Only bought this game as a second choice, as part of a two games for £45 deal. But, instead of putting it on my shelf and letting it gather dust, I have became addicted. The other game which I bought as part of the deal which was supposed to be the main game, is the one gathering dust.
The whole map is unlocked from the beginning, so if you don't want to dive straight in and upgrade your license by winning races and other events then you can simply just cruise around "Paradise City".
~What can be done~
There are multiple different types of races/challenges to be completed in order to upgrade your licence through the classes from 'Learner' until you reach the much sought after 'Burnout' licence. The different races/challenges are as follows :
Race - just a straight race from one point to another.
Road Rage (Car only) - your set a target of cars to smash of the road within a time limit. Smash the opposition before they get you. This is probably my favourite event.
Marked Man (Car only) - reach the finish line without the other drivers wrecking your vehicle ( this is their sole purpose ).
Stunt Run (Car only) - accumulate the target amount of points within the time limit by jumping over ramps, doing barrel rolls, smashing through signs, etc.
Burning Route (Car only) - cars will sometimes challenge you at a road junction. Winning the challenge wins you your opponents vehicle.
Burning Ride (Bike Only) - Available during the day only, can be a simple race from one point to another
or you may be chasing beacons through the city.
Midnight Ride (Bike Only) - The night time equivalent of Burning Ride.
All of these events are fun, but can become repetitive. This is because once you complete an event on one part of your licence, it is available to complete again once you have upgraded your licence.
If you don't feel like doing thses challenges there are other things you can do while cruising around the city. Beating the fastest time down a street is fun to do and can become quite addictive. If you are just driving around and you find out that you've just beat a 'Time Road Rule', it is quite a nice surprise. As can getting the biggest 'Showtime'. This is when you attempt to beat the most damage caused by a crash on each street. Once you have achieved both best time and best damage for a street you have complete a road rule. I spent around 2 hours just driving around doing these challenges.
Another thing which I spent quite a bit of time doing was driving around smashing through the billboards (60 to smash) and barriers (400 to smash) of Paradise City. There are also 60 super jumps which are indicated by blue cones which have to be jumped.
~Good Points~
The graphics of the game are impressive, with the surrounding buildings and distant hilly landscapes particularly impressive. There is a slightly arcade look to the game, where the cars are concerned anyway.The slow motion crash scenes are quite impressive at the beginning, but becuase of the amount of times you will crash you eventually get used to seeing the front-end crumple, followed by a wheel coming off and then the door swinging open.
The gameplay also has an arcade feel to it. At the beginning, while using the slower vehicles, braking isn't really necessary. But once you get to the fatsr vehicles you do have to break to make it around the city in one piece. The more vehicles you unlock the more you need to change your driving style to go around corners. Some cars understeer, so you'll have to hit the brake and drift around the corner, other stick to the road and allow you to continue at full speed around the corner.
The game is just all-round great to play and has an almost unlimited life time. The longetivity of the game is increased further by the PS3's 'Trophy System'. Trophies are awarded for multiple different achievements from winning a certain amount of races to smashing through all the billboards.
A nice edition to Burnout Paradise : The Ultimate Box which wasn't previously in Burnout Paradise is the offline multiplayer lobby. Here you and seven others can take part in challenges with the winner of each challenge collecting the points. each player takes it in turn to complete the challenge. The challenges can be hand-picked or chosen at random by the computer, with a maximum of 8 challenges being allowed for each competition.
Another nice feature of the game is the ability to add your own music playlist to the game. Although, I feel this should be included in alot more games than it currently is.
~Improvements~
One of the few downpoints to the game is that when your racing through the city you can set waypoints on the map. So when going at high-speed down minor roads it is very easy to get lost, which can be a little annoying. A compass at the top of the screen and vehicle indicators are used to show you which way to turn, but the indicators can be difficult to spot depending on what speed your going. I understand not being able to use markers to guide you during races (finding your own route to the finish is part of the challenge), but while cruising around the city I feel it would have been better if this was possible.
Probably the biggest area in which the game could be improved is including car customisation. Currently all that can be done is changed th colour, type and style of paint. Adding the option to choose parts of a bodykit such as the hood, bumbers or spoiler would make this a very complete game.
Another tiny fault is that none of the cars actually have drivers, but this is hardly anything to be worried about.
The final thing which was slightly disappointing was the easiness of the game. As long as you don't get lost your almost certain to win the race and even if you do get lost there is still a chance you'll win. It doesn't reall yget much hardrer to win races as the game progresses it just takes more wins to upgrade your licence. Although, there is always the option to go online and take on opponents which aren't going to be quite as easy to get the better of.
~ ~ ~
As far as open world racers go, I have never played anything as good as this and for that reason I would give this game a 9/10. I would definetely recommend buying this game.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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to Paradise City, a world built for fun and adventure. From team challenges to racing to exploring the city there's always something to look forward to in Para...
Postage & Packaging: £4.50 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
If you love playing with friends at home or online then this is the game for you. Welcome ... more
to Paradise City, a world built for fun and adventure. From team challenges to racing to exploring the city there's always something to look forward to in Para...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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road, discovering jumps, stunts and shortcuts.Team Up or Take Down - Race friends online and grab their mugshots, or join forces to complete more than 300 online C...
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Burnout’s mix of spectacular crashes and open world racing returns with an ... more
unprecedented amount of new content now in place.When Burnout Paradise first graced consoles, it was an entirely unique take on a well-worn racing formula. The over-th...
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Advantages: Fantastic city environment; seamless online; online co-op challenges; well balanced cars Disadvantages: Some bad EA Trax; Sat Nav and map are hard to read.
Advantages: The free run of a huge city in some very flash cars. Disadvantages: The bike experience isn't quite there. Other driving games offer more variety.
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