Takedown in Paradise City
By PaulEMoz

The Burnout name is now a part of gaming legend, but it's had a bit of a chequered past. The modest-but-enjoyable original was followed by the more ambitious Burnout 2: Point of Impact, notable for its superb Crash Mode. For many, Burnout 3: Takedown was the highlight of the series to date, with incredible, high-speed adrenalin-fuelled action and some terrific game modes, most notably Road Rage. However, it also marked the point at which things started to go wrong with the series. The Heartbreaker icon almost broke the Crash Mode, causing consternation for many.

Next came Burnout Revenge, still a favourite of many, but in my eyes it was more of a high-speed snowplough simulator than a racing game. For me, much of the enjoyment was gone. And then came Dominator, which passed by not exactly unnoticed, but largely unheralded by the fans. Burnout, all of a sudden, was in need of a little fuel-injection.

Inject this

And so, Criterion have gone away, had a good think, regrouped and come back with Burnout Paradise. And all I can say to this is, "Thank you Criterion, you lovely, lovely bastards".

This is next-gen racing. This is why you bought a new gaming console. This is a game so utterly stuffed with content, all of which is delivered with such extraordinary style and flair, that you simply can't be without it. Well, unless you've only got a Wii, in which case you're screwed. Still, at least you've got Excite Truck.

The Need for Speed series, which has also been looking tired, recently did away with its open-city environment. It worked, and yet that game still didn't feel very exciting. Conversely, Burnout Paradise introduces an open-city environment to the series for the first time, and despite initial reservations, it is a revelation.

I mentioned the volume of content. Paradise City is big, with much of it looking like a typical American city; streets and avenues are criss-crossed across the landscape like the scars of a slasher victim, and every single one gives you challenges. You'll get some kind of event, be it a race, road rage, stunt run or whatever. And then there are the Showtime challenges.

Showtime comes in two parts, and replaces Crash Mode. This is definitely a bit of a talking point; for many people, a lot of the joy of Burnout has been the accumulation of millions of dollars worth of Crash damage. One part of Showtime involves you initiating a crash, and then rolling, bouncing and smashing your car up the street, as far as you can, and into as many vehicles as you can. When your wreck finally comes to rest, the total is totted up, and your aim is to beat the lead total for the road you happen to be on. This sounds great on paper, but in practice it plays like a poor man's Katamari, just tumbling and fumbling to the next junction. It's fun enough, for a bit, but it's just a tiny bit silly really.

Katherine, are you all right?

No matter, though, because the second part of Showtime involves you setting the fastest time for each road. This is a concentrated hit of pure, flat-out racing, and easily balances the slightly less succesful part of Showtime. Beat both the lead scores, and you Rule that road. With previous racing games, I've talked about the feeling of owning the city. With Burnout Paradise, you really DO own the city. And it feels AWESOME.

For all the great content, the hundred-and-odd junctions worth of events, the cars to collect, the Showtime events to complete and the roads to rule, a lot of the joy of the game comes from simply tooling around the city, exploring, finding the lie of the land. And as you do that, you discover yet more things to do. You'll see Burnout billboards splashed around the streets; these all need to be jumped through, Dukes of Hazzard-style. And you'll spot fenced-off areas everywhere you go. Don't worry, Burnout Paradise isn't like other racers where these areas are out of bounds; you just crash through the fences to open up the city. Smashing all the fences is yet another challenge thrown at you; another way of adding to the game's value.

And as if all that wasn't enough, you've got Freeburn, the online component. Jump into a game with a load of mates, and you'll have the time of your life. Whether it's simply racing each other around the city, spitefully taking them down, exacting revenge upon them for taking you down, or setting up one of hundreds of specific challenges for you all to take part in, the online aspect adds yet another dimension, one that will keep you playing even if you do somehow manage to finish everything else the game has for you.

You may have downloaded the demo of this and not been too keen on it. Ignore that. The full game is far, far beyond anything you'll get out of the demo. Burnout Paradise is exactly that: Paradise, whether for Burnout fans, racing fans or just fans of videogames in general. Criterion have aimed very, very high with this one, and yet I suspect they've even managed to surpass their own lofty ambitions. In going back to the drawing board, they've created the first stone cold, bona-fide five star classic of 2008.

February 2008

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