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Yeeeeha, what a ride!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 16
Date: February 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Ok, My background in racing.. Need 4 Speed all games. GTA III on up. Gran Tourismo all. Many more earlier, but mostly these for the sake of my review... meaning I never played the previous Burnout series.

Feel for the racing menu is much like GTA to me. Free form racing around the city is superb. There is a new race or even on just about every corner. Awesome! The feel of the city and surroundings is very good. Just as in GTA, you find secret billboards and unique jumps along with the racing. The way they have the level upgrade to your license is fun and keeps you going. Many a time, I have been close to the next level and refused to get off the game. Addictive.

There are tons of races, events, records to beat, too many to list actually. Some have complained about the Showtime event. I LOVE this event. It's a crack up (pun) and when you get good at it, setting the record in this event for every street in the game is really fun.

Ok.. if the game ended there, it would still be a great game. It doesnt.

Multiplayer. Online racing and entrance is seamless. You just basically hit the right button and you are in a game online. I always go in wanting to work on the online events you can do by teaming up with other players and doing jumps and stuff together, but I end up getting wrapped up in the Takedown with others and pretty soon, time has gone by without notice. It's almost too fun really. I'd probably buy this game if all it had was multiplayer takedown and no other options. Gladly, that's not needed. lol

There are many cars in the game and getting them is pretty straight forward. No garage or home here, just a junkyard where all your cars are kept. I've seen complaints about having to repair cars and such.. well, that just takes about 5 seconds, since all you do is drive your car through a repair shop which is always just down the street from the junkyard. Not sure why the problems with this feature. Basically you get your car from disabling it from somebody else, so the repair feature makes sense to me.

.....

Ok, so I gave the game 4.5 stars. Why the .5 down? The voice settings in the game are really bad. You have to turn your system music and game noise way down and keep voip on max to even hear the other players and then it's usually muffled. I use a PS2 USB cable headset which has no volume control, so some bluetooth sets may have better luck with this. However, it's the poor settings that make the problem, not the headset. I guess they are worried people would up the volume too much and damage ears or something. Still.. it's a minus for me.

Other down.. no split screen racing for offline multiplayer. This is a must have really for me. I like to race family memebers offline in racing games and wish Burnout had this feature.

Those two minor things aside, the game is flawless really. The graphics are superb and the framerate is better than any game I've seen on the PS3 to date.

Buy it. You won't regret it if you like racing. I am hopeful for GTAIV and GT5, but for now, this ones the king of the heep.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Riddled with flaws.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 19
Date: February 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is so painfully flawed. I've been a Burnout fan for a long time, and sadly this one doesn't have what it takes. Visually this game is amazing. It gets 5 stars there. But that's the only really good thing about it.

At the title screen you have to deal with the horrible "Take me down to the Paradise City where the grass is green and the girls are pretty!" song. *Stabs his ears out* Then you have to deal with it while the game loads. Then you have to deal with it when you select and customize your car. Then you have to deal with it on "EA Trax". Thanks guys. Couldn't find a more annoying song?

Secondly, you CANNOT customize the controller. At all. Yeah, we all like having to switch our play for the one freaking game that doesn't allow for customization.

Third, there's no "reset" option mid race. I'm a perfectionist and if I screw up where I don't want to, I'll reset a race. But not on this game! Oh ho NO! I have to go all the way to the end of the race, then drive all the way back to the beginning (because this Burnout utilizes the map race layout like other games in this genre, as opposed to a structured race setup, but does a horrible job of it). There's no way to warp back to a race you've already attempted... you get to drive alllll the way back, and stew on your miserable defeat.

Fourth, There's no way to turn off the extra camera for when you take someone down (named "Takedown Camera" in other versions), it ALWAYS goes to the opposing car. At least this could be shutoff in other Burnouts. Not this one! No no no... EA worked so hard in making these crashes, they DEMAND every moment of your attention on them.

The stunt run is... okay. It's very hard if you're not familiar with the area. If you're lucky enough to find a jump or series of jumps back to back, just keep using them.

And lastly... the one thing every Burnout fan liked wasn't included in this game. What is it you ask? The crash mode. NO CRASH MODE. Yup. Bad move EA. Was to take a brilliant game and butcher it until it was just another Need for Speed. (Yes I know about Showtime mode, and it's somewhat fun to play around with... however, it doesn't top the structured Crash mode of this game's predecessors.)

I had very high expectations for this game and was seriously let down. I'd give the game 2.25 stars, but since I can't it only gets 2. It's definitely not a three star game.

Great for awhile then gets tedious

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: March 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Burnout: Paradise has many great qualities and Criterion should be commended. However to fully appreciate this game and become good at it you basically have to memorize the entire huge city. I've been playing the game for about 20 hours and I can barely remember where the short cuts are and what's the best street to turn down for races and stunts. Especially because you're driving so fast. They do have flashing street sign indicators but they're only a little helpful.

Let's say I start a race. I then pause and look at the terrible map when the race starts and plan out my route. Then I drive about 10 seconds, pause, then look at the map again. I find myself doing this over and over during the race. This frequent pausing breaks up the fun and momentum of the race. So let's say I lose the race. No big deal the whole point of a game is to practice and get better. Great. But then you have to drive alllll the way back to the starting point, miles away. I've won many races so it's not because I suck, but I've rarely been able to get particularly good at any races or any other events. I don't feel that satisfaction of getting better at a game, just blazing speed and blind luck.

People say it's no big deal because another event is right around the corner at a traffic light. But how am I going to get better at the previous race if I don't do it again for a long time? So you basically just wander around aimlessly from event to event, not ever really perfecting anything. The whole thing begins to feel like a meandering, directionless mess. It's a shame because I've had a lot of fun with this game especially the stunt runs, but the map problem is so bad it's to the point I'm getting really bored with this game after only 20 hours and a B license.

The game does have many great things about it (not Showtime), the graphics, the speed, the handling, the stunts, and I also love open world games. If you spend half your life memorizing every nook and cranny of the city then you'll have fun. If not it gets old after awhile, especially after the millionth slow-motion crash. If they fix the awful navigation system and lack of a restart function for the next installment, it'll be a classic game.

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.

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.

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.

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