 years ago

    What's wrong with the past game's in-house music?

    Burnout 2: Point Of Impact's theme is a classic!

  • brainbird #78 4 years ago

    I agree, BBIAJ, it's certainly better than Paradise's recycled Dominator soundtrack. NERD and Avril Lavigne FTUL!
    At least there's some Faith No More in it.

  • J.C #79 4 years ago

    1280x720 Expanded.
    VGA 22inch CRT monitor.
    The picture is fucking amazing. so you can all stick your HD telly's up ya fucking asses!

  • DanC89 #80 4 years ago

    Loved the demo on PS3, and I'll be grabbing it on Fri for a tenner thanks to my HMV gift card left over from Chrimbo. ^__^

  • shamblemonkee #81 4 years ago

    hang on..... no splitscreen? ARE YOU MAD?!

  • Miths #82 4 years ago

    "1280x720 Expanded.
    VGA 22inch CRT monitor.
    The picture is fucking amazing. so you can all stick your HD telly's up ya fucking asses!"

    I was using a 22" Samsung 226BW monitor with my 360 until last week. Now I've got a 40" 1080p Samsung M87 - and if that tiny 22" monitor didn't work so well as a secondary PC monitor, I might have a go at sticking it up my fucking ass :p.

    I was perfectly satisfied with that monitor for gaming (and I certainly still would be in terms of image quality), but after getting acquainted with that 40" HDTV there's just no going back to such a small screen, even at a (obviously) much shorter viewing distance - though I'm starting to consider whether I made a mistake not getting the 52" model instead :) (would have been fantastic for gaming and Blu-ray, not too great with regular TV at my 7 feet viewing distance though).

  • captain-future #83 4 years ago

    I can't be bothered to read such long (3 pages c'mon!) reviews anymore... just answer me this question is Burnout Paradise anything like Test Drive Unlimited or not?

  • GitSomE_UK #84 4 years ago

    Only to be purchased when it's at bargain bin prices, I'm in the middle of a games drought and I have a devil may care attitude.



  • peterfll #85 4 years ago

    I'm hovering because I'm a massive Burnout fan me. But I didn't like the demo, and was never into TDU or Midnight Madness etc.

    I must be the only person who liked traffic checking in "Revenge" too.

  • itsfuzzy #86 4 years ago

    3 pages of a review for a burnout game. . The Eurogamer boys must really be bored!!!

  • fightman3b #87 4 years ago

    i can download this off usenet for fuck all, and burn it for the cost of a dual layer disc........but im not even going to bother. that says how shite this is.

    enjoy paying for the crap game, cunts

  • stephen #88 4 years ago

    Sooo... anyone seen this available for less than £40 anywhere?

  • itsfuzzy #89 4 years ago

    Fightman3b. You are really a big prick arent you , think your'e a hardman

  • BBIAJ #90 4 years ago

    @ Feanor: You do know that Burnout Paradise's DJ Atomika is the exact same DJ Atomika from SSX3, right?

    Hell, he drops enough hints in the demo!

  • DjFlex52 #91 4 years ago

    I must be the only person who liked traffic checking in "Revenge" too.

    @peterfll

    Nope, I liked it too but i'm going to miss Crash mode much more.
    Some of us, like me, just wanted HD next gen graphics, new tracks, new cars, enhanced modes, quicker load times.
    Sometimes structure is better than open ended play :)

  • fightman3b #92 4 years ago

    itsfuzzy - i get my games for free. im a clever man.

    you're nothing but a (probably) cash-paying gamer, ergo nob 'n' cunt.

  • fightman3b #93 4 years ago

    hahahahaha fightman will always be here. back again soon, fuckers.

  • Miths #94 4 years ago

    "itsfuzzy - i get my games for free. im a clever man."

