A Review - By Gaetano Prestia

NOTE: This review is for the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 versions of Burnout Paradise

The Burnout franchise has for many years provided gamers with an alternative to the simple racing genre. It mixes racing and car collecting with crashes and mind-blowing cut-scenes that have always provided an enjoyable and long lasting gameplay experience. Burnout Revenge, which appeared on the XBOX, PS2 and 360, was widely considered the best Burnout title in the long-lasting series. Now the king of crash and crunch is back with Burnout Paradise, which is an all-new, free-roaming adventure for the Takedown fanatics out there. This time round there are some major changes to the gameplay, like the lack of in-game menus, the inclusion of a free-roaming city and an all new way to start race's or events. But does this latest addition to the critically acclaimed and popular racing series maintain or improve the pleasure and enjoyment from Revenge, or have the changes destroyed a once perfect franchise?

The Burnout series has always encouraged full-frontal, full-on and hardcore "body" contact. While many of the events included in Burnout games have you up against opponents in a race to the finish, you've always been rewarded for crashing and performing "Takedowns" while you speed through the streets at unbelievable speeds. Thankfully, nothing has changed with Burnout Paradise on that front. Destruction is still very much strongly encouraged.

Burnout Paradise takes place in Paradise City, a free-roaming place where you can drive at your own free will and crash and burn as you wish. The game is very simplistic in its design and there are no menus apart from the opening menu. Once the game loads you're dropped into an enormous city where the streetlights magically become the starting line for street racers and events whenever you break and accelerate at the same time.

Here's a list of the racing modes:

* "Point-to-point" races are simply "begin here...end here races" where you MUST finish in first place in order to add points to your licence.

* "Takedown" sets you a minimum number of Takedowns to complete before time expires. Takedowns are when you cause an opponent to crash.

* "Stunt runs" set a minimum point score and have you perform takedowns, jumps and drift to score points.

* Duals are specific to certain cars. Win this and win the opponents car.

* Survival racers where a group of hooligans are after you and try to run you off the road. You must reach the checkpoint without being totalled.

While there are only 5 modes, there is over 120 events spread out across all 5, so there is plenty to get across. However, quantity doesn't always equate to quality. 120 events over 5 modes equates to 24 events per mode. So that's 24 for each mode! While this type of gameplay mode has always been used in previous Burnout titles, it didn't seem quite as repetitive as it does in Paradise. That might have something to do with a lack of menu's, or perhaps because none of them seem to offer much more of a challenge than the one before. You'd imagine that the races would become more difficult to win, but they really don't. It just doesn't seem to grasp the Burnout atmosphere of gameplay modes that was present in previous iterations.

If you're looking for a racing title with licensed cars, you're probably better off to look elsewhere. No self-respecting car manufacturer would allow a video-game developer to include their car in a game where the main aim is to crash and wreck havoc on the streets. That's not saying that the cars in Paradise are no good because they are. It's obvious that each car has been modelled off a real-life car. There are 75 different vehicles over-all, but for some unknown reason, that number seems to include upgrades. So in terms of individual cars available to unlock, it's much less than 75. Each car is also rated in speed, stunt and aggression ability and these ratings are important to note down before undertaking a particular event. For example, you might want a car that has a high rating in aggression and speed before entering a Survival event, otherwise the opponents will be smashing you over the sidewalk within seconds of the event starting.

While it was mentioned above that there were no menus in game, there is one menu that can only appear at your own discretion. When you press a key on the d-pad the online multiplayer menu will pop up in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. This all happens while the game is still on, so you can invite friends or start an online race, all without leaving the game. This is pretty cool and is a technique developers should look to iterate in further racing titles. What's even more attractive about the multiplayer is that it has just as much grunt and lastability as the single-player. Either mode will give you your money's worth as both as incredibly enjoyable and fast. One aspect that is a real nice touch is the use of the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 cameras. You can use it to take a photo of yourself for your licence, or the camera automatically takes a photo of you as soon as you lose an online race. There's nothing more pleasing than seeing your opponent sit in pure denial just as you cross the finish line in 1st place.

While many aspect of the gameplay from the series still remain intact, there are plenty of changes to the gameplay and presentation of Burnout Paradise that some seasoned veterans to the franchise may at first be a little discouraged about. Firstly, the game doesn't seem quite as organised as it has been in the past. In previous Burnout titles the game layout was like your basic racing title that would take you back to the game menu after an event. This was good because it was clear what you had achieved, what had become available to you and what was up next. Secondly, you had the option to scroll through the events and it was easier to see what was opened to you based on your ranking. The Paradise event scheme is completely different. Actually, that's an understatement. There is nothing even remotely similar to the previous Burnout titles in Paradise in regards to event layout and presentation.

