Criterion to "transform" Paradise News

I suppose just releasing a finished game is beyond anyone these days.



/Is being facetious - doesn't even know what the patches are for.

extra content in the form of 'islands' from what i've heard....

That's a great idea, as long as the "named" patches are free....

oh...hang on...this is EA....

Ehhh..... I'll believe it when I see it.

yes, but is Alex Ward still there?

Can. Not. Wait.

One of the best Burnout games by far and one of my personal favourite Xbox Live experiences \o/

cool. Glad I haven't traded in my copy so..

Bah, I was hoping for "Cagney and Lacey" and "Crockett and Tubbs".

Went back on BO:P (terrible acronym) this week after a month or so and it's still great fun - can't WAIT for some updates, don't care if they cost some money.

Roger Davis of Alias Smith and Jones fame?

Retry option?

Surely it would be so easy for them to add the 'retry' option, and even better a jump-to-selected-junction on the map (the UI is practically there, in fact I'd wager they deliberately took it out at some stage).

But will they do it? If they do, I'll buy Burnout paradise, but I'm guessing they won't want to make such a major u-turn (like the ones you have to do in-game to drive back to the start of the race you narrowly failed).

Incidentally: Bette Davis.

Maybe if they put restarts in and made it so you couldn't get lost during a race through 90 degree turns i would consider it, but its not likely. Considering I own all 4 previous burnout games and have ocmpleted them all 100%, can't say how disappointed i am that the latest one just isn't as good...

too much too young too faaaast, criterion's decisions were really arrrse

surprisingly bad game given it's average review scores - restarts, showtime, burning routes, ouch

start again from scratch, don't patch, by the looks of 2nd hand bins across the land most people have moved on already

but well done Ea trax for opening one's eyes to the band Airborne, like AC/DC only new...niiice

That's a bit harsh Billy. It wasn't that bad.

Please transform in a Crash Mode

James Cagney? Damn, I thought they meant Cagney & Lacey!!

Transform it into crash mode and i might buy it.

Criterion with enflated promises of revolution, surely not?

Great news... so Criterion plan on changing this good but flawed game into something really special then? Can't wait! :)

Seriously though, Burnout Paradise might be the most ambitious game in the series yet but it's also the most underwhelming and disappointing one IMO and I got bored of it far quicker than I did any of the other games. There just didn't seem to much variety to it and the city got stale very quickly since most of the events follow the same routes. Yeah, there are in theory millions of routes from A to B but in practice you have to use one or two otherwise you'll lose, there's no room for exploration or detours while racing, so Criterion might as well have made each event closed off with the odd shortcut to keep things interesting, like the earlier games. The open world structure really doesn't work here IMO, all it does is replace having to choose events from a menu by driving around looking for them instead with the side effect that it renders the environments even more lifeless because the absense of any people is all the more obvious. The lack of a restart option was annoying too as was having to drive to one of only five garages in order to change your car.

P.S. I'm referring to the offline game only as I had no interest in playing the game online, never did for Takedown or Revenge either and I loved those games.

@Rash

yea it wasn't that bad, still fun, prob an 8/10 on the Billy scale....it just wasn't a 9 or 10 in my opinion as most sites gave it...would have been excellent if there was restarts and change to burning route....so a great game with a few bad decsions in there imo, surprised such glaring design issues got overlooked by reviewers imo (not overlooked, but didn't affect scores is prob a better way of putting it)

Road Rage online would bring me back...

I'll stick to Burnout 3 for my arcade racing fix once in a while...

TELEPORTING?

SET MARKER ON MAP?

ROTATING MAP?

FIX THE FUCKING NINJA GAIDEN BACKWARDS RIGHT STICK CAMERA!!!!!!!

POINT TO POINT RACES WITH BLOCKED BEND MARKER CHEVRONS?

What about Miles Davis?

Restarts

+ 1

POINT TO POINT RACES WITH BLOCKED BEND MARKER CHEVRONS.

+ 1

Perhaps I'm getting old but I've been driving around the city for hours now and I still get lost in races.

All those complaining about the lack of Crash-mode; You do realise you can initiate a free-form crash mode at any time by holding both bumper-buttons (360) right?

I love Paradise, really enjoy the fact that you can choose your own routes during races, and aren't blocked by stupid non-physical barriers. The exploring and driving between different races is different and you can go so fast in most cars that the distance is usually negligible in terms of time. I have nearly half the cars, over half the shortcuts and billboards, most of the jumps, and I'm still loving it.

