2008 Woodie Awards
Paradise burns rubber
Sam Gomez
Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: Entertainment
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Overall, the fun factor for this game is second to none. The open world contains over 200 miles of roads ranging from a grid of city blocks to winding mountain passes. From the very beginning of the game the whole city is open to you and the game encourages you to explore and uncover new routes, hidden areas, and massive jumps. There is no race menu; to start an event you simply pull up to an intersection and smoke your tires. Racing events have no specifically-defined course. Beginning from intersections all over paradise, the races end at one of eight locations, one for each point of the compass. Uncovering hidden shortcuts and jumps will give you the advantage needed to dominate your rivals. Other types of events include a Burnout classic, Road Rage, where the object is to smash your opponents into walls and other vehicles to earn takedowns. Marked Man is a frantic chase to a finishing area with three heavy rivals attempting to smash you constantly. The object is to make it to the finish without being taken out too many times. New to the series, stunt mode is my personal favorite. Utilizing special jumps and your handbrake is the key to getting points in this mode. Spinning flatspins, barrel rolls, and flips give you score multipliers, and the object is to get the biggest stunt chain possible without crashing.
Unlocking new vehicles is very unique in this game. Instead of earning new cars by completing races, the cars will appear randomly as you drive around the city. When you see one, you get to use it by taking it out. It is especially gratifying to unlock a new car after a long, white-knuckle chase around Paradise. There are 3 classes of cars: stunt, aggressive and speed. Each class gets extra boost for driving in certain ways. Stunt cars get the most boost from jumps and stunts. Aggressive cars gain more boost by smashing other vehicles. Speed cars can only be boosted when the boost bar is full, but if you can manage to keep boosting for the whole length of the bar without crashing or stopping the bar is refilled, allowing for massive chains of seamless boosting.
Visually, Burnout Paradise is a stunner. The ridiculous sense of speed in the game is made more intense displaying in 720p HD resolution. The graphics are so sharp, they could make your eyes bleed. The only thing better than ripping through the city at 200 mph is having your joyride ended in an instant with a spectacular crash. Real-time damage modeling sends the parts of the car flying as the body crumples in slow-motion. These sequences really showcase the detail found in the game engine, and almost make it worth it to crash on purpose when you're barreling down the highway.
The sound in Burnout Paradise is up to par as far as most racing games. Each car has a different sounding engine to match up with their performance characteristics. The soundtrack to the game is satisfactory. EA has served up its usual batch of alternative and classic rock, and artists range from Guns 'n Roses to Jimmy Eat World. The soundtrack also includes all of the Criterion Games original music from Burnouts one, two, three, and four. If you stop racing long enough to notice, the ambient noise is right on the money, simulating the typical hum of a city.
Once you have learned the road enough and earned some cars, it might be worth your while to take it online. Burnout Paradise has an online mode where you can tear around Paradise with up to seven friends. Races and over 300 challenges are available once you're there, and the competition can get pretty intense. Your statistics are tracked by servers, and before each race your rivals will get a personally customized message displaying your most impressive statistic for a cool intimidation factor. The game supports VOIP; however, there is no mute button, so sometimes it's better to just not use it.
However enjoyable it is, this game is not perfect. The online mode aside, there is no split screen multiplayer. One of my favorite things about the Burnout series is the ability to sit next to somebody and have a race. Sadly, the game engine does not support two screens. Also, the gameplay has a tendency to get a little repetitive. Although the races start from different spots on the map, since they end in the same places you'll find yourself taking the same shortcuts over and over again against rivals that take ridiculously long routes. However, as long as you don't sit there playing for four hours straight, there is enough to do to keep the gameplay fresh.
Overall, I would give the game about a nine out of ten. If you're not into simulators, but still want a faced-paced racing adventure, then Burnout Paradise is for you, on your Playstation 3 or XBOX 360.
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