Burnout Paradise Review
January 27th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Burnout Paradise is an amazing open-world racing game that stays true to the Burnout legacy, but you might not feel that way when you first pop in the disc. For the first several hours, the game comes off as overwhelming, with so many different things being thrown at you that you’re not sure what to do first, or what even matters and what’s just a bonus extra. Then there’s the city. Paradise City, too, feels a little daunting at first blush. But as you play more of it, everything starts falling into place. Once you’ve got the hang of it and learned the best ways to get into and out of the downtown area, the ways to progress through the game become clear. And there’s a lot of progression to be found between the 120 single-player events, the 350 online challenges (though due to repetition, there aren’t 350 unique challenges), and the “Road Rules” that give you a time and score to beat on every single road in the game.
The offline events give you the same sort of racing and raging events that you’d expect to see from the series, though the open world of Paradise makes things feel quite a bit different. Now, you have to focus on the world, which turns you should take, and if there are any shortcuts along the way to cut your drive time. In events with a set finish line, the game uses a basic navigation system to tell you where to turn. As you complete the events, you’ll raise in rank and earn new cars.
The online mode feels like a weird social experiment in video game form. That’s because the game’s online challenges aren’t really like anything you’ve seen before, especially in a driving game. Many of them are basic, like “use boost for 10 seconds” or “catch air for a total of 20 seconds.” But some of them have you using your head, trying to figure out which ramp and which approach will let you do a barrel roll through a hoop, or which car park’s rooftop ramp will let you jump onto a specific building. This is where the game becomes cooperative, and where communication becomes absolutely key, since some players still don’t even know what a challenge is, let alone how to whip a 360-degree flat spin off of a ramp.
Other challenges put all of the players (up to eight) in cramped quarters, like an expressway with thin ramps in the middle of it. You’re all trying to jump off these tiny ramps, and everyone is colliding all over the place–at the base of the ramp, upon landing, and if you’re lucky, in mid-air. The chaos these events add may make your task take a bit longer, but they’re also at least half of the fun. Only the extremely impatient among us won’t enjoy that aspect of the game.
All this communication and word-of-mouth information dispensing can get in the way, though. Joining random games rarely nets you a full group of focused, challenge-hungry individuals. And when any player quits the game mid-challenge, the task is failed. Having seven players do something tricky, only to realize that the eighth player is off on the other side of the city, totally oblivious to the action and unwilling to listen to the other players, gets old fast. You may never find enough people to finish all of the eight-player challenges, but with a focused group of friends, busting out the two-, three-, and four-player sets won’t be too tricky.
While the manual does briefly describe every aspect of Burnout Paradise, you get the sense that the game is deliberately vague on some topics. Power Parking, for example, scores you based on how well you can fling your car into a parallel parking space at high speed. The game doesn’t seem to prompt you to do it beyond a loose hint or two from the DJ. And unless you were to get online and encounter a challenge that required it, you might play through the entire game without ever doing it once or hearing anything about it.
Road Rules are the same way. Each road in the game has a fastest time to beat, and by tapping up on the D pad, you can activate the Road Rules timer to see how many times you can beat and how many roads you can rule. In addition to beating a base offline score, the times are posted online to a friends-only leaderboard. When a friend beats your time, the game notifies you, even if you’re playing offline.
The other Road Rule is the Showtime score. Showtime mode replaces the linear, puzzle-like Crash mode from previous Burnout games, and in keeping with the rest of the game’s motif, it’s more open-ended than its predecessor. Tapping LB and RB (or L1 and R1 on the PS3) slides your car out sideways and makes it start flipping. At this point, everything slows down and you have air control of your car. Your goal is to keep crashing your flaming husk into as many other cars as possible. The boost button lets you pop up off the ground and keep moving, and you’ll need to keep hitting cars to keep the boost meter filled. Once you run out of boost and come to a standstill, the game tallies up your Showtime score for that road and play resumes. Leaderboards are also kept for this mode. While it doesn’t require you to think hard and dissect each situation like the crash junctions of the past, it’s still a wild, great-looking ride that’s a great tension reliever.
