Burnout: Paradise
Preview
More then just racing, this one's new and improved
by Howie Howard
previewed on PS3
Challenges
The second section of the game is the actual challenges. These are varied and you won’t simply be racing from point A to point B. Yes one of the challenges is racing from point A to point B, but in Burnout Paradise you get to choose where Point A and B are located on the map. You also get to choose the route before the race starts. That has to be one of the best concepts in a racing game that I have seen in a long time.
The other challenges consist of stunt competitions. In the stunt sequence the player needs to perform various barrel rolls, jumps, and daring turns. String these maneuvers together in series to earn a lot of points and you’ll end up in the winner’s circle. Other challenges are the road rage sequence that I mentioned above, the marked man event where you must avoid being taken out by a psychotic driver looking to destroy your car and various timed race events. The one I liked the most was the make specific challenge. In this challenge you need to have a specific car in order to enter the race. If you don’t have that car in your inventory then that tells me that you need to complete other challenges first. It’s that simple.
As in most racing games the various vehicles in the game have different attributes. It’s the same in Burnout Paradise. However in this title picking the correct car is extremely important. Taking a speedy sports car into a race that demands staying power or resistance to damage might not be the best choice in some of the demo-derby challenges. Perhaps a bulky SUV might last a bit longer in the rock ‘em sock ‘em smash up challenge? I would say yes… The vehicles are many and you have many opportunities to unlock them and place them in the junkyard. The junkyard you say? Yes, that’s what they call the garage or vehicle storage space in Paradise City and they are located in different places throughout the city. All you need to do is find one on your travels and you can change your ride.
Play Modes
Another section of Burnout Paradise is the multi-player online mode. This one has to be the most fun area of the game. Who wouldn’t want to compete against other human players via cooperative and competitive play? Again, this part of the game involves challenges. Many of them are similar to the ones I discussed in earlier paragraphs. However the multi-player challenges offer a twist. That twist is the unpredictability of a human driver. Being that many of the challenges are difficult to perform, when you do it in tandem with a partner then timing and communications are very important.
The amount of challenges that are available online are impressive to say the least. There are 7 sets of 50 challenges each for a total of 350 online challenges. It is hard to believe but it’s true. There are power-parallel parking challenges where the partners need to parallel park their cars at speed. There are some rather mundane and simple challenges such as the all drivers start at a different spot on the map and then try to meet each other at a certain spot challenge. There are timed events, crash events and many other exciting things to keep the video game driver occupied for hours on end.
Something New
Folks it may sound like I’m cheerleading for Burnout Paradise. Actually, I’m really not. However, I am enthusiastic and excited about this new racing game because I haven’t seen the options that this one offers available in other games. Thus I haven’t been this excited about a driving game in a long time. The old tried and true police chase and the boring round and round race car sims have been done many times and nothing new. It is refreshing to see a franchise series of games trying to innovate. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines and meet me online and perhaps we can "burn some rubber" together in Paradise City!
