Burnout is back and (as the cliche goes) better than ever.
Seriously. Most iterations of games are incremental advancements. Maybe one or two new mechanics are introduced, but for the most part, whatever formula made the original sequel-worthy continues to drive subsequent releases. Rarely does a developer take the chance by revamping something fundamental. The good news: this is one of those times.
Burnout Paradise takes place within the confines of Paradise City in what’s called a “sandbox” configuration. Big deal I hear you say. Grand Theft Auto has been doing that for years. True, but then again GTA isn’t devoted to high octane racing with spectacular crashes either. For the first time, Burnout allows the player to pick and choose the type of race for themselves without prerequisites. Maybe you want to just race against the clock? Maybe you want a full-on eight car race to the observatory? Or maybe you want to see how many cars you can crash into before time runs out? It’s all there. You can do any kind of race within moments after you start the game.
In fact, the only linear progression in the entire game is the series of upgrades to your driver’s license, which only serves to unlock a few of the cars within the game. Everything else is dependent on completing any or all of the 120 different events within the city. Finding an event is brain-dead simple as well. If there’s an intersection, there’s an event. A handy map keeps track of the different events you discover as well as events you’ve already completed.
Don’t feel like competing? That’s perfectly alright. There’s tons of content waiting to be discovered just driving around the city with gates to be smashed, billboards to be crashed and ramps to be jumped. However, you can even just pass the time driving around the city and marveling at the design from the ocean-front stadiums, to brownstones in the older, more industrial areas, to the mountains which contain the observatory and wind farm.
In short, there’s always something to do, no matter what you’re mood. (Unless you don’t like racing games. In which case, why are you still reading this?) Burnout Paradise is a very welcome addition to my 360 library and I heartily recommend it to anyone who has that “need for speed*”.
-K
* Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.