Massive kudos to Criterion for trying something different and not rehashing the previous titles in the series again.

Are they adding giant robots or something?

*excites*

@MrED209 - Did it ever occur to you that everyone is different and what you think might be great about Burnout Paradise is what someone else might think isn't, or vice versa? ;)

Personally I think Burnout Paradise is less immediate and accessible than the earlier games... if I want to jump straight into a racing event I haven't yet completed, I can't, I have to bloody drive around the sterile, empty environments looking for them. Terrific when I just wanted a quick five minute play. What's wrong with adding a NFS Carbon-style shortcut system so you can jump straight to events offline? I believe the feature exists online. That's just one of the many flaws the game has IMO, including the lack of a restart option.

Anyway, I think the Burnout series peaked with the second and third game myself, the others haven't been anywhere near as much fun to play.

Transform Paradise into a decent game (splitscreen, crash zones, retry) and I'm there in a flash, otherwise stick your antisocial borefest up your unyielding arses Criterion.

Great Game.
The lack of restart only made earning your elite license all the more sweeter - there's certainly a greater sense of acheivement.

"I suppose just releasing a finished game is beyond anyone these days."

BOP is one of the most "complete" game I've seen I a long time :)

Can't complain that Criterion is expanding the game by offering DLC and keeping the game fresh.

Bette Davis, perhaps?


oops, a little late to the party am I...

I don't understand all the criticising. It was my favorite game for ages and online has been great fun. But I have 100% completed it so can't wait for the new stuff. Although a restart option would be cool.

Were they always such a bunch of wankers?

Well I understand that there have been a lot of people who haven't enjoyed this so much.

However, I was one of the doubters, really, having played the demo, and I was incensed at Alex Ward telling me to 'suck it and see', believing that I knew best.

But coming to it with an open mind, and a gang of EG forumites, it has without doubt been some of the best online gaming fun that I have had. Freeburn Challenges are just a work of genius, and I relish the prospect of getting back online in Paradise City with all the forumites that I have met there. I, too, have 100% completed the single player, and I have also completed all 350 online challenges, but I still love dipping back in to help other people finish their challenges off, and do some online racing.

So as sceptical as I am about Criterion 'transforming' Paradise, I am far less quick to criticise this outlandish claim, because last time around, Alex Ward was right, and I was wrong.

I had previously been of the opinion that Burnout 2 owned all other iterations, but Paradise is really like a different kettle of fish - bound, unfortunately, to upset purists, but I count myself a happy convert.

There is just something funny about Van Racing, and something challenging about trying to outdo online buddies on Time road rules, and the comic banter that has come from playing online - whether that is with people who have been playing since day one, or just people who I have stumbled in along the way. It makes a nice change of focus from the immediate competitiveness of CoD4, and if you have only thought about picking up the 360 version, there are still a gang of us happy to play on an informally regular basis.

I cannot wait for DLC for this thoroughly enjoyable title.

I should have got a badge for the 350 challenges, though!

glad I'm waiting to buy this -- I content to wait when the content is all there for one low combined price

hurry up then!!!


/waits...

/looks at watch...

/taps foot...

Heres hoping they're adding splitscreen support.

Only reason why i haven't bought this game yet.

FFS the game is awesome now with or without added extra content or patches. I honestly can't understand people waiting to buy this game. I have a few minor quibbles with it but it's still the best Burnout of the series so far.

you'll all make a fine bunch of grumpy old men.

BOP is a great game, i only ever missed a retry option a the very very end of the game.

Retry option,
Map jumping - to anywhere on the map,
local multiplayer support and
the crash event back not this stupid bloody showtime!!!

and this all better be free EA cos im not paying to get the rest of the game I've already paid for!

Oi! Don't you call me a grumpy old man, young whipper-snapper!

I don't know... kids today with your PS3s, Wii, and 360s. In my day it was all ZX81 and 10p a go for Track & Field!

You don't know you're born!

/grumble, grumble...

When this game has instant restarts, I'll buy it. Until then, I'm more than happy with the still-brilliant Takedown.

menu screen; if you press the START button on PS3, it takes you the the menu.

I want to be able to put my own music in the game please. You could in previous burnout games but for some reason i can't in this one.

er... press the guide button and choose your music.

Restarts and Showtime (pointless) aside I thought this game was the best driving game I've ever played. It's certainly my favourite PS3 game and I look forward to additonal content. I'm thinking about getting a 2nd hand copy for 360 for custom soundtracks.