If you’ve played the demo on PS3 or 360, you already know that the game looks great, but the full game gives you a lot more to look at, from more great-looking fictional cars to a variety of locations. All of it comes to you at a smooth frame rate that conveys the same sense of speed that you’re used to seeing in a Burnout game. In direct comparison, the textures in the PS3 version appear to be a bit cleaner-looking, and the higher quality of the PlayStation Eye camera means that the photos you send to other players during online events are better on the PS3. The differences between the two feel minor.
The soundtrack and DJ Atomika, who pops in during songs to give you hints and provide some general flavor, aren’t nearly as good as the rest of the audio. The DJ, while better than Stryker from Burnout 3, can get awfully grating over time. The music starts on a great note by playing Guns ‘n’ Roses’ “Paradise City” every time you fire up the game. Perfect. The rest of the soundtrack sounds a little limp and, as with most EA Trax productions, it feels like it was put together by a marketing team, not by someone with the game’s interests at the front of their mind. At least there’s an LCD Soundsystem track in there before it assaults you with the same Avril Lavigne song that “premiered” in Burnout Dominator.
There’s more opacity here than there probably should be, but once you penetrate its dark shell and figure out what, exactly, is going on, Burnout Paradise is nothing short of amazing. The team at Criterion took a big chance and it’s paid off very well. The game revamps the stock formula in major ways without losing most of the high-speed racing flavor that you hope to see from something with Burnout in the title.
9.5/10
Handy tip: To unlock the Steel Wheels GT car, press start, get to the sponsor code screen, and enter E60J 8Z7T MS8L 51U6 in the given space.
January 27th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Glad to see you’re still doing reviews Jeff.
January 27th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
I can tell you really love this game. I need to get it.
January 27th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
This is just the convincing I needed to have this overnighted to me from Amazon. Perhaps if you’re still into it by the time I get it we could do some multiplayer points-getting, or atleast some playing.
January 27th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
*Awaits video review*!
It must feel good to still write a review on a game, particularly on a series that we know you love. Good to see you love Paradise because many people were turned off by the new concept.
January 27th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Does your review system follow the same numeric rule, in .5’s?
I don’t see it, but I gained and lost interest in the series with 3. It was enough to be a killer game but it just feels like it did what it could and now it’s trying to beat a dead horse. The way they changed it up is admirable, but for all the online dependency, it fails due to the overall dipshit nature of the XBL community. That Aussie dude with the shades come to mind when i think of the typical XBL player.
If it was just racing and crashing it’s fine, but once you need that stranger to pull their weight, that curse of the interweb raises it’s head and you’ve got assholes in your game just acting stupid for the sake of it.
January 27th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
You’re fired!
January 27th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
A Review FROM JEFF?!?!… I think I’m gonna fucking cry…
January 27th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
9.5??? Why so low? No, but in all seriousness, it’s great to read one of your reviews again. Go Jeff, go.
January 27th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Hey Jeff … one thing maybe you can help with. I was hosting an XBL game with 8 players just doing challenges and sombody started yammering “Do a race” I have no idea how to set up or “do” a race. Tips please.
January 27th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Well crap, now I’m going to have to buy this game. Thanks for the great review.
January 27th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I bought the gaem today and yeah awsome oh and thanks for the code as that car came in handy and theres nothing better then giving the finger online using the ps3 cam
January 27th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
That guy will never make it in this business with harsh reviews like this that scare advertisers away.
January 27th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
I cannot wait to play this game. Those friends-only leaderboards sound so awesome, and should give the game some real longevity.
January 27th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
great review! i’m buying this today because i just love the series
cheers.
ps. Jeff, how are the achievements? are they hard or just challenging?
January 27th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Thanks for the review! I’ll see what i think of it tomorrow when i get my copy.
January 27th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Review was nicely done and easy to read and understand, as always Jeff. Thanks for the review and keep them coming when you can.
