New Burnout Paradise DLC videos

By Ellie Gibson Published 7 April, 2008

A million copies now sold. Or not?

Last week Criterion promised the new downloadable content for Burnout Paradise will "transform" the game. Now the developer is offering the first glimpse of how it'll do this via its website.

There you'll find two new videos showing what happens when the Dust Storm travels out of Paradise City and hits the first new location. "You'll see incomplete graphics, but you get the idea," reads the accompanying post.

"We're not wasting time on flashy edits, faked screenshots or pre-rendered 'game footage'. This is live and direct - the beginning of the transformation of Paradise."

Meanwhile, it's been announced that one million copies of Burnout Paradise have now been sold, bringing the total number of games in the series shifted to 15 million. Or has it?

That's what it said on Criterion's site a few hours ago, according to videogaming247. Now there's nothing to be seen but the message, "I'm sorry but we are unable to bring you this blog enterey [sic]." Curious.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (49) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #1 4 years ago

    Embarrassed by how comparatively poorly their game without a retry option has sold?

    PUT IT IN, then we'll buy it, honest.

  • syphaa #2 4 years ago

    Hehe, it is a little annoying that you can't restart, but once you get over it its fine.
    Really under rated game in my opinion, am having a lot of fun with it!

    Looking forward to the new content

  • Agent_Llama #3 4 years ago

    Will buy when there's a restart option. It destroyed the demo and I don't want to spend £40 to find I hate it just as much as I did trying it out.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/08 @ 13:24

  • agparrot #4 4 years ago

    Really can't wait for this, but am clearly going to have to, looking at the state it is still in.

    Apparently there are clues to the new 'gametypes' in those videos, but I can't work up the energy to squint at them for hours to try and figure out what they are.

    edit: can't.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/08 @ 13:23

  • MasterNameless #5 4 years ago

    I'm getting sick of hearing people moan about the bloody restart option. It's all you ever go on about, please change the record, it's really starting to get boring. If that's the only problem the game has it must be bloody amazing!

  • Kanselier #6 4 years ago

    I am all for this kind of 'pure' trailer footage. No pre-rendered nonsense or flashy edits with crooked camera angles and flashing stuff as a frame for that phat-factor.

    But I doubt this works better PR-wise. When I see this I think 'Ok, no cars but theat is what they said on the site. What I see is not finished'. The vast majority (of Youtube) react in the likes of 'OMG there are no cars. And that second movie has pop-out! Must be PS3 lol'.

  • ccfb #7 4 years ago

    Burnout fans who didn't buy this because of the restart "issue" have done themselves no favours at all, the dumb bastards.

  • Ignatius_Cheese #8 4 years ago

    The lack of a "retry" option only becomes noticably annoying towards the end of the game. This truly is one of the best Burnouts in the series and far better than Revenge IMO.

    Edit - Oh, and as the agparrot (/nods) duly notes, cannot wait for the Paradise DLC. New gameplay types to include off-road racing/pursuits? I spy and interesting hill in the distance... :o)
    Edited by 2 at 07/04/08 @ 13:53

  • asphaltcowboy #9 4 years ago

    The no restart option is not a big problem in the full version! Get over it! (Awesome looking DLC btw!)

  • Beano #10 4 years ago

    "The no restart option is not a big problem in the full version! Get over it! (Awesome looking DLC btw!) "

    I agree 100%... awesome game, not perfect but amazing... love it!

    The new areas looks promising and it will be free :)

  • bag-in-box #11 4 years ago

    No restart-option never bothered me once, honestly. More so that there is no visual cue for completed Super Jumps.. finding the last one was a bit ehh frustrating ;)

  • OllyJ #12 4 years ago

    what is the dust storm?

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #13 4 years ago

    I'm getting sick of hearing people moan about the bloody restart option

    If we keep banging on about it, then perhaps they'll get the bloody message.

    The no restart option is not a big problem in the full version!

    I simply don't believe you. I have the evidence of my own experience that it was a pain in the arse in the demo, and i want their DELIBERATE DESIGN ERROR fixed before I'm prepared to pay for a game which otherwise seemed quite interesting.

  • Saladin #14 4 years ago

    It's funny how the people who complain about the lack of restart are the people who don't own and enjoy the game. Bitching incessantly to the devs to add features to a game you don't even own, when they effectively owe you nothing is a tad ridiculous. I'm glad they're adding features for the people who did go out and buy the game to enjoy, rather than pandering to the rest of you with features that aren't actually needed and go against Criterion's own design policy for the game.

  • Beano #15 4 years ago

    @Mentalist(air): If you have only played the small and limited demo, you do not know what you are talking about. Sorry to sound harsh, but it's not a real issue for the full game.
    Edited by 3 at 07/04/08 @ 13:53

  • Ignatius_Cheese #16 4 years ago

    @ OllyJ - It's the dune buggy being driven in the video

  • PlugMonkey #17 4 years ago

    I have the evidence of my own experience that it was a pain in the arse in the demo

    That was the demo. The full game plays completely differently, and the problem is solved in a manner that couldn't be shown in the demo without giving away the whole game.