    Yeah, you're really clever. I assume you steal your groceries as well and ram a (stolen) car through a couple of store windows if you need new furniture?
    I've pirated software and music in the past as well, but I was never so ignorant that I didn't know that what I was doing was theft, plain and simple (even being a poor student at the time wasn't really a particularly convincing excuse). But then again, I guess there are actually people out there who think stealing is cool or clever.
    Edited by 1 at 23/01/08 @ 22:55

  • stampax #95 4 years ago

    LOL at fightman3b - life so boring you have to try and wind people up on message boards with dumb comments? poor guy. This is the Samaratins number if your life is really that empty: 0800 181 0721. Good luck mate.

    Anyway, game sounds excellent, can;t believe people arnt more imporessed with the developers for trying to do something a bit more original - it seems many people want another burnout 2 with HD graphics. I'll be buying this.

  • chrisola #96 4 years ago

    i liked the demo, but racing point to point doesn't interest me at all.

    With a driving engine as good as Paradises, proper races doing laps like in the other games would have been great! Much more fun doing laps of a set course than you can learn, rather that just a to b.

    A mixture of both styles would have been awesome!

  • TRUTH #97 4 years ago

    Didn't like the car crashes as they fade and slow down for more dramatic close up views...it seemed as they are FMV (though are in real time)..and just don't seem part of the in game engine. Just doesn't feel right - should have left it the way in Burnout 5, as seemed more part of the game when crashed.

  • Feanor #98 4 years ago

    "@ Feanor: You do know that Burnout Paradise's DJ Atomika is the exact same DJ Atomika from SSX3, right?

    Hell, he drops enough hints in the demo!"

    No, I had no idea. :o I didn't remember the SSX 3 DJ's actual name....

    Maybe he was much more laid back in SSX 3 or something.

  • doriangray #99 4 years ago

    My worry is that with no race course structure you'll spend half the game glancing at the radar to try and figure out where you're going, rather than concentrating on driving.

  • BBIAJ #100 4 years ago

    frod p.s. why didn't you buy Dominator morons.

    I have it on PStwo, still considering picking it up on PSP too, for the DLC tracks.

  • Skywise #101 4 years ago

    I still cannot understand why they didn't include menus in the game. That way I could have a choice of just doing another event (no loading) or have a retry (with loading). The loading really wouldn't bother me there. If I want to keep the no-game illusion I just wouldn't retry things.

    For such a brilliant team this decision is baffling :S

  • KreyAtiv #102 4 years ago

    Well if it starts just like the demo, I'll be turning Tips off right away even before I get the car started. Just be glad to not have to sit through the opening video every time I want to play it. Shame you've to go to the Junk Yard in order to change cars, but it IS a driving game. All in all looking forward to the full version.

  • fightman #103 4 years ago

    not even worth the cost of a blank disc. this game is pish. bet the next burnout (if there is one after this poo) goes back to a more structured format.

    burnout? more like shitout, straight from criterions big fat arse. hot, runny shit that the morons that actually pay for this are metaphorically drinking like a fucking milkshake.

  • jlaakso #104 4 years ago

    Having played the retail version for last night, it looks like I'm a convert now. I was initially turned off by the open world thing, but apart from the difficulty of changing your car, it really works well.

  • Darren #105 4 years ago

    Should be getting this game today through the post from GAME (PS3 version). I opted for that version over the 360 version after reading 1Up's review which implied it had screen tearing whereas the PS3 version didn't.

    So are there any differences between both games?

    I certainly thought both demos where pretty much identical to be honest in terms of graphics and feel, with the PS3 version having a more consistent 60 fps framerate (the 360 version felt like it was dropping frames more often). I have a DualShock 3 controller so rumble isn't a problem (the PS3 demo had it) and I can play music through my amp via my 360 and listen to the game's sound effects through the TV (with in-game music turned off) as a way round the lack of custom soundtracks on the PS3. Admittedly the DualShock 3's triggers aren't as good as the 360 controller's but after hours of playing both games the PS3 version felt fine to play, the controls perhaps felt a little tighter to me...?

  • DB2k #106 4 years ago

    hated the demo
    completely put me off from buying it. Terrible interface, annoying voice over and the race stuff was just boring.