January 27th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
A great review mate, i’m so glad you’ve decided to continue doing these. I’ve always respected your reviews above all others.
January 27th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Video Review!, Video Review!, Video Review!
Yeah, I know, it is probably a shit load of work, but it’d be nice =)
January 27th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Surprising to see a review.
Great review nonetheless.
January 27th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
You should be getting paid for this shit, man.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:16 am
Great review Jman,
keep up the great job, because, nothing can a stop a gamer as you (:
January 28th, 2008 at 12:25 am
Really glad to see you giving out a review Jeff,always loved your reviews over all else,Burnout P. is definately a superb game.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:30 am
I’ve been a big fan of the Burnout games for a while now, but I’m not really convinced on the new formula for Paradise. I hated the demo, but I think I’ll give the game a rent.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:31 am
You can also unlock other bonus cars with the following case-sensitive codes:
gamestop – Requires Class A license
bestbuy – Requires Class A license
walmart – Requires Burnout License
circuitcity – Requires Burnout License
The Gamestop car is great for stunts.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:32 am
And so he reviews on, into the far-flung future of twenty-oh-eight. Brings a tear to my eye.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:36 am
Even if I don’t agree with your reviews sometimes, I still can see your point of view due to your brilliant wrighting. The game is great and I’ve been enjoying since Tuesday, I just got my Burnout License and am finally taking a break from the events to enjoy just driving around.
PS: the Circuit City car is amazing! Type in: circuitcity, the same place you put the Steel Wheels code.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:45 am
I cant wait to get this game. Unfortunately, my 360 has been broken for almost the last month, and I sent it in about a week after buying COD 4. I just got it back, so after I finish the single player, and play on Live for a while, this is definitely the next game I get.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:51 am
Definately you should do a video review!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, perfect review! If you review every major game that comes out, there is no purpouse for GS & IGN any more.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:46 am
Solid review as always .. i got this game cause i was looking for some non fps\rpg gaming .. and i have alot of fun with it .. :3
Anyways .. Have a nice day
January 28th, 2008 at 1:49 am
Cheers bud. I’ve already pre-ordered a version and am still waiting for it to be released in Oz. Can’t wait.
January 28th, 2008 at 2:25 am
Glad you’re enjoying a game that you have been looking forward to for quite a bit.
January 28th, 2008 at 2:28 am
Getting this game for my birthday next month. Think I’m going to have the ps3 version though, first time ever for me that I buy a multi-plat on ps3, not 360
January 28th, 2008 at 2:50 am
SPAARTAA! cool review. ima pick this baby up
January 28th, 2008 at 2:51 am
Nice review, Jeff. Is this something you’re gonna do more often?
January 28th, 2008 at 3:24 am
Great review man ^^
nice to see nothing will stop you from doing them ~
i would have to agree with you also on your review…
i am about 10 hours into the game and loving it ~
Add me if you are to completing those challenges online
Gamertag: tehmorag
~Scott
January 28th, 2008 at 3:26 am
Awesome. I didn’t expect you to do a full review like this. Maybe just a few thoughts, but this is great.
January 28th, 2008 at 3:28 am
Awesome to see you’re still doing reviews, I don’t have a 360 right now (crappy T.V) but I might have to shell out to play this game. Thanks for the review.
January 28th, 2008 at 3:50 am
viva la jeff!!!!!!!! jeff is back!!!!!!!!!!
January 28th, 2008 at 3:50 am
viva la jeff
January 28th, 2008 at 4:22 am
It was great to read another review by you Jeff! Thanks for deciding to do a full review for it. I’ve been wanting to get burnout even before I read your review, but now I want it even more.
January 28th, 2008 at 5:02 am
I’ve been thinking about getting Paradise for a while now, but this pretty much seals the deal. I hope you do full reviews like this more often.
January 28th, 2008 at 5:25 am
Awesome review, you really are back!! … what about video reviews?? Keep it up dude!…
January 28th, 2008 at 5:27 am
Great review jeff!
