Burnout: Paradise
Review
Speed and flashy cars mixed with a healthy dose of mayhem
by Chris Scott
reviewed on PS3
Sweet Child O’ Mine
Criterion chose the Playstation 3 as the lead platform for Burnout: Paradise and it shows as the game is the best running multi-platform title on the system to date. The game is a sight to behold, running at a steady 60 frames per second throughout. Loading times are non existent while cruising around the city and only show up when you load one of the events.
Everything in the game is finely detailed right down from the cars to the environments. The only way Criterion could have made Burnout: Paradise any more impressive would have been to introduce real-world weather and lighting effects to the mix. Could you imagine racing through the streets of Paradise City in the rain after dark? Well I guess there is always room for something more in the next iteration.
The sound is equally impressive, at least on the sound effects side of things. The cars roar with power, the tires squeal from the friction, the crashes are a terrifying mix of crushing steel and high speed impacts, it all sounds perfect. That is until you get to the soundtrack. Instead of using original pieces of music as in previous Burnout games, Criterion has adopted EA Trax and it is hit and miss depending upon your tastes in music. Sure there are a couple great songs including the title track, “Paradise City” by Guns N’ Roses but overall the soundtrack just never seems to establish itself and sounds like an eclectic mess. I’m sorry, nothing against Avril Lavigne, but I don’t want to be racing at high speeds to “Girlfriend”: it is kind of lame.
Out Ta Get Me
While the game is a solid single player experience, it shines just as well once you take the speed online. As long as you have an internet connection, Burnout: Paradise offers instant online racing with just the push of a button. Pushing right on your directional pad will bring up the online menu and you can be racing against friends (or strangers) in an instant.
Playing online offers you a few options unavailable in single player, including the 2-8 player co-op objective based challenges and 350 overall online challenges. While playing with other people is fun, playing against them is more fun. Once you step online you will probably find yourself the target of takedowns.
Anything Goes
I’ve been spending a lot of time praising the game and rightfully so as it is such a fantastic experience but there are a few quirks that stop it from being a flawless masterpiece. First off is the subtraction of the franchise’s fan favourite “Crash Mode”. Burnout: Paradise replaces the puzzle structured destruct-athon with “Show Time Mode”. “Show Time” is a poor excuse for a replacement, eliminating the puzzle like nature of “Crash Mode” instead just making it about pure mayhem. The open-world nature of Burnout: Paradise made this a necessary cut but “Show Time” just feels weak.
Criterion has stated that including a retry option would take you out of the experience of the game, and they are right it would. But having to drive all the way across the city to reach the start point can get mighty frustrating later in the game when you have done a large majority of the events already. This is even more frustrating given that you will undoubtedly fail more than a few races because of the weak on-screen map. Being that other open world type games can provide you with an intuitive map that positions itself based on your position, it is quite dissatisfying that you have to relegate your eyes to both the map (at the bottom of your screen) and your compass (at the top) all while driving at ridiculously high speeds.
Appetite For Destruction
However those are just minor gripes that prevent this from being a perfect experience, none of it really detracts from the great game Criterion has put together. If you have a need for speed, insane jumps, hidden routes, and flashy cars, all mixed with a healthy dose of mayhem and destruction, Burnout: Paradise is for you. 2008 has started off with a bang.
9.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