  • f01re #107 4 years ago

    It's odd, normally people moan at EA published games for not changing anything each year ;)

  • afghan_jones #108 4 years ago

    The reviews do all sound like the demo actually represented the game fairly well.

    The no restart thing isnt a massive issue but more annoying is the need to look more at the radar than the road whilst racing. gay.

  • krudster #109 4 years ago

    You can quit races - just come to a halt for a few seconds.

  • DNM #110 4 years ago

    Man I wish you'd go back to single page reviews, less clicking through to find the rating.

  • asphaltcowboy #111 4 years ago

    @coach_mcguirk - actually, they said he was mild-mannered and almost likeable.

    @DNM - So the score is all you care about? :/

  • DrDamn #112 4 years ago

    @f01re
    "It's odd, normally people moan at EA published games for not changing anything each year ;)"

    True, but there is changing game structure and completely removing features which make the game. For me Burnout is all about multiplayer madness sat on the couch with the person you are playing. Hotseat and split screen.

  • swisstony #113 4 years ago

    agree with f01re, EA can't win, it's either a boring rehash or its 'where did all the stuff i love go'

    basically you just get one of two sets of raving critics posting their hate regardless of what you choose to do as a developer.

    Criterion keep innovating, and it will please some with changes and annoy others. I hope they continue to innovate over and over in the games they make.

    I've played a lot of this game, and I like it. When I want circuits, I load one of the older ones. Job done.

    Oh and as for the radar, it's obvious you just have to learn the city, the radar is only useful as a general compass.

    Put some time in and you'll start to settle into the city's pattern and leverage it to your advantage.

    Heck, I love that i can just discover stuff, jump onto railroads and go to some mad places.

  • DNM #114 4 years ago

    "So the score is all you care about? :/"

    I'm more inclined to read a review if it's a single page, just personal preference is all.

  • f01re #115 4 years ago

    @DrDamn

    "For me Burnout is all about multiplayer madness sat on the couch with the person you are playing. Hotseat and split screen."

    You can't read BR/DVD in two places at once. Spilt screen is impossible with BP due to it's free roaming nature.

  • Eighthours #116 4 years ago

    agree with f01re, EA can't win, it's either a boring rehash or its 'where did all the stuff i love go'

    That's a bit simplistic.

    It's all very well adding new stuff - I love the idea of the freeroaming city, no load times etc, but the more possibly questionable and obstinate design decisions are worth commenting on: the lack of restarts, the lack of sat-nav, the effect that the design has on online races where you'll barely see a soul for the entire race.

    I look forward to playing the game tonight and considering all this.

  • bloodflowers #117 4 years ago

    Open city A->B racing is a huge improvement. Disappointed that some people still want to be herded by invisible walls. Handling seemed lacking in the demo though. I've been spoiled by Midnight Club. Still, this is the first Burnout in a while that I've been interested in, purely because I'm tired of rubber banded AI cars on a linear route.

  • DrDamn #118 4 years ago

    @f01re
    "You can't read BR/DVD in two places at once. Spilt screen is impossible with BP due to it's free roaming nature."

    I don't want split screen free roam, I want split screen point to point road rage, or multiplayer hotseat at the very least.

    @Warzin
    "You need a time machine set to 1998. Maybe a nice silver DeLorean."

    Every sinlge racing game has the sort of features we are looking for or it gets a bit of a kicking for not including them (see Motorstorm for example). What we have here is a series which has removed these key features. It's not that we are saying it is a bad game necessarily, simply that it is no longer the same game. Change enough and it is no longer Burnout. At least to us where the mainstay of the game we played has been removed. It's a valid opinion, for us it's like removing guns from Halo and just leaving the vehicles and making it Halo Race!

  • f01re #119 4 years ago

    "Of course if they patched Paradise to include splitscreen point-to-point races"

    Of course, the famous hardware patch of another BR laser ;)

    You can't patch a free roaming streaming game into one that loads up a chunk of city (which is the only way split screen would be possible).