January 28th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Thanks man, appreciated. Good to see you around doing ok and enjoying life as it is. Read the thing about IGN, i’ll listen to it at home. Hope you gonna do something on your own with friends… Would be nice
January 28th, 2008 at 5:44 am
An official review scale wold be nice. That way we can see a breakdown of the game’s finer points.
The game looks cool for the people that like that stuff.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:16 am
Ya definatly should do a VIDEO review
January 28th, 2008 at 6:34 am
I was amazed to find that I only had 50% of the game completed as the credits roll. Better still I was highly motivated to keep playing. I had 50 of 80 cars unlocked and hadn’t played online much.
Overall this by far the best racing game I’ve ever played. I don’t care for games like Forza, Project Gotham Racing, etc. None of them. Even the last few Burnout games were too linear to me. Non linear progression is an amazing concept I hope other racing game developers will learn from.
I chose a very specific way of getting my Burnout License and had a blast doing so. I tended to race, revenge and mark man my way to cars opening. Then I’d use those new cars to win Burnout races so I’d have each car upgraded when I got to the end. I found it easier to dot this.
If I have a gripe or two they’d be the following:
First it would be “Stunt” challenges and the reason I find them hard is the 2nd gripe. As for Stunt, I’ve yet to complete a run for 100,000. It seems impossible with the time constraints. Furthermore,driving around to figure out a good stunt route is also too painful.
Enter gripe number 2. The map.This is what is at the center to most of my frustration in the game. I didn’t mind having to drive back to a start point after losing a race. I saw that as part of the motivation to win. My problem is that you can’t set “way points”. Way points should be an unlockable bonus after a certain pont in the game. In fact, puzzling, in Paradise online can’t one set checkpoints for a race? Maybe Criterion will give us a true “GPS” as DLC.I hear “reload” will be in DLC but that’s not that big a deal. As I said, driving back to start point was motivation to me. Plus I would “race my way back” to a previous lost start point.
Again, a great game. The best! Never was I more sucked into a game than Burnout Paradise. A game has to be great to pull me away from COD4, Mass Effect, Bioshock or Halo 3.
I am also playing this game on a PS3. It looks great on the PS3. I can see little difference other than the lack of anit-aliasing on poly edges with the PS3. The load times on the PS3 seem to be a wee bit slower too. Going from the 360 controller to the PS3 also takes some getting used to. I’m about 33 races from the burnout license on the PS3 and will definately play through to the end.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Great review Jeff, please keep em coming as your opinion is very valued.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Nice, love those reviews of yours
January 28th, 2008 at 6:54 am
At last, a review!!!
Great review by the way. This is a awesome freaking game. i complete bananas of it. Hope to see a video review from you very very soon.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:56 am
Will pick up the game once i finish the pile of games I have gotten over the last couple of months so probably wont get this for another month or two. But still looking forward to it though.
January 28th, 2008 at 7:00 am
Thanks for the great review. Glad to see you’re still active!
January 28th, 2008 at 7:19 am
GREAT review Jeff! i’ve been playing the PS3 version and it’s pretty fun. i wish more of my friends were online cuz i can’t do any of those online challenges. i saw you on Jeff but i had to unsend my invite cuz i wasn’t sure what we would do online. i never tried it and i was messing around with the Showtime feature.
btw, thanks for the code, the one people posted in Gaf doesn’t work. i’m currently Class C. ^_^
January 28th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Hey Jeff are you as crazy excited about the new Turok game as I am? What about the rest of you guys? Sure, I’m steamed that Propaganda ditched some of the classic elements of the N64 Turok but it’s still the best chance this side of Prey to blast somebody with a tek bow!!
January 28th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Thanks for the review man, I’m glad to see you enjoyed the game. Is it GOTY?
January 28th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Jeff, great review! I was hoping to hear your view on Paradise. I hope Navarro starts a second opinion review on this site also.I am going to get the PS4 version of Burnout because points don’t matter. Yeah, I said it!
