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Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box
Criterion Games, Electronic Arts
Game details:
Release Date: February 5th, 2009
Genre: Racing
ESRB: Everyone 10+
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox360
The racing game market has increased in the last few years with a great selection, and when the graphics are good enough to deem them great no matter what, the only way these games are going to go is in the different directions of gameplay. Some racers have damage, other don't; some have a more arcade-like feel, others are more simulation oriented... either way, the genre is now almost overcrowded and yet one game stands out - Burnout Paradise.
About the game
The Burnout franchise has long been a staple of racing madness on the consoles, the first 3 games featuring damage and spectacular crashes, encouraging players to actually bump into other cars. While the same kind of gameplay can also be seen in the Flatout line of games, Burnout Paradise for one stands on it's own because of you having an entire city at your disposal to race on. Not only that, since this has been done before by the Need for Speed franchise, but you can actually get to the finish line by taking whatever path you fancy. All you are given is a starting position next to a stop-light, and the position you have to drive to - all else is your choice.
Starting out
You start the game with a thing on wheels. I believe it's called a car. You get to an intersection and are prompted to do a burnout. After you do, you are told you have to race, and away you go. As you win races you will get cars to roam around the city. Making them hit a wall, shutting them down, or taking them down as the game says unlocks said car in the scrap yard. That's all you gotta do to get a new car. Unlock it, crash it, get it. No buying, no worries. There are races you can do all over the place. All over the place means each and every intersection. Racing types range from simple races from point A to point B to violent Road Rages, in which you are to take down a set number of opponent cars which increases by one with each road rage finished. All very simple, all very fun.
Driving along
As you get into the game more and more, you start unlocking more and more cars. Each car has it's own feel and boost type, determined by how the car should be used - speed cars cannot boost until the bar is full, and when they do, if you use the whole bar at once you perform a burnout and fills it again, another way of filling it being driving fast in the wrong side of the street and performing near misses; stunt cars can use their boost at any time and fill it up by doing jumps and other cool stuff and lastly aggression cars, which can use their boost anytime as well, fill it up faster and more by being aggressive - shoving into enemies, taking them down and other stuff like that. There are also three types of special buildings in the city, beside the scrap-yard. These include repair shops, which repair your car if you are beaten up in a game of road rage or marked man, spray shops, which change car colors, and gas stations, which fill your boost bar to full. Making use of these is not really needed in the game, but it certainly is useful. There is a great variety of cars in the game - 75 to be precise, more if you get the DLCs as they come, most of which are pairs, since almost each stock car has an improved version which you unlock by doing a special race called Burning Route, in which you have to get from point A to point B in a set amount of time. Add to that 4 motorcycles almost with a game of their own, and you've got an ultimate package to be proud of.
Graphics - Beautiful Paradise
Driving in Paradise City is delightful due to vibrant colors and amazing frame rates, as well as incredible lighting and models. The Ultimate Box includes a day/night cycle which changes not only gameplay (changing the amount of traffic), but also the view over the city. The weather changes often, from foggy to sunny and cloudy, and everything looks just right, inviting you almost to play for days and days. The cycle is totally customizable, so if you want to drive in a permanent eclipse, you can do that. The textures in the world look great, and the roads appear appropriately blackened by the burning rubber as you drift across or crash. Talking about crashes, they look incredible as the time slows down to a crawl and you see your once straight and beautiful car twist in an artistic depiction of metal chaos. What is more, the game is not very demanding when it comes to processing power. You don't need a hog of a computer to run this game. Very well optimized and perfectly balanced.
Gameplay - Just drive.
You've only got to drive to enjoy the game. But even though it's a simple process, you will do it for a long time in Paradise City. Be it the ramps you jump from, billboards you break, gates you crash through, opponents you smash and painful artistic crashes you perform, you will always have something to do and something to explore. The city is huge and feels as if it is built for the purpose of racing through it - there are ramps places almost everywhere, long wide streets, hidden shortcut alleyways, even a huge highway perfect for high speed racing, especially while oncoming. The city is one of the players in the game - it's not just a map, it lives and breathes with your engines. As if that weren't enough, add the amount of stuff to do and you get a city in which you will like living for a while.
Every car feels different, from a tiny racing car to a massive 4x4 dirt truck, from a V8 packing muscle car to incredibly fast super-cars, there is every flavor of gaming cars, and some of motorcycles, which feel fundamentally different, giving you some vendetta of the highway ghost-riders on the intertubes. Driving is really simple as well - if you feel your car can't take a turn sharp enough, breaking before turning and accelerating will put your back end out in a classy drift, making you take the turn as well as looking good while doing it. Drifting in the Diamond Mountains feels really cool at high speed for one. If you need an even tighter turn, use the hand brake. Need speed? Boost! You will use it a damn hell of a lot, almost as much as you will crash. Crashing is almost inevitable in the game. Getting into a wall with a higher than recommended speed will wreck your car and reset it in the last known position. Crashing it "just right" will allow you to drive away with only cosmetic damage though. All cars are fast, some of them are just faster - most of them get you to the wall faster.
Controls - Press me for SPEED!
Controlling your ride is easy and intuitive, only requiring you to press a few buttons. You can also use a gamepad with the game, which is actually recommended, or you can use a wheel, as I do. It's harder and more tiring to play with a wheel, but it's also more immersing, as well as fun, since driving over stuff will make it rumble and shift in your hands if it has the options to. The keyboard controls are great too though in lack of any alternative
Sounds and atmosphere - Sounds like Mozart
There is something about the music selection in the game that makes me look at it funny, as well as make me jump in glee. There is classical music in the game, you know, Mozart and Beethoven? Yet, despite seeming awkward, listening to it in the game, it actually feels very appropriate. You will enjoy crashing to the Menuet, or if not, you can always turn these tracks off. Filling the ranks are licensed tracks of many rock bands, including Queen, filling the game with production value. The only voice you will hear outside of songs of the chatter of other players in the game will be that of DJ Atomica - seemingly the lone citizen on the city, since none of the cars seem to have drivers, and the motorcycle drivers disappear the moment they get hit. He will guide you through the game, give you updates and other info you might need. Also, it's one of those voices that almost never repeats itself and never gets boring to listen to. It's DJ Atomica, giving life to Crash FM.
Will it crash?
Literally? No the game won't crash - it never crashed for me at least. You will love crashing into others or even the wall at high speeds though. Also, it's one of those games that many people will like. I've played it for about 30 hours, 5 of those being of my ex-girlfriend messing around with the wheel crashing up and down. She actually won some races though. Who said women can't drive? They clearly don't know my ex-girlfriend.
There is a massive amount of content in the game, and it's also one of those games that feature achievements for many nooks and crannies. It's a game for both casual players and exhausters. It's an awesome game, and you should totally play it even if you don't really like cars very much. For the speed demons out there though, get it, FAST!