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The Future of Arcade Racing Games, Maybe all Racing Games!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 17
Date: January 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Burnout Paradise is an amazing game. I've never been a big fan of burnout games, but I could always enjoy playing one. Paradise is easily the best Burnout game I've played.

What makes Paradise so great is the open free roam city. Basically there are no menu screens or track selections or anything.

As you start driving around this massive city at every intersection there is an event, from a standard race, takedown, burning route, etc...

All this is access able without leaving the racing screen. Also if you're in a race and you don't feel like finishing, press L1+R1 to switch into Showdown mode and now you're playing a mini game.

Same thing for online, press the right button on the D-Pad and now you're online. It's that simple, the game never takes you out the world and gives you some much to do.

The one complaint is the fact the game doesn't have anytype of split screen local multiplayer. The only way to play against others is online. Now for me this isn't a big problem because I normally play alone, but it does suck knowing I can't play this game against others in my own home.

A great Arcade Racer and hopefully future racing games will use this system.

The Grand Theft Auto of Street Racing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 11
Date: January 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This was hyped up to be the first really intense game of 2008. I watched every trailer and video I could find and was really excited for it to come out, especially since just recently buying a PS3 and not seeing too many new games (other than Call of Duty 4) that sparked my intrest. Anyways, I just got it yesterday.

After first going through a long setup and turoral video that plays before you can start they give you yuor first car and pretty much take you by the hand step by step on how to start races, where to get you car repaired, and pretty much everything else that you can do in the game. This is nice since it is such a indepth game. Once I got myself started I noticed that the controls and gameplay were very similar to Grand Theft Auto in that it's not only an open world where you can go pretty much anywhere, but also there are sub missions that you can play such as crashing through billboards, finding 'No Enterance' gates to crash through, and a mode called SHowtime where you basically create the ultamate accident by fliping your car into traffic and collecting points for how much damage you cost them.

The races are intense. There are no rules what so ever! No tracks that say go here then here. If you can find a better shortcut, take it. Though side streets, jumps off broken bridges (which this game has tons and tons of), and of course running the other cars off the road which also gives you more boost for your car.

One thing that dissapointed me about this game were the crashes. Yea, there very detailed and what not but you have no way of changing the camera angle. This was one of the things that I was most excited about and while they are well done, you're still limited.

Over all, I would have to say that this is a fun game that does keep your interest. If you liked Grand Theft Auto's miles and miles of open road and free gameplay then this you will like. Dont ask me about the online features since I have no idea. But single player is fun enough and off of that I can say I recomend this game.

Bring home the paradise

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 16
Date: January 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Yes the game feels like roaming in paradise. It is a great beauty. Controls are perfect. Every aspect of the game is implemented with so much care, bar for racing/action games is raised to a new high.

The new crash mode is one of the two best improvements. If you plan carefully and with a bit of luck you can crash for a half-hour stretch. Second thing is online. Ooo hoo. You can be online do what ever you want to do as you do in your single player campaign or just go on a head on crash or race each other. So much variety. Content wise this game is huge, it will take couple months to try out every thing.

First must by title of 2008. The new online lobby system, camera integration, wide open world racing etc. etc. So much innovation has gone into one game. We need more pioneering games like this. Hat's off to Criterion.

Almost paradise

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 8
Date: January 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Ah, Burnout...
The series really peaked with Burnout 3. Paradise is good, but it is not the best in the series. I applaud the effort the developer made in creating an open city (i.e. sandbox environment).
This is truly a step forward for the series. No navigating menus. You just drive around the city. If you don't like specific race, then drive to the next intersection and race on! None of the races involve lapping around the same section of town. A new event type called stunt run leaves something to be desired. Like Project Gotham's kudos challenges, this event is all about scoring points from doing stunts. No racing required. I'm not too wild about non-racing events in a racing game. Seems to be a common gripe among other Burnout fans on the Sony forums.
There are several finer points missing from this game that could lead to your frustration. What I mean is that there is little help in keeping you on track. You have to either memorize the entire city layout or constantly glance down at the small map in the lower right hand corner to get your bearings. I've found myself bouncing around and getting severely lost during several events. The game will even reset you backwards sometimes! Plus there is no "retry" option. Quitting a race involves you coming to a dead stop and waiting for the game to realize you've given up. No mulligans for you.
I've found I prefer to use the "dead stop" way out rather than to cross the finish line and hear DJ Atomica give me crappy advice about the importance of winning. The game's developers forgot to include an option to turn Atomica off. And, trust me, you will wish they had included that option.
An open city environment, as presented here, needs to take advantage of some of the more conventional design features we have seen in other games in the past. For example, games like Grand Theft Auto San Andreas gives you the ability to set way points so you can use them to guide you to your objective. Even Midnight Club has arrows to point you in the right direction during a race. The official strategy guide is helpful for planning routes.
Forget the "motion sensitive" steering option presented in this version. It is completely unresponsive. Stick with the old fashioned analog sticks. The analog controls work exactly as they have in previous Burnouts. The focus is on arcade-like racing. No Gran Turismo "realistic" driving in this game. Not sure how the force feedback steering wheel option works. I don't have one.
To earn new cars you have to chase down the "driver" of your target car and make them crash. You then have to get that car fixed up before competing in additional events. This is a good and satisfying part of the game.
The variety of cars is great. You've got speed, stunt and aggression types of cars. Each class requires a different strategy to use to their fullest potentional. Personally, I like the stunt cars the best for the use anytime boost.
However, when I earn a new shiny car for achieving certain goals, it should be shiny and new. The game keeps with the "it's busted, so fix it" routine even with the supposedly brand new cars you earn in the game. No new (and undamaged) cars as a reward.
My biggest gripe is more of a personal preference than anything else. There is no option for a custom soundtrack in the PS3 version. It seems rather sad that one of the most advanced pieces of gaming hardware cannot do something their competitors started doing in the last generation of consoles. I've played previous version of Burnout on XBox and it is a wonderful feeling to be able to race to your own music. Having to deal with substandard low-royalty tunes makes the experience feel a little flat. But, that is just me. Perhaps everyone else can just deal. I have learned that Sony plans to allow custom soundtracks in a future update.
All things considered, this is a good game. There are things to love about this game and things to hate. Fortunately, the positives outweigh the negatives.
For a good second opinion, please check out the review in Game Informer magazine.