January 28th, 2008 at 8:00 am
i love your favicon that you added to your url. Is there a larger version? I would love a copy emailed to me.
January 28th, 2008 at 8:07 am
I had TONS of fun with the demo on PS3, brought some friends over and we shared the controller laughing as we played online. There was also a kid who was mooning everytime we rammed him, it was hilarious.
January 28th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Strange to be able to read your take on the game side by side with Alex on Gamespot. Great to see you’re still in it! Thanks!
January 28th, 2008 at 8:20 am
[...] I have only gotten about an hour or so of playtime in on Burnout Paradise, Gerstmann has over 30 hours logged and is up to 565 achievement points as of this writing. I have scored 65 [...]
January 28th, 2008 at 8:21 am
I have a question for you Jeff, did they include a retry for failed challenges or do you still have to drive all the way back to the start of the race, this is kinda a sticking point for me because I like to keep doing a challenge till I beat it. So just wanted to know if they had it and if they don’t, will this game drive me crazy from having to drive to the beginning of a challenge over and over again.
January 28th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Great review Jeff. It’s comforting to know I’ll still get to hear your opinion on the big games releases. I just got the game yesterday and had a good session with it. Nothing beats Burnouts sense of speed and feeling of being just on the edge of control.
See u online?
January 28th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Loving the blog and keep up the reviews and gaming commentary. This site is amazingly(but I guess not shockingly) becoming my go to place for game info. Keep up the good work Jeff!
January 28th, 2008 at 8:44 am
you now what ? i’ve bin an die hard burnout fan and…Paradise just blew me out its AMAZING.Now waiting for the devil may cry 4.
January 28th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Awesome review!
And to Bearded Wonder, there is no “Retry” option. It may get annoying if you want to finish that one Burning Route or something, but it’s usually not a problem since most of the time there is something else to do close by. Most of the time…
January 28th, 2008 at 9:49 am
The game is great. I bought Burnout Revenge quite awhile back, and just could not get into it.
But Alex’s review convinced me to give Paradise a shot (plus it helped my wife liked the demo, and she hates most games)
Your review only reinforces how I feel about the game. Its game programming marvel to look as good as it does and run so silky smooth, and damn fun game at the same time.
Cheers!
January 28th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I dunno. I’m not loving the open-world thing. I’m still perfectly happy pulling out my ol’ Burnout 3 for Xbox when I need to get my crash on.
I might just rent this one.
*video review would be nice
*
January 28th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Thanks Felix M
January 28th, 2008 at 10:25 am
It’s nice that you continue to provide us with your reviews. I’ve always appreciated and take in consideration your opinions about games and other stuff. Suggestion to the future: Why not include a video review? There is no need to have screenshots and gameplay footages and that. Just you talking about the game. What do you think?
By the way, here are some of February games that i would like you to mention in the near future(if that’s ok with you, of course): Turok, Devil May Cry 4, Turning Point and Army of Two).
Keep up the great work…
January 28th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Oh man, back at his A-game.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Great review man. I fell pretty much the same way about it. The online is amazing.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Thanks for the sponsor code. Hope to see you on the streets sometime!
January 28th, 2008 at 10:36 am
I consider you kind of an authority on the Burnout series so I’ve been waiting for your final review before I head out and pick it up. No offence to Alex but a Burnout review done by anyone but you is just, wrong. Thanks dude, I appreciate the review.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Happy days Jeff! Its great to see a review from you again. Its a pity my 360 has turned into a rather expensive door stop. Goddamn its eyes!
January 28th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Nice to read another great review from you man. You should have your own podcast show with alex (now that he is available) and maybe grow from there. Build it and people will come..;) nice review man.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Nice! now i can come hear for reviews…thanks alot Jeff!