    The raison d'etre of this game is a free roaming seamless environment with no menus/loading screens. It's not going to change...

  • Darren #120 4 years ago

    @farticusmaximus - Thanks for letting us know the 360 version has no tearing. I wonder why 1Up mentioned it? I was doubtful anyway as I didn't see any in the two demos I played but switched my pre-order from 360 to PS3 version after reading the review just in case. Not bothered really as the PS3 version IMO looks a tad sharper and has a more consistent 60 fps framerate. The only things I lose are the Achievements (which I don't care for these days anyway) and the custom soundtracks (which I work around). Whichever version you opt for, you're getting pretty much the same game anyway; it's not like the PS3 version is much worst than the 360 one (for a change!!!).

  • asphaltcowboy #121 4 years ago

    Lack of multiplayer splitscreen is a big loss (what's to stop them letting you select an area of the map to play in like the demo area for example)? But anyone doubting the hilarity/awesomeness of Showtime (I was doubtful at first too) should watch the video over at Gamersyde! It's ace!

    http://www .gamersyde.com/news_5820_en.html

  • dsmx #122 4 years ago

    If that was the case why are most sites saying the ps3 runs at a more consistent frame rate and has better textures.

  • CyberClaw #123 4 years ago

    Right now, I tired of playing Burnout 3. After Fuzion Frenzy and Guitar Hero it's the most requested game in my parties. I was getting tired of playing Burnout 3 over and over, so when I found out Burnout Paradise was released today, I thought to myself "Ei, I'll buy it, the single player is probably fun, and it's an update to the splitscreen/hotseat fun I have at parties".

    No splitscreen? No fucking sale for me. Burnout 3 was fun for 3 or 4 days in SP... the real fun came from splitscreen, and I still play it to this day. Not really looking for another SP game (still working on PGR4, FFXII and VF5 right now).

    Their design drive of not having any menus, is just an idea. When the design idea gets in the way of enjoyment (for example, having to anoying tasks like driving back to the start line for not having menus), it just ruins the fun a little bit. Rockstar found that out in GTA3, and implemented in both squels ways of restarting the missions faster (taxis and menus), and it was an immersive streaming world. No menus sound cool in paper, but after the "oh so pretty" initial reaction, we are left just wishing there was a menu there so we could just change the f***ing car already, or restart the damn race.

    I bet the next Burnout will feature menus, or will make bigger use of their small side menu (why oh why couldn't they put the restart race option there, next to the online options??). Just morronic in my opinion to commit to an idea to the point it makes the experience less joyfull. And they could easly make splitscreen tracks if they were inclined (by limiting sections of the free roaming city, like you see in the demo).

  • CyberClaw #124 4 years ago

    PS- I love open games. The idea of this Burnout sounds good. Too bad that they took it too far, and fucked the game by removing menus. Want an example on how to implement proper exploration into a driving game? Look at Need for Speed Most Wanted. You get the fun of open endedness, but you also get the convinience of menus, and they were even able to get split screen into the game.

  • Eighthours #125 4 years ago

    The game's good. I don't know exactly how good yet (only played it over my lunch break at home) but there's something very compulsive about it. Here's something rather cool. Hitting up on the d-pad turns on "road rules", which gives you targets for offline/online times to go down the whole of a particular road and offline/online crash (showtime) scores that started on each road (cycle through each, using up on the pad. It goes in the order of: offline time, online time, offline crash, online crash, road rules off).

    This being the first couple of days of release worldwide, the targets are actually attainable. I legged it down a street in the mountains in the most basic car and managed to set the fastest time. Simply go to the very start of a road and drive down it and the timer will begin. If you don't drive from the start of the road (say you turn onto it midway down from another road), the timer won't begin.

    So: every single street in the game has offline and online times/scores associated with it. This could become rather addictive.

    You're meant to be able to compare these times with your friends to beat their records, though I didn't have time to take a look at that and work out how to display their details - only the top guy in the world's time is displayed by default. When you set a new record, you're informed on the main screen (and if you don't set the fastest time) and then displayed in a news ticker at the bottom a few seconds later. Presumably this ticker will update whenever anyone beats your time.

