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9.0

PSU: Burnout Paradise Review

Eric Blattberg of PSU writes: Burnout, the latest installment does do differently from past Burnouts - and in fact, from all other racers on the market - is give the player a completely open world in which to play. Criterion took a major risk when designing this game by eschewing the industry standard, and their decision has undoubtedly paid off.

Burnout Paradise is a prime example of 'flow' in games. There are nearly no menus to navigate, and the few that are present work seamlessly into the title. For example, the "Easy Drive" online menu is relegated entirely to the D-Pad, thus the player can continue driving while controlling it. Another aspect that helps the game flow lies in the complete absence of loading; there is essentially no loading to experience after the initial start-up screen. What truly creates flow though isn't nifty ideas or technical tricks. Only through freeform gameplay, in which the player can create his or her own experience, can this concept of flow develop, and Burnout Paradise contains exactly that.

Pros
+ Remarkable "flow," especially regarding the seamless online integration
+ Incredibly detailed graphics with spectacular crashes
+ Sheer amount of bang for your buck

Cons
- Paradise City is more accurately a Paradise Ghost Town
- Showtime, while fun, is no replacement for the old Crash mode

willie325910d ago

there will be some very cool downloads for this game online. It would be nice to have a few more options online too(marked man, team race, original crash mode, etc).

100°

How Burnout Paradise bucked the trend and made open-world racing irresistible

Met with derision from existing Burnout-series fans at the time, Burnout Paradise remains arguably the greatest open-world racing game of all time. Here's why.

SullysCigar353d ago

I don't know why - and I know I'm probably on my own here - but I liked Takedown more. I think it was just 'different' enough to feel fresh. I also loved the destruction.

On that note, a new Motorstorm would be nice! All that mud, dust and car pieces flying everywhere blew my mind on PS3 - imagine what they could do now.

NJShadow353d ago

I loved Burnout Paradise, but Burnout 3: Takedown will always be the best game in the series, for me. Burnout 3 is arguably the most fun game ever made, with the greatest licensed soundtrack ever.

EazyC353d ago

I played through the remaster quite recently. It's not as good as I remember, but I think a lot of that is because the "open world" thing was still pretty fresh back then.

I do think there's a gap in the market for a game like Burnout. With the new gen they could really make car damage a huge selling point again.

BrainSyphoned353d ago

Paradise gave me open world burnout before I knew it was a thing.

CPTN MITCHELL353d ago

Burnout paradise remastered and original are my favorite, i got the platinum trophy for both games the nighthawk is my favorite car

Einhander1971353d ago

Personally don't give a shit for open world racers. Give me a new Motorstorm, Split second, Outrun.

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180°

Ranking The Burnout Games From Worst To Best

Cultured Vultures: The Burnout series has plenty of great games to play, but which one is definitively the best? We're here to rank them all.

Read Full Story >>
culturedvultures.com
waverider1003d ago

I think the crash mode should comeback. Tryng to make the most damage was very cool.

camel_toad1003d ago

That mode was so damn fun. Couldn't believe it when they ditched it.

Flewid6381002d ago (Edited 1002d ago )

Agreed.

Flewid6381002d ago (Edited 1002d ago )

Yeah that made for a good time.

Rebel_Scum1003d ago

Burnout 2 should be above 3 imo. The aftertouch takedown mechanic slowed down the gameplay too much in 3.

Flewid6381002d ago

That's the mechanic that made me enjoy Burnout 3 over the others. It wasn't until they introduced it that I considered the series any good.

Chocoburger1003d ago

I love Takedown, Revenge, and Paradise. Dominator was okay, but it clearly felt like a B-tier game.

After playing those awesome games, I went back to try out part 1 and it was rough. I didn't like the controls (whereas the others felt perfect to me), the elevator music was generic and not enjoyable to listen to.

Finally the game's difficulty was extremely high. I could beat all single player races in Takedown, Revenge, Paradise, Dominator, but could not get first place in the very first race for the first Burnout game. It demands perfection and one slight mistake is all it takes to lose. I have yet to play part 2, but I'm hoping it's more like part 3 than part 1.

ChasterMies1003d ago

Burnout Takedown is my favorite racing game of all time. My wife was addicted to crash mode.

Xenial1002d ago

As soon as I saw Burnout 3: Takedown at #1, I knew the list was legit. lol

250°

EA, It's Time To Bring Back The Burnout Series

No more Need For Speed, it's time to bring back Burnout.

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thegamer.com
1132d ago Replies(6)
Marcello1132d ago

Its long long overdue but the problem is its just not a big money spinner. Thats why EA ditched it. Alex Ward has gone his own way with Three Fields Entertainment & made Dangerous Driving but its very low budget.

LucasRuinedChildhood1131d ago

Each game gets closer and closer to being good. It's kind of painful how close they are. haha. I hope Dangerous Driving 2 being open world isn't too ambitious for them and it's a polished, fun 7.5-8/10.

roadkillers1131d ago

Maybe not, but if a quality title in the reigns released now days...People do pay more attention to reviews comparitively

BrainSyphoned1131d ago

Burnout with real life car mechanic costs sounds about right if you want EA to go for it.

isarai1131d ago

Here's the thing, EA is sitting on so many great IPs i would like to return, but at the same thing i feel like modern EA would find a way to ruin it. Besides Respawn, EA hasn't dropped anything good for almost 2 generations IMO.

LucasRuinedChildhood1131d ago

"almost 2 generations" What? Are you talking about the PS3 and the 360?

I agree with the general sentiment that their catalogue of games since the PS4/XB1 has been comparatively terrible to what they used to do though.

andy851131d ago

Absolutely loved these games back in the day. Paradise was good too but didn't quite have the feel of the old games

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