Burnout: Paradise - The Ultimate Box

The Good
Technically, there is a story of a sort in Burnout Paradise. It is about as thin as wet kleenex. But it is there.

I do not care about the story and neither will anyone else, most likely.

And that is completely fine because, really, it does not matter.

Burnout Paradise is a giant sandbox racing game in which you are provided with a large city, varied landscapes, fast cars, and a variety of high speed challenges which can be taken at any time or not. Taken for what it is, that is pretty awesome.

You start the game with one car in your collection and the lowest class of driver's license. From there, you compete in challenges such as races and stunt runs to unlock new cars and better licenses. It really is as simple as that.

The action in Burnout Paradise is decidedly and unashamedly arcade. Driving physics are not anything like realistic, cars take an unreal amount of beating, and in most cases your vehicle will be restored to full driving condition mere seconds after an exquisitely rendered slow motion crash. This style lends itself to what the game is about, which is speed and stunts. If the player were concerned about real-world matters then they would not be able to do things like jump over gaping ravines at high speeds. After all, there are reasons that we generally do not engage in such stunts in real life. So this is a case where realism would not serve as well as "better than real"-ism.

There are essentially three general challenge variations. Classic racing, whether against others or against time, are naturally the backbone of the game. But there are stunt challenges as well to test your abilities at jumps, spins, and the like. And also quite entertaining are the aggression challenges, in which you face off against other cars in brutal high speed smashing competitions.

Graphics in Burnout Paradise are absolutely stunning. The cars are beautiful and the driving environments are a joy to burn through. Further, a decent variety of models and textures keeps the experience constantly fresh.

Although you could easily become a little tired of the game if you played it in marathon sessions, it offers tremendous replay value in short sessions. The sandbox nature lends itself perfectly to getting on, grabbing a hot car, and taking a short spin. In that way, it could potentially last quite awhile for most players.

My enjoyment of the game can be summed up in a moment I experienced not long back. I had decided to ditch the soundtrack of the game and just play iTunes in the background. I was driving the Sabotage GT2400 in a race to the Windmills and I was nailing drifts left and right - all while "Valley of the Kings" by Gamma Ray was roaring in the background. It was the kind of thing that you play games for. And that is why I love Burnout Paradise.

The Bad
The sound is perfectly fine. However, the music selection is mostly uninspiring and DJ Atomica is pretty boring most of the time. The game would have been much better if, like the recent GTA titles, they had included entertaining talk radio. Further, the lack of a custom MP3 track option in the PC version is simply inexcusable. I should not have to, as I do now, run an MP3 player in the background while playing the game.

As a game which was originally programmed for consoles, the PC controls can be a bit of a pain to get used to at first. However, the keys are fully bindable and soon you will be able to drive like a pro.

The Bottom Line
Burnout Paradise is an incredibly amusing freeform street racer. Put on a good soundtrack and enjoy.