Burnout Paradise [PS3]

For the first time, Electronic Arts bring their road-raging racing series to the PlayStation 3, with the game now taking place in Paradise City, which is loosely modeled on Los Angeles and the surrounding area.

When you first start out, you'll have a learner's permit, and gain license classes as you progress through the game and win races. You'll also earn new cars, which can be picked up by driving into any of several junkyards. Cars now have "Boost Types" as well, which separates them into classes based on aggression, speed, or stunt ability. An aggression class car will earn boost faster for offensive driving, but won't be able to compete in Burning Route races, which are only for speed class cars. This gives some more incentive to unlock cars than in the previous games, and car types include muscle cars, hot rods and SUVs. While you don't have a huge selection of car-modding options, you can repair damage, change your paint colour, or refill your boost just by driving through the "Drive-Thru" at a repair shop, paint shop, or gas station; without even hitting the brakes. There's also an artsy vignette that plays when you unlock a new car, called "Picture Paradise" that features classical music.

Instead of stopping the action and making players scroll through a menu or drive to a garage to find new races and challenges, you simply pull up to one of 120 intersections in the city, and pull a brakestand. The race event for that location will then start, with computer-controlled opponents pulling up from behind. Players familiar with the series will recognize the straightforward point-to-point races, speed-focused Burning Route challenges, and Road Rage events, where the objective is to take down a set number of opponents within the time limit. The series' Crash Mode is gone, but the new Stunt Run events offer up a way for players to show off their drifting, jumping and spinning skills off of ramps and highways scattered around the city. There's also a new Marked Man race where all the other drivers are looking to force you off the road before you get to the finish line.

One of the new features that really makes the game feel different is that the city is wide open right from the start, without having to unlock any areas. Racers can find their own paths during a race, using the many shortcuts to outwit the other drivers. It's definitely worth taking the time to learn the city as well, since the game's difficulty is a bit higher than in previous versions, and you'll likely need those shortcuts. There's a map in the corner of the screen, but if you look at it for more than a second, chances are you'll look back up to a collision. It's nice that those big flashing arrows designating corners in most racing games are gone, as are the invisible walls that were behind them. I was also pleasantly surprised at how little advertising there is in the game. I would have expected at least the gas stations, where you can refill your boost meter, to have been branded by one of the global chains. There are a few legitimate billboards here and there, and a few branded retail stores, but it seems that EA's heard the complaints gamers had about the heavy product promotion going on in their other games and toned things down quite a bit.

The graphics look considerably more polished than they did in Burnout Revenge, but it's the size of the city really that impresses the most. There's also no tearing or draw-in at all, and the frame-rate is steady at 60fps. There's also more detail, and the lighting doesn't bloom as much this time either, which works for me. The cars definitely look better now as well, and collisions are a bit more directed, with a third-person view taking over just before impact. The sounds are pretty much as expected, and the soundtrack is quite substantial as well, with a good variety of rock and electronic music to suit most tastes. Series vets will remember some of the songs from previous iterations though.

The game also allows online play by simply hitting right on the direction pad and seeing a list of friends currently playing the game. Send them an invite and you can challenge their speed or stunt records, try to take each other down, or create your own custom race for up to eight players. While racing against the computer is as fun as ever, it doesn't compare to challenging friends online in the racing events, or even just playing chicken or tag to see who can score the most takedowns. There's headset support for whatever USB or Bluetooth device you already have setup, and PlayStation Eye / EyeToy support allows the game to take a picture of your rival's reaction when you take them down.

Burnout Paradise feels like the kind of game that the developers always wanted to make, but only now have the technology to pull off. The updated graphics and open world bring the game up to a new visual level and the fact that you don't have to leave the game to choose races or even to find people online adds to the immersive feel. The increased competitiveness you'll feel and the new immersive play styles you can create with friends online bring the street racing experience to a new level.

9/10