Tech Olive

Having been a fan of the Burnout series for a while, I was excited that Burnout: Paradise would be coming to the PC. However, I can’t help but feel that it needs an overhaul at this point. That is exactly what Criterion (developer) tried, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. Sure, they added motorcycles and an open city, but it still feels old and not in that ‘familiarly good’ way, in an ‘already done’ way.

One of the few things that always annoyed me about the Burnout series was the announcer they used. Sure, he was implemented well; the DJ of Crash FM, the in-game radio station. He would play songs (duh) and explain races to you, but he always has something lame or stupid to say about almost everything, and in previous versions of the game, you could disable just his voice (thankfully) and it wouldn’t impair the music. All of the race events where good enough at explaining themselves that you didn’t miss anything with the DJ muted. This feature saved the previous games for me, making them playable. Unfortunately, in Paradise, he actually has useful information to tell you, but that aside, he’s almost as annoying as ever. I will admit, he is bearable in Paradise, but primarily because he actually offers useful information. He’s still very annoying.

As with previous Burnout titles, it has a pretty solid soundtrack. Plenty of well-known songs that you’ll be able rock out to while you’re smashing stuff up. However, be prepared to hate those songs very soon because you will run through the full library of songs many times before you beat the game. But this isn’t Guitar Hero. You’re not here for the songs, you’re here for the cars and what you can drive those cars into at high-speed. With Burnout: Paradise, Criterion has reinvented the way that you play Burnout games. Rather than choosing and starting a race, Paradise lets you drive around in an open world, to find your own races intersections and there you choose the event  you wish to participate in. The problem with such an open, massive world is that you can very easily just lose track of what you’re doing and just drive around for a few hours. This is not exactly a bad thing, especially with all the hidden routes and bonus-items strewn about that massive world.

Normally, I make it a point to play all my racing games with a controller, but because of Microsoft’s horrible online support, I was unable to use my controller for the first half of my play-testing. Of course, I always test the games with the keyboard too, but with this game I was actually motivated to play more, even without my controller. So if you’re interested in this game and you don’t have a controller, don’t be afraid. My biggest problem with Paradise is that they have completely removed the “Crash Events” (An event in which you must drive through a busy intersection, causing as much damage as you possibly can.) that could be found in previous Burnout games. This may not sound like a big deal, but without the crash events, Paradise is merely an above-average racing game that has nothing new to bring to the table.

One of the more unique features in this game is the implementation of motorcycles. They are great fun, but when you look deeper, the bikes don’t make up for the changes they made to the core design of the Burnout series. Sure, it’s still a good game, but it’s nothing special that sticks with you, nothing fantastic to keep you coming back. While playing Paradise, I came to a shocking realization. It was the fact that I enjoy aimlessly driving around and crashing cars in a game that is not Burnout: Paradise. Any guesses? GTA IV of course. Yup, that’s right, it may be a resource hog, but it has MUCH better damage models and more detailed cars, which is shocking because that kind of thing is Paradise‘s “bread and butter” if you will. Not to mention GTA IV had the great idea to have your character model inside the car you are driving, a detail Criterion seems to have overlooked in the creation of Paradise.

Scores

- Graphics: 7
Although the game offers great visuals, the lack of detail in the damage models leave you wanting more destruction.

- Storyline: 5
It’s hard to rate a story when it goes like this: You have a car. You drive your car fast and crash into stuff.

- Gameplay: 8
As a racing game, it is good fun. As a Burnout game, it doesn’t quite measure up to the previous titles in the series.

- Presentation: 9
For a direct port, the layout and functionality of the game’s menus are great and graphically, the game pulls you in with a minimal and sometimes non-existent HUD.

- Lasting Appeal: 7
If you find that you do like the game, it has a great online system for competition that could find you spending hours racing through roadways.

Overall: 7 Olives