Gaming Generations :: Burnout Paradise

Fungo · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:13 pm Post subject:

BURNOUT PARADISE

Publisher: Electronic Arts, Criterion Games
Official Website: http://burnout.ea.com/home.asp?lang=us
Release Date: 1/22/2008
Genre: Racing
Number of Players: 1
ESRB Rating: (E10+) Everyone
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Overview

I've never played through an entire Burnout game before without first giving up due to repetition, but I do recall the game being very much based around car crashes and building up massive pile-ups, trying to rack up the cash value of the damage you're causing. Burnout Paradise takes the game series in the much-needed step to the next-generation platforms and it did very well; it is a brilliant arcade-style driving game teaming with technical achievement.

GRAPHICS

Burnout Paradise has great graphics. From the excellent lighting to the shiny paint jobs to the beautiful scenery, it is definitely a sight for sore eyes. Most notably, Paradise has the most realistic car crashes I have ever seen, car crashes I could only imagine or dream of, car crashes rivaling those of a destruction derby. When you hit something going 100+ miles an hour, you can almost feel it. The second you hit, you get a close-up shot of the impact with high contrast and slow motion. You can see the metal crumpling up like tin-foil, shards of shrapnel scattering the ground, the windshield bursting, axles bending, tires coming loose, doors flying open and off the hinges, and the roof caving in as you land upside down. You may find yourself cruising down Interstate I-88 at top speeds hoping to wreck for an entertaining show of barrel rolls and car pile-ups.

SETTING

Paradise City is large, and is like a fully functional city, but without any people. That's right, not a single pedestrian. In fact, there's no one driving your car, either. The city was built with car stunts in mind. There are ramps, especially barrel roll ramps, and more ramps. There are also â€œdrive-thruâ€ areas such as Junk Yards, Gas Stations, and Repair Centers. The Junk Yard is where you go to choose your car, you have a mediocre selection of three cars to begin with, but as you play the game you have to â€œTake Downâ€ specific cars in order to have them sent off to the junk yard to pick from. The Gas Stations refill your boost meter, giving you an advantage in a race, and the Repair Center obviously repairs your car.

GAMEPLAY

Paradise has many different game options to keep you from getting tired out too quickly. Every intersection in the game has a challenge; you pull up to the lights and hit L2 + R2 to activate it. You can Race with up to 8 players, or 1 on 1, to one of several points in the city. There's a Last Man Standing challenge where cars come at you from all directions and deliberately smash into you, and you must try to survive long enough to reach your goal. You can do a Burning Route which requires you to race other cars, mostly of the same car model, from one end of a street to the other. There are also several other game modes to choose from, but I will not list them all. Using Takedowns in the game can be very fun, and fortunately, the game takes full control of your car after one in order to avoid a freak accident.

Thankfully enough, a feature called Showtime was added, and is great if you find that you're running out of things to do. Just hit L1 + R1 anytime when you have a boost meter and you're off! Your car suddenly flips and starts rolling down the street like a never-ending piece of destructive wreckage. More cars appear and speed at you, away from you, or go crashing into something. You boost by hitting X to move and can either use the SIXAXIS to tilt your controller or use the analog stick to careen your junk car into oncoming traffic, causing explosions and chaos. Hitting cars adds to your boost meter, and hitting buses gain you a multiplier, but all the while you are trying to get the largest dollar amount of damage for a final score. This feature is very much like past Burnout games and it is nice they kept it.

CONTROLS

Controls are flawless in this game. You can either use SIXAXIS to steer or just use the analog stick. The SIXAXIS controls are difficult to get used to, but is fun an rewarding after a while. The R2 trigger is to accelerate and the L2 trigger is the brake and reverse and it feels very comfortable. The triggers and analog sticks are very sensitive for a very smooth ride. The game takes full use of the PS Eye camera and displays your picture on your license. You also have the ability to retake your photo anytime you want, especially after winning a race. Tested with the Dual Shock 3, Burnout has some amazing use of vibration. When you drive over train tracks, or over rocks, you feel it. When you crash, you feel it. The vibration definitely adds to the fun factor and helps bring you into the game a little more.

SOUND

The music of Burnout Paradise is mediocre at best. The main theme, I cannot complain, is â€œParadise Cityâ€ by Guns N' Roses. But with tracks by Avril Lavigne and all of the horrible old electro Burnout songs, it gets kind of annoying. Songs by Soundgarden, Killswitch Engage, and several other artists save this soundtrack. The PS3 has the ability to play custom tracks from your hard drive, but it is up to the developer to include this feature. Unfortunately, you cannot listen to music on your hard drive. This was a horrible mistake and if they spent a few more days on adding a custom music player, the game would have been a lot more enjoyable. You can select which songs to play or not to play â€“ good thing they added this option. The sound in the game is probably the best I've heard â€“ the sound brings this game to life. As you're driving, you can hear everything â€œwhooshâ€ by you on the left and right. As if you were really driving under a bridge, in the game you can hear the sound of the car echo just as you pass under. When you crash, you can hear the grinding metal and the tension of something about to give way, the windows bursting, and the resulting rain of debris falling to the ground. Everything is very realistically depicted in the sound.

If you want, you can leave the game idle and the car will turn off. Soon after, the game will take over with a slow panning overview of the city accompanying you with a series of great classical songs such as some by Beethhoven and others. This is very relaxing and beets staring at the pause menu.

MULTIPLAYER

Burnout Paradise's multiplayer is average and I feel it could have been polished a bit more. Anytime, anywhere, you can push right on the D-pad, and access an in-game menu. From there, you can jump right into the online Paradise. You can create your own game, or jump right into one already in progress. The most amazing thing about this is the fact that it only takes a split second to enter a game. You start off right where you left off, but there are people cruising around the game's large map. The main game objective is to score Takedowns by ramming opponents into the wall, wrecking into them, or crushing them in some way. And after getting Taken Down, if you have a PS Eye connected, you can do some sort of pose for a final snapshot in which they can see. The headset is in full use here, as well. If the host of the server specifies, you can have missions to accomplish which are at best like a game of cat and mouse, but then when you finally zero in on the mouse, someone leaves the room and the challenge is canceled. Challenges were just thrown into the game as an afterthought, it seems; they are pointless and really do not add up to much in the long-run. There are 50 challenges ranging from boosting for 10 seconds to getting 5 seconds of hang-time or from jumping a gap to driving through a tunnel. Showtime is available in multiplayer, but it is not that great. What YOU see is this rolling wreckage, with infinite momentum, annihilating every car in an intersection, but what THEY see is this wreckage, randomly rolling down a barren street, not a car to be seen. Additionally, when someone is in Showtime mode, you cannot affect them and they cannot affect you, meaning the rolling ball of wreckage and your car are in two completely different dimensions. If the host of the game decides to, you can race with all the people online. This is the most fun of the game modes.

SUMMARY

Burnout Paradise offers many different kinds of gameplay, and a fun city in which you can stunt to your heart's content. If you get bored, you can enter Showtime mode to destroy as many vehicles as you can, or you can just race through the streets until you crash to watch, in slow-motion, the show of debris. The game does have its moments, but it won't stick forever. It is a game that you'll put a good couple weeks into, then pick up sometime later just for a (not so) cheap thrill. Burnout Paradise sets the new standard for arcade-style driving games and I hope to see what will come of the future.
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Pictures courtesy of GameSpot.com
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FUNGO
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