It seems as though the development team were aiming for simplicity in regards to the design and layout of the mapping system and gameplay but it doesn't quite seem like they've reached their mark. While the concept of being able to free-roam and the opportunity to play at your own pace are encouraging inclusions, you may find yourself driving around in circles trying to find races and places to pick up new cars. What only adds to the problem is that nothing becomes available to you on the map from the get go, and you have to find the places yourself. Anyone who has played a Burnout game before will know how utterly impossible it is to actually make-out single buildings you pass while going at full-speed, so if you want to find all of the repair and paint shops and junkyards, all of which are important aspects of gameplay, you're practically going to have drive around town at the speed limit and drive into one when you find it. The Junkyard is the place to change cars that you've won, the repair shop fixes up your car to look brand spanking new and the paint shop gives your ride a sparkling new paint-job.

Each car has their own handling abilities and it won't take even the newest of gamers to the racing genre all that long to get used to one after a few seconds. The learning curve in the car handling is very short, and that might be appealing to those who aren't familiar with the blistering speeds of the franchise. While you'll be going at incredible speed, you'll be surprised how easy it is to avoid oncoming traffic and pillars.

While the car driving is simple and enjoyable, getting the car around the city often can't be. The look of the city itself can be applauded as it looks great, but the map system could have been improved as the streets just look like strands of string. It's difficult to determine which streets to take in a race. Unlike in other Burnout games when there was only one real way to go with short cuts thrown in, now you have the one path, plus shortcuts, plus the rest of the city. It's easy to get back on track if you take a wrong turn, but it'll happen more often than not and it can get a little frustrating. Also, the directing system isn't all the instructive. The sound of your cars turning-indicator and the streets signs that appear on the screen to direct you are often deafened by the music and car sounds. Even if you do hear them, you're often too distracted with oncoming traffic or street obstacles to pay attention as to where the next turn is. It just feels as though the game forces you into memorising every single little shortcut and every street name, as well as the route of every race.

Mentioned above was the interesting way in which you can start a race. By pulling up to stop lights, you hold down the accelerate and break buttons which start off the event instructions before the event begins. However, the one down fall of this system, which has everything to do with the game being based in a free-roaming city, is that if you lose a race, you can't just pause the game and press restart. The game won't even present you with an offer to begin the race again. Instead, you have to backtrack and go back to where the event started, which can be all the way on the other end of the city.

While most events will have to be instigated from stoplights, there is one event that proved to be quite enjoyable in previous Burnout's and it's no exception here. You can initiate a chain reaction of crashes on a wide-stretch of road and by doing this, you set off a money meter which determines how many points will be added to your licence or which car will be unlocked. You can increase the length of this crash, which can involve hundreds of cars and last for several minutes, by tapping the A button which makes your car bounce and hop its way into pathways of other cars. It's thoroughly enjoyable and never, ever gets old. It's sometimes a real challenge to reach the money total goal, and you'll find yourself starting it over and over again just to beat your previous total.

Burnout Paradise is a very attractive title. It looks very nice and the atmosphere of the city has an LA-esque feel about it. The framerate is very smooth and solid and this is very encouraging considering how quick the gameplay can get and how insane the collisions can be. The cars all look really good and heavily detailed. They're not going to blow you away, but it's a big step up from Burnout Revenge on the 360 and outshines Need for Speed: ProStreet dramatically. One thing you'll notice particularly is the detail put into the crash sequences and the effect they have on the cars. A lot of effort has been put into making the crash effects as realistic as possible, and it shows. Just crash your car into an oncoming truck at high speed and check out how amazing it looks. One question some of you might ask though is where the hell is the driver? For some reason there isn't a driver in any of the cars you race. This might have had something to do with legal implications, but the inclusion of someone behind the wheel would have made the presentation just right.

The soundtrack varies but there are some pretty good tracks in there, from LCD Soundsystem's Us V. Them and N.E.R.D's Rockstar, but then you have Girlfriend from Avril Lavigne and the quality gets brought done a tad. But overall, the soundtrack is cool and fits in well with the feel of the title.

Gameplay

7.5/10

While the basic gameplay modes are there, the way they've been executed isn't the best. First there is the inability to start a race over straight away when you lose, then the obligation to find everything on the map yourself. However, Paradise is a step in the right direction for the franchise. The free-roaming city is generally pretty good to cruise around, and the events can be challenging, albeit repetitive after a while.

Graphics

9.0/10

The city looks superb, along with the car design and crash detail. The lack of ingame menu's is applauded and gives the game a more free-flowing feel.

Sound

8.5/10

Nice sound effects bundled together with a good soundtrack, besides the few ear-bleeders thrown in there.

Value

9.2/10

It's going to take you a very, very long time to complete everything in single-player. Then you have the multiplayer mode that is, while not that deep, thoroughly enjoyable.

Overall

8.5/10

Burnout Paradise maintains all of the action and enjoyment from previous Burnout titles, but adds a few features that make the gameplay a little less enjoyable. There is a lot of backtracking as well as a more repetitive feel towards the events. But even still, it looks fantastic, the cars handle very well, it sounds good and has the potential to be in your Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 for a very, very long time. Live is awesome, too.

Submitted by Gaetano 10/02/2008 15

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More Info:

Burnout: Paradise

Other Reviews:

• Gaetano Review 8.5/10/10 by Gaetano
• Luke4123 Review 9/10 by Luke4123
• RatedY2J Review 9/10 by RatedY2J

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