    Haven't tried online yet, but it looks like it should be bloody good fun.

  • asphaltcowboy #126 4 years ago

    @Eighthours - Sounds great! Can't wait to get my internet back :(

  • bdgr #127 4 years ago

    I love Game - got this a day early, my mate's a little gutted about that!

    Anyway, one question I have is... has anyone else pre-ordered it from Game? I did it to get the 'extra' car, got told i'd get a code to enter, but no code's come my way.

    Just wondered if I'm in the same boat as others.

    (And I was bothered about showtime, but it's great - imagine a crash junction that, in essence, you control. top class!)

  • Shabtai #128 4 years ago

    No laps then? Having races be point-to-point ending at 1 of 8 centers is a letdown. Common, no laps in a racer which is all about the crazy roads ats actions you do on them? The regular races are just mini "continental rides", alot shorter and exicting i think.

    I still prefer to be in a ceographied craziness, levels with laps made espicially for the over-the-top mayhem that Burnout made its name of. Having open-world means that this priority isn't the only one and possibly not the most important. They could have easily implement the crash signs\shortcuts in regular levels format. It would have made the races vary and with more options of how to drive.

    And no, the Burnout fans wouldn't uproar if the new Burnout was of the same formula (minus trafic checking).

    Crash mode would have worked well, don't see any reason to have that Showtime mode which i don't really like.
    The new Marked Man mode is a nice concept. Only played one but it seems too easy and having the ability to fix the cars just beats the purpose and deminishes the tension of the cpu wrecking you.

    The essentials are good though. Driving in the city, finding all the crazy spots but i really don't see why they had to strip all the other stuff.
    The open-world however, does good for the Road Rage events. It's alot better and fun. Takedowning adds time to the clock so you can prelong the event alot, which is good because i love Road Rage. So you can have long Road Rages, really visiting paradise city so it adds alot to the mode. Also the possibility to fix the cars in this mode is nice and is a good use of that open world structure.

    I need to play more, but alot of what made Burnout,Burnout have been dulled away and it's a shame.

  • Miths #129 4 years ago

    I've just been playing the 360 version for around five hours tonight and I love it - although granted, I've only been a casual Burnout fan in the past, and only starting with Burnout ... ehh, the one before Revenge, a couple of years ago, so I don't have a whole lot of nostalgic memories to shatter :).

    So far I really enjoy the open world concept, although particularly the point to point races have proven quite a handful as one wrong turn can often send you on a winding road back in the wrong direction (on the Western and middle part of the map in particular), making it very difficult to catch up again once you've got your car turned around. Learning at least the major roads and later also a lot of short cuts is definately required here.

    Road Rage is blast though (spent the last couple of hours just on those) - obviously, and I like Marked Man as well. Stunt events have also been causing me a few headaches so far, but it definately helps a whole lot learning where the large ramps etc. are located. I haven't tried Showtime more than a few times so far, but I think this is the one area where I might feel like joining the nostalgic old-timers in their complaints :) - I think I'll miss the old crash junctions.

    Overall this is definately not a purchase I'm going to regret - though I can see why the people who just want a rehash of Burnout 2/3/whatever with improved graphics are going to hate this :).

  • DAN.E.B #130 4 years ago

    This is a real shame this is only burnout title i have no intension of buying
    im going to miss it.

  • paulf #131 4 years ago

    been playing this online doing the 2 player challenges with my brother, it really is a quality game, infact the only thing that stops it from being a 10 in my book is that it lacks halo3 like recording and replay, apart from that I'm completely converted after having reservations about the lack of retry button

  • swisstony #132 4 years ago

    It's clear to me now that the 'retry' everyone's missing represents a mindset that doesn't suit this game. I failed an event, on the way back I did some road rules, discovered some world, got a new paintjob, messed about a bit, did another challenge that was nearer then bombed back to it, and heavens above, driving back through this amazing city is hardly a chore, oh, someone's pinged me to go online, dpad dpad dpad, we're burning around together.