January 28th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
this game has pulled me away from CrackOnDemand4… i like how open the city is but sometimes i miss the linearity of the racing that was in the earlier games. mostly because i get lost, or took a wrong turn. i can use the blinker system for the most part… but its not always the best way to go.
ive spent most of my time offline just crashing billboards and gates… im having visions of crackdown while doing it. criterion did a great job making you want to get all them.
online is another story. i found the online to be a mess. most of the time people just drive around and crash into each other. dont get me wrong, its fun and all, but sometimes i want to race. or road rage… hopefully in time people will get hip to it…
the dj can suck it.
the music track sucks… thank god the 360 has in game music. i feel bad for the peeps playing on ps3.
anyway, great review jeff, love all the comments you get. and, yea, a podcast would be great… see ya
January 28th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Good work Jeff… please carry on…. can’t wait for you to anounce what you are planning with “old friends”
January 28th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I really can’t decide whether to buy this game…
I am a lone gamer. None of my real life mates play games so its pretty much a *strangers-only* bench for myself. That sort of puts me off paradise as I doubt I would ever be able to do any of the awsome 4player+ stuff which is one of the pulls of the game…
Anyway great review and like others have said; keep it up and do what ever you can to get yourself professionally back in the business as it was a crime to have you removed in the first place..
Good luck mate
January 28th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I almost gave up on the game during the first sitting. It was excruciatingly frustrating that this new format conditions you to fully focus on where you’re going. I lost count on how many events I gave up on because of wrong turns. Apart from total focus on the road, I have to glance on the street sign in case it’s blinking. Maybe they purposely made the navigation system as simple as possible probably to heighten the sense of emergence however frustrating it is, but the system does not work very well in my opinion. When I’m focusing on the road, I can’t really read the name of every street branching out from the one I’m on. Noticing the blinking street name is one thing, but memorising the street name, then checking if you took the right turn take a whole new level of focus, which I’m fully dedicating on not crashing (I can’t split my focus any more than two, so the mini map and target indicator is out of the question). At least if the transition of the street sign is a little more suggestive, like if you need to turn left, the left street sign that was blinking will animate shifting to the middle just to show that you did the right thing, and spinning off-screen if you went the wrong way.
Maybe it’s just me moaning a lot and not being too good at the game. I’m just so used to a guided path in an arcade racing game. All that said, I’ve clocked in about 20 hours into the game and on my way to get the Burnout Licence or whatever licence it is after A, and I’m fine with it now. It’s a great game, no doubt about it, but there’s some improvement that can be done, particularly for less adventurous arcade driving fan like myself.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Great to see another review man. I still kinda felt you were at your old establishment while reading it; nostalgic.
Not to sound highly homo-erotic but, you were in a dream I had the other night, I think its because I watched your points video before I entered the slumber. mental.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Am I the only one who likes the music in Paradise? Obviously, that was an unbiased (as it could get) review, but as a long time Burnout fan Jeff, don’t tell me the music from the first three games wasn’t just mind-blowingly awesome.
PS – I hate all the “normal” songs in the game. I only have like, 4 turned on.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Great to see another review from you Jeff. I’d have to say that I’m part of that group that was turned off by the demo but after yours (and basically everyone else’s) thoughts on the full game it seems like more than worth picking up.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Nice review, I can tell I would like this game even more than I do now if I knew the city well enough to use the shortcuts smartly.
January 28th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I’m really liking the game too. I got the 360 version, and one function that I hear is in the PS3 version, that I miss is the ability to save photos from online mode to the HDD and then put them on a memory card and basically have full access to on a PC.
However, I chose custom soundtracks and working online play (the PS3 demo didn’t work that way for me) on the 360.
January 28th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
You forgot to mention the PS3 Out puts Pure DTS of your system is set up for that.
The xbox 360 seems to only use Dolby digital 5.1 and I have found no way to make it output DTS 5.1 yet.
the ps3 audio quailty of crashes music, cars is much higher because of the DTS audio.
As for the game I do not like it as much as the last burnout tons of annoying little problems like no way to retry a race, vague way it points you to the “Race course” poor arrow pointing system for events to tell youwhere to go that likes to steer me into buildings at high speed.
