Burnout Paradise

"My car used to be fast ... really fast! Now it's just kind of fast."

Having played every previous game in the series prior to Burnout Paradise, it's amazing to see how far it has evolved from the days of straightforward races and limited car selection in Burnout 1 to having an open world racing game packed with more content than you can imagine. Burnout Paradise truly is an arcade racing fan's dream game but it also offers so much for casual racing fans to love as well.

Graphics
In today's age of high definition, this is often the first thing most people ask about in a game. Are the graphics amazing? How do they compare to this game or that game? Well I don't know how they compare with your favorite game but I can say, without a doubt, that Burnout Paradise's graphics look spectacular, even considering it was released more than a year and a half ago. The city is richly detailed and very pleasing to the eyes. Each part of the city has its own distinct feel and look. For example, the center of Paradise City is a junction of a few main avenues that has a distinct Time Square look and feel to it while the area around the naval yard in the western part of the city has a more industrious look to it with a lot of buildings that are under construction. It's wonderfully diverse and you can see for miles. However, the star of the show has definitely got to be the cars. Each vehicle is rendered beautifully, extremely detailed, and shiny beyond compare … until you smash the hell out of it.

With this being a Burnout game the frame rate has got to hold up or else the game experience would be ruined. Fortunately, it holds up marvelously at 60 frames per second and there are hardly any occurrences where the game shows any hiccups in the speed. Crashes are presented in dramatic fashion with slow motion camera work and debris flying every which way. The cars crumple under the force of impact in a realistic manner and you will surely be wowed after seeing your first crash.

Sound

Before I talk about the tunes let me just say that the sound effects is where the game shines in the audio category. Every car sound different and each crash sound explosively satisfying. Now on to the music. The people at Criterion need to get their game together when it comes to music selection. The soundtrack in this game is absolutely atrocious. It's not that each individual song is bad; it's that the songs do not gel at all with each other. All of the songs are from the rock genre but none of the songs contribute to a distinctive sound for the game to call its own. On one end you have grunge tracks like “Would?” by Alice in Chains, and on the other end you have “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne. No one song vibes with the next. There are also enhanced versions of music from previous Burnout games but these do little to enhance the soundtrack.

The one upside is the inclusion of many classical pieces from composers such as Bach and Vivaldi. These tracks start playing when you leave the game idle for a few seconds. As crazy as it sounds, I actually enjoy listening to these soothing pieces while I'm creating havoc on the streets. It serves as a nice contradiction to the point of the game. The option for custom soundtracks is present and very much needed as I feel most will gravitate right to it after hearing just a few songs off of the awful track list. Oh yeah, the announcer is back. This time his name is DJ Atomica and he chimes in with advice and hints here and there. Most people find him annoying but I really don't. His presence in the game is not necessary but he's not that annoying to me.

Gameplay

Where Burnout Paradise shines the most is in its gameplay. There is so much to do in this game it is ridiculous. Each intersection in the city has an event tied to it. The most common event is the straightforward race. If you've played other Burnout games you will automatically be familiar with these. There is also road rage where you are given a set number of cars to take down in a limited amount of time as you race around the city. Once again, this was present in previous Burnout games. The new events are marked man, stunt challenge, and burning routes. Marked man is basically the exact opposite of road rage as you are now the one being hunted down. It's hectic and a lot of fun. In the stunt challenge you are to rack up a certain amount of points by drifting and boosting. These points are multiplied by breaking billboards, getting air time off of ramps, doing barrel rolls, etc. Burning routes are basically races against the clock used to unlock beefier versions of cars that you've unlocked.

Each road has its own record time to break as well as its own Showtime record. Showtime is basically Burnout Paradise's version of the crash mode found in previous games. You can keep your crash going by building boost by crashing your car into other cars and buses. The online mode is also very well done and the transition from offline to online play is seamless. Whenever you feel like going online, just hit the right button on the directional pad and up comes the Easy Drive menu in which you can jump into a game or create a session yourself all without ever leaving the game.

Each car belongs in one of three categories. They are stunt, aggressive, and speed. Each type of car has a different type of boosting system. The stunt cars are the best for tackling the stunt runs and just about any other event. They are the most well rounded vehicles. They obtain boost from just doing stunts. The aggressive cars are bulkier and are useful for road rage and marked man events. They start with a short bar of boost but this bar is lengthened for taking down other vehicles. The last type is the speed type. In my opinion, cars belonging to this class are the least useful because in order to use the boost you have to build the boost all the way up. As long as you don't let go of the boost button your boost meter will continuously fill back up and you can theoretically boost forever. The problem with these cars is that there is often too much traffic and too many hazards to hold down the boost button down for long. With the ability to boost lost when you crash or as soon as the button is let go, these cars aren't that useful for any event.

Unfortunately, the game isn't perfect. Gone is the aftertouch feature where you could control your car after a crash in the hopes of causing other cars to crash into your destroyed vehicle. With this feature gone the constant crashing quickly becomes redundant and there is no option to skip the crash cam. It's the worst when you are trying to beat a time and you are forced to sit and watch your crash in slow motion while precious time is ticking off of the clock. It's a small gripe against an otherwise great experience.

Replayability

This game will last you a very long time. There are 120 events and tons of cars to unlock. If you want to fully complete the game you will need to also complete each road rule time and Showtime record. When or if you fully complete the game there are also numerous challenges to tackle online. When you are online you can take part in numerous challenges that are determined by the number of players that are currently in the game. Some range from simply having each player use their boost while others involve careful teamwork. It's ridiculous the amount of challenges there are and the addictiveness of doing these challenges are hard to deny. There are also many trophies to obtain for the trophy hunters and they are easy as cake to get!

Final Recommendation

If you like racing games, Burnout Paradise is a must buy. The game is packed with a wealth of things to do and it's all presented beautifully. The scope of the game may put some people off at first but if you stick with it you will find a tremendously entertaining game. It's a great first outing for the first Burnout series on the Playstation 3 and fans will definitely not be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/21/09

Game Release: Burnout Paradise (US, 01/22/08)