They ruined Burnout

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 19
Date: January 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have played all the Burnout games and I have to say this is the worst. The graphics are top notch and the cars just as fast, but it's nothing like the previous Burnouts at all. It's more like Grand Theft Auto where you cruise around except you only do mini races and crash through a few things. If you are a fan of the Burnout series you will be very disappointed in this game. No dedicated crash mode. When you race you have to look for turns or short cuts. Miss a turn and you will be going halfway across the city and unable to catch up to the other racers. They should have called it something other than Burnout, but I guess the name will ensure sales. I'm glad I only rented this.

Change - Not Always for the Best

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 13
Date: January 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I really wanted to like Burnout: Paradise. The graphics are beautiful, the soundtrack is fantastic with a few exceptions -- Avril Lavigne? -- and online play is integrated well. It's obvious that the developer was going for a seamless play experience - load times are pretty much non-existent. However, the cost in implementing this system is that simple commands like retrying a race or swapping cars is gone. Annoyingly after losing a race you'll find yourself having to either move on or trudge back to the start of that particular event. Another problem is that many of the events require a specific car or a specific class, here again you'll have to find a junk yard and swap out your car. I also noticed while playing that all of the events conclude at one of eight predetermined points and while you're free to choose a path of your liking there are realistically only so many optimal routes to race. Unfortunately with the `sandbox' environment you'll find yourself relying on maps a lot. The game has a great map - but you have to pause the action and go to a different screen to use it. The mini-map that you get while driving is essentially useless as you only see a small portion of the total map. I found that I'd usually start a race only to immediately pause the game and study the map for a route. Then along the way I'd pause a few more times to stay on track. Annoying. Winning cars in Paradise is actually pretty cool - many times you first have to find a rival and `take them out' in order to win their car. What's unexplainable is why the developer chose to give you a damaged car that has to be immediately repaired after selecting it. Get used to driving to the repair shop often. All in all Burnout: Paradise could've been the pinnacle of the series, as it stands poor choices by the developer in a few areas keeps the game from being great. Ultimately the game is enjoyable, especially for anyone new to Burnout, for veterans the shortcomings will be all to obvious.

Lack of split screen kills this game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 13
Date: January 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

After playing the demo I was sure this addition to the Burnout series would be great. After playing the game at a friends house after the release date all I can say is "no split screen?". What made revenge so great was the takedown mode and playing it with friends or at a party. The lack of not even being able to enjoy this game with someone next to you is well... sad. Even in the age of online gameplay being a must, being able to play with people in the same room is just as important as any other feature if not more. Shame on you EA.

Great game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 8
Date: January 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Well, let me just say that the only other burnout I played was Takedown. This game--Burnout Paradise--is incredible. You can instantly go online while playing and have an open and free world to explore.

Pros
-Freedom (to drive anywhere, use any routes ect)
-Online play is a blast
-Wrecks looks great
-Good car selection

Cons
-No split screen multiplayer
-Car-specific events are irritating

I recommend this game even if you don't normally like racers. Its so free, open, and easy accesable to anyone to just enjoy. Probably a better choice than the Midnight Club LA game coming soon (just a guess).

Boooooring!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 23
Date: January 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Burnout 3 is my all-time favourite racing game. Since then, every new instalment manages to warp and destroy what was so fun. I guess it depends on what YOU enjoy about Burnout... Me, I basically just want to play Road Rage all the time. That's the best part, but here I mostly find myself driving (and constantly crashing) BETWEEN events. What's the point of an "open city" if you cannot get out of the car anyway? It's just annoying! (and the nice graphics make all those empty cars, yours included, driving around pretty strange). The few seconds loading the race would have taken, are now spent LOOKING FOR a new race... You still lose time. And Burnout being such a fast and violent game - you don't have time to look at maps to figure out where to go next! And since it's "a city", any given race includes 90º turns that are impossible, unless you know there there - so prepare to loose a lot, until... What? Am I supposed to memorise this whole city? That makes sense in GTA, but not in a racing game. Another beautiful opportunity ruined.

Great game only if you play alone. NO local multiplayer

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 12
Date: January 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I agree with all the reviews here about the great graphics and depth of the game, so I won't go into that. However, my favorite part of burnout was playing with friends. There is NO split-screen multiplayer with burnout paradise. You need more than one PS3 to play with multiple players via the internet. This really ruins the game for me because it makes burnout paradise solely a game for those who play alone (and none of the reviews at the game websites mentioned this). Unfortunately for me, I got this game hoping to play with friends. There is no crash mode either, which was pretty fun.

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