Games We Play: Burnout Paradise
Before I get ahead of myself, I think it’s generally important to indicate that I’ve been an avid Burnout player since Burnout 2. Going into this game I felt like there was a lot to live up to. It’s not just matter of living up to its forefathers but moreso the ability to add something new to an already complex and branched formula. Luckily Burnout Paradise clears the bar with some room to spare.
Burnout Paradise is a racing, stunt-driving, free-for-all sort of game that banks on a player’s ability to deal with high-speed maneuvering coupled with traffic and obstacles. The game is made up of several different event-types that challenge the player to reach certain stunt scores or win a race in first place. Winning events advances the game into harder modes, just like any other racing game. But what is non-standard in the Burnout is the idea of boosting/taking down opponents. By taking risks in the game (such as driving down the wrong side of the road or weaving through traffic) you accumulate boost, which is a trigger-happy way to hurl yourself even faster down the road. The whole experience is exhilarating and over-the-top fun.
The game takes place in a giant city and country landscape called “Paradise City”, which has a very pleasant sandbox feel; the whole city is at your fingertips. Instead of waiting for a race to load in some random location, you drive to that location. All the events take place in the very world that you drove to, so everything becomes familiar over time. A huge plus to the game is that there is rarely a loading bar and the cityscape loads as you go. While this was a major pain for previous Burnout games, this game excels in keeping the game going at all times.
Multiplayer mode is also a great addition to the game. There are over 300 events to play with your friends, most of which are exciting and not offered in the single-player version. For example, one event-type requires you to simultaneously jump from different sides of a broken bridge and crash mid-air to win the event. I can’t imagine anything more awesome to include in a racing game.
Not to say that this Burnout experience was flawless, however. The game stripped a few mechanics from the previous games that made it somewhat frustrating to play. For example, one of my favorite now missing event-types was causing as much damage as possible to rack up dollars worth of damage. Also, the game’s general forced viewing of the slow-motion crashing without any sort of control over the crash was annoying, especially since the previous Burnout titles had the ability to score extra Takedowns while you were crashing in “bullet time.” Since crashing occurs a lot in Burnout and controlled crashes were nixed, I felt like I was wasting time.
The learning curve on this game was the toughest challenge of all. The game throws you on the street and expects you to have a grasp on mechanics and gameplay from the get-go. While I did have previous Burnout experience I was still caught up in trying to deal with speed and timing. I almost put down the game for good once because it was so hard to get used to the game. While racing the game gives you little time to react to the driving direction it gives you. I equate it to your GPS system screaming at you to turn right at the last minute while barreling down a city street in the far left lane. But after you get the hang of things (which is a good 10-15 events) things start to become clear.
Overall this a great game to get, especially if you like alternative racing games such as Mario Kart but don’t like to get dragged into “true” racing games such as Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport. It’s a tough ride at the beginning, but what you get the hang of it you’ll definitely be yearning for more. The game’s endless sandbox of jumps, billboard crashes, and fence smashing will keep you going even beyond the game events offered, dishing the game perfectionists a good challenge. Overall, Burnout Paradise is a tight package that definitely delivers.
90/100.
I’ve got this on 360, and I’d agree with you saying that it is an awesome game, but i feel it is abit repetitive - Doing the same races, stunts, marked mans etc.
Judging by that fact that about half of your posts on twitter are “Playing Burnout: Paradise,” I wasn’t really all that surprised that this got posted in the blog
.
i would like to know
Whoa I see you are really impressed with the game, SwitchFoot.
Is it a good game? its a 90 right? Its seems cool because im getting a 360 soon!
Little sidenote, you can still do the crashmode that was available in the previous burnouts. They stripped it as a main event, but you can still activate what is now called “showtime mode” by pressing LB and RB at the same time on the xbox360. You then explode, and a mass of traffic starts to ride in the street you are in, you can bounce around on the floor by using your boost, which is filled up with every car you hit. Also try to hit a bus for multipliers!
Scores are remembered per street.
Hope this brings some more joy to this fantastic game, always have been a fan of the series
Trikke
Hrmm…so they took out the aftertouch? That’s a crying shame…that was the best time to score multi-takedowns!
What I note here is that it’s an arcade game AND it has a steep learning curve, which means that I expect their major audience to be those who are already avid fans of the Burnout franchise. In the earlier versions, there was still a tutorial mode- is there nothing of the sort here?
Although I must admit, I do not own a console and so have played each of the Burnout series a total of…once…I also noticed that as the visuals got prettier, they also got busier, and I wonder if there is any point at which it starts to get “overloaded”. I was already struggling to discern everything that went on in Burnout Revenge.
i played #3 it was great. I haven’t played this but it looks crazy. is that photo game play? if it is thats unbelievable.
sounds good
awesome
if i had a console system or a gaming pc i.e. alienware. i’d definatly get this game.
this game is so much crap i rented it and it is one of the worst racing games i have ever played. the way you unlock cars is redicoulos you have to get lucky and find it then chase it down and make it crash…and the map system sucks!!impossible to see where your going…online is horrible just plane old sucks please people dont waste your money on this shit. i reccomend the game dirt for the x box 360 instead
I have played all of the burnout games apart from this one and they have all been great and im glade to see that this game has a 90% liking to it as i didnt want to get disapointed
Hey,
Has anyone played Pursuit? How do I get pass the level that I have to make a fishing pole?
i have burnout dominator and that’s a good game if paradise is a newer version it has to be great
I bet its pretty good
Nice graphics!!!
really awesome graphics!
try game crashday well its not at internet u just can download it it could be 90 too graphichs are cool (like real) some weapons stunts tracks creator minigames even multiplayer but its only lan
This game is awesome:) This graphics are the best I’ve seen and this crashes…
Don’t try in real life
I like Burnout Paradise, but i dont play it much i think it gets alittle boring.
i think that it is a lot better than any other racing game, there is just something special about it.
I want to know if this is a good game. I might get it for the PS3 and wanted to see if it was any good. please respond
I wouldn’t recommend it. If you liked burnout takedown or revenge, it’s like a step down from those 2 games. Well to me at least.
Game good????
Post link!! ^^
Valeu!!
i like this game
Awesome game….
keeps the rating to the MAX!!!….
Yea I agree it is a very awesome game with great grafix but there must be more things to do in the game
omg i love the burnout series. ive played every one of them. revenge was probably the worst of them all but they have great soundtracks
<3 90 90 95 is 90
yay!
sounds like a pretty cool game i have the first burnout
i have all the burnouts on xbox 360 they are awsome
burnout is a must buy for ps3 or x-box. the car are sick. this burnout is a drive around the city looking for billbords super jumps and crases. yes i know my spelling is bad. but the game is fun!!!!!!
Burnout is a very good series. Mixing racing with crazy destruction antics. It does get repetitive once in a while, but still a great game!