    I played all the Burnouts, I just think with this one there's a sense of having to 'let go' of the old track based mindset. It's a Burnout sandbox with all the events built into it.

    As someone who was non plussed by crash mode, it was ok but i hardly played it, i get that you could miss it.

  • Grogmonkey #133 4 years ago

    Just had an email from a friend of mine at EA, who passed along this little bit of insider knowledge:

    Burnout Paradise FCE

    And who said developers never listen to their fans...

  • bdgr #134 4 years ago

    ooh, nice touch - just unlocked the burnout 2 coupe - see, they DO know the second one was best!

  • Adman #135 4 years ago

    I've had the game since Tuesday and am currently sitting on 55 hours-ish of playtime and 98% complete. For all the things this game didn't get right it got so many more spot on.

    I think a big big benefit is having enough friends to fill up a multiplayer game. I was in one today and it was lovely. 2 or 3 went off to explore how to get a billboard while another one was trying to get the Burnout x20 achievement. Me and someone else battled back and forth taking Road Rules times from each other and then when we fancied a change the host set up a few races. When the game fell apart I just carried on in single player taking more times from friends and finishing up showtime events on all the roads.

    Personally I couldn't be happier that Criterion took the series in the direction it did, and I sincerely hope if they do another Burnout game it expands on the ideas in Paradise instead of shifting back to Takedown/Revenge.

  • Darren #136 4 years ago

    dsmx - "If that was the case why are most sites saying the ps3 runs at a more consistent frame rate and has better textures."

    @farticusmaximus - Well I'm only saying what I thought from my OWN experiences of the demo. IMO the PS3 version has the very slight edge graphically and in terms of framerate as I could feel the Xbox 360 demo dropping to 30 fps more often which has a small affect on the controls. Having played the final PS3 version for some 11 hours now, I haven't experienced any framerate drops so it looks like I made the right choice by buying that version. :p

  • silver-jon #137 4 years ago

    I'm with Miths on this one (a few posts back). I'm a kind of casual Burnout enjoyer (as opposed to fan) and I've really enjoyed the 3 hours on Paradise so far. I think the open world system works really well and there's just so much to do.
    I loved Crash mode in the previous games and Showtime just doesn do it for me like Crash used to. There's something about perfecting your launch off a ramp to specifically hit the multipliers and buses and simply praying you'd avoid the heart-breakers; it just plugged into what gaming is about.
    And I've only just realised reading these comments that it's single player only ! D'oh ! Still, those grumbles aside, I think Criterion should be applauded for making the tough decision to break away from what would have been a very easy money-spinner; simply re-hashing the old formula with a shiny new front-end. Just think how much we'd have complained at the lack of imagination.

    So, in summary: 8/10. Ta.

  • ZappyC #138 4 years ago

    EA have turned a brilliant series into a load of crap I think paradise its a bit too much like the boring old NFS and its far to slow.

  • darc #139 4 years ago

    Sounds a bit like Test Drive Unlimited, but less... boring? I'll have to pick this up on rental next week.

    Now that the game is based on a roaming/ open city model, are the driving physics more natural than previous burnouts, or is it the same "blast forward at ungodly speed" formula? Or another way of putting this: is there any point whatsoever in trying to use a racing wheel with this game?

  • hula hoops #140 4 years ago

    RIP Burnout.

    Damn you EA for making one of my favorite racing games a nonsense like this.

    I hope there are descent developer somewhere that would fill up the gap in my heart and make Burnout 2 in HD.

  • Mashum #141 4 years ago

    It's much more like NFS Most Wanted than TDU. Rental is definitely the way to go though.

    I've got to an 'A' license and spent quite a few hours on it, but it's getting boring now. Because everywhere is open from the off there's little incentive.

    In addition learning the city isn't as rewarding or intuative as I thought it might be... can't say exactly why, perhaps because the minimap is next to useless at speed.