Burnout Paradise (PS3)

Before Paradise, all Burnout games involved speedy racing and over-the-top crashes. It soon established itself to possibly be the best arcade racer on PS2, especially with Takedown and Revenge. The first Burnout game on PS3, Paradise, split opinion, mainly because of the change of direction the series has taken. Paradise is an open-world racer with fewer crashes and more racing. Although some won’t like it, many will love it.

Gameplay

The World

A lot of the game involves driving through the world, discovering the hundreds of secrets in Paradise City. The whole island is huge. The East side of the city is more urban. There are loads of buildings and cars around there. In the West side, the roads are covered with dirt and there are fewer cars about, so you can take a speedy drive along the roads without having to worry about crashing. The secrets involve crashing into gates, smashing through billboards or speeding over ramps called ‘Super Jumps’. Finding all the gates unlocks you a car, as with billboards and jumps. It adds longetivity to what already is a lengthy game. The world also has several shops you can drive into called ‘Drive-Throughs’. The Junk Yard lets you access the cars you have unlocked. The Auto-Repair Garage repairs your car, making it neater. The Paint Shop gives your car a paint job. The Gas Station fills your boost bar.

Events

There are 120 events in total. There are four types of events. A Race is a pretty normal mode. You race against another or several cars and try to get to the finish first. Stunt Runs give you a certain amount of time and a target of points and you have to reach the target within the time limit. You can gain points by going over ramps, smashing billboards, driving at top speeds, reversing or crashing gates. When the clock gets to zero, the event finishes when you crash. The aim of a Road Rage event is to destroy as many opponent cars as you can. These cars are not just ordinary, driving along the road. They speed along in cars similar to ones you can drive. You have to destroy a number of these cars in the time limit. Marked Man events involve you getting to a destination without enemy cars destroying you. The cars are very strong and you would want to stay out of their way. If they smash you up several times, the event is over and you lose. If you drive through an Auto-Repair shop, you will be able to have more crashes without failing. As you complete more of these events, you will unlock new cars and get through licences.

Road Rules

Road Rules are made up of Time Road Rules and Showtime Road Rules. To get a Time Rule, you need to drive along a certain road and beat the CPU time. There are hundreds of roads in the game, so it will take you a lot of time to beat every road. To beat Showtime Rules, you need to enter ‘Showtime’ mode, using R1 and L1 simultaneously. Your car then flips over and using X, it rolls along the road. Your aim is to destroy as many cars as possible. Destroying more cars adds to the bar. If it runs out, the showtime ends. Different cars are worth different amounts of money. When you crash a car in Showtime, it adds money to the counter. You have to beat the target amount to win. Beating both Rules on one road makes you the ruler of the road.

Cars

The cars are very varied in the game. You start off with the Hunter Cavalry, a sports car, just about good enough for a beginner. As you get through, you can unlock cars like the agile Montgomery GT 2400, the stylish Hunter Manhattan and the old-fashioned Carson Grand Marais. There is a speed, boost and strength rating on each vehicle, helping you choose which you want. If the car has a high speed rating, it usually comes under the ‘Speed’ class. If it has a high boost rating, it comes under the ‘Stunt’ class and if it has high strength rating, it comes under the ‘Aggression’ class.

Online

The Online features make this game even better. There is a lot you can do. First, you can just roam around the island with up to seven other people. There are over 100 challenges you can do and loads of people are attempting to complete them all. These are very fun. You usually have to find a hidden location on the map, like a rooftop or a barn and everyone has to make it there to complete the objective. Otherwise, you can race against other people online. It’s easy, fun and people will probably still play online for years to come.

DLC

Unlike a lot of DLC for other games, the DLC for Paradise just makes the game better. You can get ‘Toy’ cars, mini versions of cars which are amazingly strong. You can buy these separately or in a bundle. There are two bundles of these altogether. They are reasonably priced. There is much more. The boost special cars, the Hawker Mech and the Carson Hot Rod. The Hawker Mech is a very bright car, covered with a neon pattern and lights. The Hot Rod stands out from the crowd, with a great paint job and large spoiler. Paradise Island is a lot different from the other DLC. It unlocks a totally new part of the island to you. This features new secrets and a brand new car. There is loads more DLC out there for the game, and I can’t describe how well Criterion have done with it.

The Game Overall

As a whole, this game is excellent but not really for fans of the other games in the series. Both offline and online modes are great. Right now, I’ve clocked up over 25 hours and not bored in the slightest! It’s essential to nearly everyone.