They spent to much time make this open world and left tons of little annoying problems all over the game.
I do not care for the open world that much to start with and when they have annoying details they skiped
over I don’t \care for it more.
There are a ton of things I do not like about the game and they should be fixed in a patch or they should get it right the next time.
i’m going to go back to burnout revenge on xbox 360 i stil lhave not finished it, and it was more enjoyable.
If I was giving the game a score It gets and 8.5 from me great but flawed in tons of small ways.
Oh I like the music in paradise. I do not like the DJ’s from this one or burnout 3.
Now If my xbox 360 will come back from the repair shop so I can take the PS3 burnout pardise rental back.
January 28th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Great to see another in-depth review from you. This industry truly needs you Jeff.
January 28th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
omg, I knew mr. navarro over-rated it! /jk. I actually liked it a lot. So it’s AAA material all over the place in my book.
January 28th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I had never played any of the burnout games before, but due to the hype and the excitement you had about it, i thought it was at least worth a play….
At first i was angry about how you just carnt just restart an event after playing it, but after a while i felt that this was a great way to learn about the cities routes and shortcuts, the car design is great, the freedom aspect is very refreshing and its the first time in a while that, I’ve felt i’m playing a driving game rather then multiple sets of challenges broken up by menus.
,anyway im loving every second of it right now though i have yet to try online. Im glad i got it on 360 i carnt stand that soundtrack.
Glad to see a review Jeff, keep them coming
January 28th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Great review jeff.
This game isn’t my cup of tea but keep reviewing games jeff!
January 28th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Good Review Jeff.
Burnout Paradise is great although I’m not convinvced on the multiplayer aspect of the game. I think it’s too confusing for the general player. The single player experience is fantastic. 8.5/10 for me.
January 28th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Its nice to see a review from you once again! I hope everything is going well for you.
January 28th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I hope I see more reviews come from you Jeff, good job.
January 28th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Agreed.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Nice review man.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
jeff, please keep doing game reviews on here so I can keep up with what’s good and what’s overrated. Frankly, I don’t trust gamespot anymore for reviews (personally I think people like Kevin “Perez Hilton” Van Ord were planted and write reviews catering to advertisers. Just my opinion. Anyway, I respect your “old skool”, always will. I’m a PC gamer so I hope to hear your take on any great pc games that come out this year, so you can help me wade through the waters of hype. Thanks for staying in the scene for us. Peace.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Burnout Paradise is an awesome game my only beef with it is how there is no restart button for the events but besides that its the best game so far this year. Good to see you writing reviews again hope to see more from you. maybe your next review could be Devil May Cry 4? just a suggestion
January 28th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Excellent review. I need to buy this game!
January 28th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
9.5 – did EA pay you to type this?
January 28th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Great review, great game. I’m not big with online I feel like I’m missing half the game that way. But just tooling around the city is great fun. Truly, it is the ultimate ADD-friendly racing game.
January 28th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Wow. Nice score and Nice review. Great to see you doing the reviews on your own blog. Gotta buy this I guess. Thanks for info
January 28th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Great job on the review. It’s good to see you still have a passion for critiquing games. I agree with a lot of what you lay out; this review is spot on. I like that you actually took your time to take the game in (almost a week after its release) to carefully address a lot of what this game has to offer.
This is my first experience with the Burnout series and I’m enjoying the HELL out of it. Normally I’m one to get influenced by videogame soundtracks, but, man, does that Airbourne song rock my face off. “Too Much, Too Young, Too Fa-st…”
January 28th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Great review Jeff and its dang good to see your still doing reviews, keep it up!
January 28th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Nice work!
January 28th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Enjoyed playing with you tonight, got a bunch of challenges done and now I only need two billboards!
January 28th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
You wrote that review in your underwear, didn’t you?
January 28th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
How did you get you GT in your blogger profile like that?
