Burnout Paradise Comments by Kristan Reed

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

So dumb...

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!).

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?!

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.

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.

You will have to from my experience.

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?

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.

"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.

hehe n1 Rev.!

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

WW2 - all played out..

Burnout - still strong

Jet engine sounds...mmm

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

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.

"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:)

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.

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 :).

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.

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.

@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.

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

"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.

This game is fucking awesome and everyone should buy it.

"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 ?

Of course you're not the only one.


Am I the only one who likes chocolate?

"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.

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.

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. ;-)

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

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

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.

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

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. ^__^

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

"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).

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?

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.

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.

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

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

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

@ 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!

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 :)

"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.

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.

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!

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: 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Doesn't sound like I want to play this game, actually sounds like the game was very well summed up in the demo.


People requesting splitscreen: Since Burnout now is set in a fully streaming open world it is not exactly easy to put in a splitscreen mode, because then you would stress the disc reading twice as much. Never mind that the occlusion routines and other optimizations would suddenly be forced to work with twice the amount of data and twice the amount of vehicles and so on that would require physics simulation.