    Your whole line of reasoning is like saying a film is crap because you didn't like the trailer.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #18 4 years ago

    @Beano

    I still don't believe you.

    @Saladin
    they effectively owe you nothing

    If they want me to owe them 40 quid, they'll put some form of restart mechanism in.

    Criterion's own design policy

    ... which is, in my belief and that of many others, the wrong policy. But it'd not too late for them to change it.

  • OllyJ #19 4 years ago

    I played the full game and it's much better than I was expeting, glad they got rid of the menu's as they have always been pretty bad, I have to say though that there was a few occasions where all I wanted to do was try a race again, so yeah I found it an issue and one that probably means I doubt I'd buy the full game.

    Also I didn't get on with Showtime at all, I really liked Crash mode in the other versions so again another reason why I won't buy it.

    that's just me though.

    @cheese: Ahhh, cheers.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/08 @ 13:57

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #20 4 years ago

    Your whole line of reasoning is like saying a film is crap because you didn't like the trailer.

    It's like saying "I won't go to see StarWars Episode 1 unless they git rid of that annoying Jar Jar Binks from the trailer", which would be entirely justified if LucasFilm had been in a position to do that.

    Criterion could fix the major percieved problem with Burnout Paradise very easily. And no amount of apologists are going to make the percieved problem go away on its own.

  • OllyJ #21 4 years ago

    Thing is I imagine having a restart would somewhat be impossible or else it would be there as would a jump to race option.

    As it would not ruin the experience of the game I reckon it's simply just not possibly tech wise without massive loads.

  • Beano #22 4 years ago

    @Mentalist(air) : The "problem" with BOP's way of playing is that you have to change the way you play a racing game... BOP want to keep you in the experience and the city and not in menues and loading screens.
    Yes, it's a bit annoying a first if you want to complete a specific race, but you quickly realize thats there's always something to do and the "next event" is allways close by .

    And remember, events automaticly get harder and harder no matter what order you take them... so a specific event can be different depending on when you race it. It's not like race A, race B, race C, etc... the gamer decides how to play the game and in which order to race the events and which events to complete.
    Also the way the game keeps you in the game makes it more fun to explore the city and find billboards, jumps, etc.

    Again.. don't judge BOP based on the demo which seemed empty and boring due to only a few events available and small area.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/08 @ 14:11

  • v3rtigo #23 4 years ago

    Jeez... some people seem to be right miffed about the lack of restart. Forget about the Demo, it's quite poorly put together and I instantly lost a lot of my anticipation for the game after playing it. The full game is almost immediately different, and you can 'get' the idea right away.
    I recommend it to anyone who hasn't picked it up yet.

  • Bumhug360 #24 4 years ago

    If they stick a restart race option in people will only bitch that they cant find the cars they need to take down in order to unlock them....

  • yashin #25 4 years ago

    I've been a longtime Burnout series fan and didn't have any problem at all with the lack of restart, that was until I got towards the end of the game. Once you start to run out of challenges, it gets a bit boring racing from one end of the map to the other only to get pipped at the post and have trek all the way back to the start again or hunt around for another unfinished challenge.

    I'm with them on the open play thing and breaking with the race-lose-restart-race-win thing is healthy, but the very least they should let you jump to a Junk Yard.

  • PlugMonkey #26 4 years ago

    Criterion could fix the major percieved problem with Burnout Paradise very easily.

    I suppose that entirely depends on your point of view. Playing PGR again recently the main perceived problem was me feeling compelled to hit restart over and over and over again. It was dull, repetitive and frustrating.

    Without BOP I would probably never have realised how frustrating and unnecessary that cycle is.

  • dsmx #27 4 years ago

    It's amusing that the people who have played the game say the lack of restart isn't a problem and the people who played the demo or haven't played it at all are moaning about the lack of a restart option. You would of thought those without the full game would listen to the people who own the game but no, they moan, whine and complain about something that is completely unnecessary in this game.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/08 @ 14:28

  • Darren #28 4 years ago

    I bought the game (on the PS3) and it wasn't too bad but it's far from being the best game in the series IMO, that was Takedown. Paradise was initially fun but the game lost its appeal far quicker than the other games for me, mainly because the actual events got samey surprisingly quickly once I realised that there was only so many routes. Never liked playing it online either. I'm glad that Criterion are expanding the environment for free, that should add least add some variety to the races, which fixes one of my criticisms at least. The other is the *cough*lackofarestartoption*cough... ahem...

  • Beano #29 4 years ago

    I have played BOP about 35 hous now and still fun IMO but the "problem" for me right now is lack of content... I would like new areas, events and new stuff to find :)

  • Whizzo #30 4 years ago

    60ish events away from my Burnout Elite licence and the only time I've even slightly missed a retry option is on Burning Routes, however that's really not that much of an issue as the drive back (if I've wanted to try it again immediately) usually gives an idea of possible short cuts or points out where I've screwed up.

    Burnout Paradise is spectacular and having extra islands is something I can't wait for.

