Title: Burnout Paradise
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3(review platform)
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Criterion Games
ESRB Rating: E+
The Burnout series is without a doubt one of the most exciting and popular series in the action racing scene today. Upon the debut of the original Burnout in 2001, Criterion immediately stole away a large chunk of fans from games like the Need for Speed and Twisted Metal series. Other popular action racing games found themselves in a bind when compared to the raw, adrenaline-rush gameplay that Burnout offered.
With the near instant popularity and success of the franchise came successive sequels, each of which were also well received release after release. Burnout even made its way to the PlayStation Portable, which was surprisingly able to capture the excitement and fun factor that the bigger console versions offered, in a portable size. After six solid releases, Criterion has proven itself with a near perfect track record in terms of quality, so it's certainly hard to imagine its latest and greatest Burnout game being anything less than good.
Burnout Paradise, the latest update to the franchise, takes the formula that was pretty consistent throughout the previous games, and throws most of it right out the window. First and foremost, Paradise literally places you and your initial fleet of vehicles smack dab in the middle of a bristling full-sized city populated by countless vehicles, traffic lights, bridges, construction zones and just about everything else that you'd expect in a city environment. Beyond the city limits, the game also features a very open rural zone just off the outskirts of the urban areas.
Over 75 cars are available to be unlocked, each with a designation of its class and type, and the game itself takes you through a process of upgrading your license via race victories in order to gain access to the higher-end vehicles in the game. Just about the only things missing from the world featured in Burnout Paradise are pedestrians and animals, which is probably a good thing considering just how violent the collisions typically are.
Pedestrians and animals aside, it becomes apparent upon first loading the game that Criterion sought out to completely overhaul the series, and replace reliable fixed path race tracks that could be mastered and easily memorized, with a "choose-your-own-route" style race format via its wide open world. While each and every race recommends paths as you cruise along and always identifies your start and end points, it really is up to the player to decide which routes or shortcuts that they wish to take advantage of.
Burnout returns with Paradise and give racing fans a new open world to explore with plenty of flashy cars.
As far as getting your race on goes, the entire method of accessing the races and challenges has been overhauled as well. Races are now initiated by the player within the game world itself, where virtually every stop light in the game is bound to a specific race or challenge. When pulling up to most intersections, the game will identify via a UI pop-up just what type of race you're able to initiate. The mini-map also features colored buttons at each intersection with a light, which also helps to identify the type of race or if you've already completed the race with your current license.
Beyond standard races and challenges are unique vehicle specific challenges called "Burning Routes." Upon successful completion of a Burning Route challenge, an upgraded version of the vehicle used to complete the race is dropped off to one of the many junkyards in Paradise City. While Burning Routes are fun, most gamers will most likely find themselves spending most of their time with the familiar game types of old. While most are still present, like Marked Man and Road Rage, the widely popular crash mode has changed significantly, which may disappoint fans of the previous games.
Crash mode is now accessible on every street in the game with the simple click of a button, but the fun factor has really been diminished as a result. Due to the ability to initiate at any time, crash mode's predictability is now gone, and the days of taking advantage of pre-determined routes, jump locations and bonuses are gone as well. Bonuses are simply now tied to things like crashing into buses, instead of picking up a multiplier. The junkyard itself is a cool concept, and serves as a quick method for players to switch their current car at will with the others that have been unlocked and are now sitting in storage. Oftentimes, a switch may be desirable depending on what would be most appropriate for the current race type preference.
The actual act of unlocking new vehicles occurs via race progression, burnout route wins or wrecking one of the many random racer challengers that make their appearance from time to time. When challengers do enter the city, they cruise about the streets and taunt you whenever you come near. Once a new car is unlocked, a simple trip to the local junkyard is all it takes to get behind the drivers seat. Players may then either drive around a junked up version of the vehicle, or take it off to a repair shop to unlock the ability to get a fresh paintjob at a detail shop. Gas stations are still scattered about the city to aid in nitrous boost refills, while parking garages and dedicated stunt areas are scattered around the map as new and unique locations.
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