The previous Burnout game 'Burnout Revenge' was one of the first games I bought for my Xbox 360.Despite the fact it was pretty much a straight port of the original Xbox/PS2 version of the game I thought it was great.I played right through the single player mode and still play it on Xbox live now (If I can find anyone still on it!).I was REALLY looking forward to getting this new version as it was to be the first version of 'Burnout' built solely for the next-gen consoles.
The main menu loads to the sound of Guns N' Roses 'Paradise City' and it all looks to be business as usual.The world tour rankings system of the previous Burnout game have been replaced with a driving licence system.You start with a basic licence and car and have to win races and complete challenges to get a more advanced licence rating and better cars.This all works fine to be honest as do the car repair shops (to repair your smashed up vehicles) and paint shops where you can change the colour of your car.The 'Nitro boost bar' is the same as in previous versions which fills up the more dangerously you drive.The slow motion crash sequences with metal crunching and glass shattering are as great as they always have been.
Apart from these pretty straight forward features this game is a big change in direction for the Burnout series.Criterion Games (The Burnout series developers) have taken some pretty huge risks and changed the Burnout we love.Gone is the 'Crash Mode',The split screen 2 player races and infact there are no local multiplayer games at all.I loved playing the Burnout games with my mates when they called round.Party games in the old crash mode were a riot after a few beers as we battled to create the ultimate motorway pile ups !.
The gameplay area is fully unlocked from the start and you are free to explore and race wherever you please within the massive 'Paradise City'.You start a race by pulling up at traffic lights behind cars and pressing the brake,then the gas.You have a starting point and a finishing point and you have to determine the best way to get there via the use of a map located in the bottom corner of the screen.I cannot believe that at some point in the games development someone didn't pipe up during a Criterion Games company meeting and say 'I am not alone in thinking that this is a rubbish idea ?'.Because if they didn't they should have !.
While the graphics are superb,with excellent detail,run at mindblowing speed and without any hint of slowdown they cannot mask the fact the game simply isn't that much fun to play.This system of point to point racing has so many fatal flaws it was impossible to make this the game it could and should have been.The first problem is that it is virtually impossible to read the map while driving at what feels like 200,000 MPH !!!!.The second you take your eyes of the screen you're heading towards the scene of a monumental accident!.If you don't read the map and take a wrong turn (easily done) its game over,The other cars have dissapeared into the blue yonder leaving you frantically looking for the correct path which you're never going to find in time.Also if you fail to get placed in a race or fail to complete a challenge you cannot simply retry them.You have to consult your map and try and get back to where ever the hell it was you started from !.
Online,'Burnout Revenge' was a real blast but sadly for 'Burnout Paradise' it is yet another area of missed opportunity.There are basically 2 kinds of online player I found playing on this game.The ones who obviously have no lives as they knew the entire racing area off by heart and were gloating at us 'noobs' who didn't have a clue where the hell were supposed to be going!.Then us 'noobs' who were all frustrated as hell playing it and were all complaining about how much less fun it was to play than 'Burnout Revenge'.
Overall,I suppose there are 2 ways you can look at 'Burnout Paradise'.One is that Criterion Games didn't play it safe with yet another straight rehash of the previous Burnout games.They took the risk to try something totally different.I can sort of subscribe to that line of thinking,but for me the end result was that they simply removed all the fun from my favourite arcade racing series.They replaced it with something that was more infuriating than anything else and for that reason I wouldn't recommend it.
A HUGE disappointment 4/10. |