  • asphaltcowboy #31 4 years ago

    "I have the evidence of my own experience that it was a pain in the arse in the demo"

    You mean the demo that only had 3 events in a reasonably large area? Yeah, nice one :/

    "More so that there is no visual cue for completed Super Jumps.. finding the last one was a bit ehh frustrating ;)"

    Well, actually there are the flashing yellow and white cones - they signify Super Jumps!

  • Beano #32 4 years ago

    Also the new area looks made for online races where there's less focus on navigating and racing... nice :)
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/08 @ 14:40

  • brockenheimer #33 4 years ago

    @ asphaltcowboy:


    "More so that there is no visual cue for completed Super Jumps.. finding the last one was a bit ehh frustrating ;)"

    Well, actually there are the flashing yellow and white cones - they signify Super Jumps!

    The flashing cones signify Super Jumps, yes, but not which ones you've completed or not.

  • paulf #34 4 years ago

    tbh I was worried by the lack of restart, then i played the game for around 40 odd hours and I didnt even notice it was missing, if BoP played in a similar way to the previous burnouts then fine it would be missed, as it is it was a brave decision and the correct one imo. The demo doesn't really to the full game justice in this regard

  • Beano #35 4 years ago

    "The flashing cones signify Super Jumps, yes, but not which ones you've completed or not. "

    True but you can see on the map in which areas you need to complete jumps - not a big problem IMO.

  • asphaltcowboy #36 4 years ago

    /fails basic comprehension! :(

  • OllyJ #37 4 years ago

    I wonder if Drag racing is the new mode? there seems to be a fair fe long straights on that island at first glance.

  • homerramone #38 4 years ago

    Not sure how adding another bit of city is going to 'transform' the whole game.

    You'll still be racing around a city, and it wil still suck balls. (And yes I did own the full game, but I traded it cos I didnt like it.)

    (And there still wont be a RETRY option. Mind it has to be said, the missions in various GTA games didnt have one either, so you had to trundle right back across the city to restart it if you failed....)

  • Ryze #39 4 years ago

    The issue isn't necessarily that the game need restarts - it's that the game needs to allow one to jump to intersections that they've visited before.

    a little like TDU, NFS... it saves on the frustration. I've turned this game off too many times because I can't be arsed trekking to a junk yard, or to the other side of the map.

    I also need a rotating mini map, and they need to give us the option of reversing the right-stick camera - AS THEY'VE GONE AND DONE A BLOODY NINJA GAIDEN!

  • TriggerHippie #40 4 years ago

    I don't want a bloody restart option. It feels far more natural without it. An excellent game that's great fun online too.

  • Beano #41 4 years ago

    Well... a split-screen option would be technically impossible in BOP because the city is streamed into memory and there's not enough memory for two players on the same console. That's also the real reason behind the missing retry option... to avoid loading of a huge chunk of the city from disk... "please wait while loading the other part of the city".

  • TriggerHippie #42 4 years ago

    "The lack of restart, splitscreen, crashzones IS a fucking problem as it's stopping people from buying it, get over THAT."

    Eh? People that have bought and enjoy the game should be worrying that other people chose not to?

  • SeesThroughAll #43 4 years ago

    Saladin said:
    It's funny how the people who complain about the lack of restart are the people who don't own and enjoy the game. Bitching incessantly to the devs to add features to a game you don't even own, when they effectively owe you nothing is a tad ridiculous.[...]

    TriggerHippie said:
    "The lack of restart, splitscreen, crashzones IS a fucking problem as it's stopping people from buying it, get over THAT."

    Eh? People that have bought and enjoy the game should be worrying that other people chose not to?

    For some strange reason, this thread is reminding me of Motorstorm....

  • ozallez #44 4 years ago

    i prefer no restart option too. I know the map much better now, especially early on. Seriously doubt enough people care for it to affect sales...
    Looking forward to this DLC, the game needs a refresh to get me back into it.

  • AOFanboi #45 4 years ago

    People who want restarts... well, there are FIVE PREQUELS YOU CAN PLAY that all have restarts as far as I remember. Let the rest of us please enjoy the latest game that tries something new and next-genish instead of re-treading the old formulas of "instant gratification" pellet-pusher mentality. Try some of the newer Burnout wannabes as well and see if they fit your "compressed gameplay" philosophy.

  • jack_klugman #46 4 years ago

    I'll buy it when they fix the retry bug.

  • Agent_Llama #47 4 years ago

    Gah, I'm torn... I love the Burnout games, but that demo... :( Lack of restart, annoying. But it's Burnout... a big city to play in... /sighs, weeps, ponders...

  • NoQuarter #48 4 years ago

    No-restart is only really annoying when you keep racing to the west side of the map and have already done all those races on your license. Apart from that it's nothing, you just do something else.

  • bitesize #49 4 years ago


    yeah the no restart thing is only annoying occasionally in the full game. but it's a necessary sacrifice for the game to follow the vision they had for it - there's no way they could have done the seamless gameplay with a restart option (or a warp to junction function either), without a long load time in between interrupting the gameplay...

    play it like you play GTA or any other free roaming type game, rather than like a traditional racer. explore around, find secret things, do the occasional race. it's much less about memorising a track precisely and doing the same race over + over that way... and more about fun.