January 28th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Damn, you’re my favorite reviewer Jeff. Glad my friend told me about this website, GameSpot was getting boring. You still rock. Gamertag is TheVinster if you’re ever up for playing.
January 29th, 2008 at 12:04 am
I was a burnout die hard fan.I thought that i have seen everything and nothing could surpass burnout revenge ,but i was wrong,burnout paradise just blew me out.It’s amazing!Now waiting for dmc4 , hope you will review it.
January 29th, 2008 at 4:33 am
Thanks for the review Jeff. And the sponsor code! I hate to keep saying ‘you rule’ over and over again in the comments, but you’ve given me no reason to say otherwise. So, um… YOU RULE MAN!
January 29th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Jeff the man!!
January 29th, 2008 at 4:58 am
Nice review man, couldn’t said it any better!
January 29th, 2008 at 9:06 am
[...] review of Burnout Paradise on his personal blog He gives it a 9.5, and it’s a good read too… Jeff Gerstmann is Still Alive
January 29th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Great review, I hope you post more reviews in the near future.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I wish that you had included a video review as well, Jeff. Hopefully the next review will have one.
January 29th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
This blog and review is getting more comments than some of the other gaming web sites out there. EA and other companies should really consider putting some advertising here.
January 29th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
“Cube Says:
January 28th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
You forgot to mention the PS3 Out puts Pure DTS of your system is set up for that.
The xbox 360 seems to only use Dolby digital 5.1 and I have found no way to make it output DTS 5.1 yet.”
Take it easy fanboy, you have got to be kidding right, your telling me that the fact that the PS3 out puts DTS for this game makes a difference?
I have both systems and my PS3 is collecting dust. No difference here with Burnout Paradise, unless you enjoy playing multiplayer by yourself. If the PS3 was the lead SKU for this game then it’s even worse for PS3 owners. The slight visual sharpness on the PS3 is hardly a win in my opinion.
Sony needs to pull their finger out and start pumping out some games, hopefully before Microsoft announce their next console.
January 29th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Hey i sent you a message on xbl about the avirl laving song, i highly doubt that i gave u the idea to say that but i like to think that i did i i’ll give myself a pat on the back
January 30th, 2008 at 10:21 am
I’m still impressed by how well Paradise nails the whole open world thing even though it means slightly deviating from traditional Burnout gameplay. If the NFS team decides to go back to open world, they’re gonna have a lot to make up for.
In my experience it’s actually not totally difficult to get 7 or 8 people to do challenges. there are always a couple of jerks who will quit in the middle of one but once you slowly get to the point where you have all 8 like minded players, it’s not too much of a chore to burn through challenges. Of course, the less people in the game, the faster the challenges go by.
Anyone who wants to get some challenges done, drop me a line. L9 Letters Long on XBL.
January 30th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
You aren’t allowed to post reviews for free! Welcome to capitalism.
January 31st, 2008 at 3:50 am
[...] on total hours logged. Between that fact, all the blog entries he’s made about it, and that ludicrously high 9.5 he gave it (everyone knows the game is a 9.0 exactly—it’s fact…science, even), [...]
January 31st, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Alice in Chains – Would > Guns N’ Roses – Paradise, and you know it
February 1st, 2008 at 6:55 am
OK, after reading this review, I was dying to play this game. Unfortunately, my local Best Buy didn’t get more copies for the 360 until freakin YESTERDAY, despite having a fully stocked PS3 POP display for the last week. (PS3 must be getting murdered because of their lack of market penetration – and i live in a busy college town with a lot of gamers)
Anyway, man, I love this game. Last night I had to physically force myself to put it down at 2am so I wouldn’t be useless for work. Then proceeded to dream about tearing through the countryside.
Awesome, thanks for the review Jeff.
– mitch
February 1st, 2008 at 11:03 am
Hi Jeff. I know you probably wont read this but I thought I’d try anyway. I appreciate that you love the burnout games and such but this game just isn’t a 9.5 for me. its more of a 8.5-9 to be honest. Its a great game and everything but I just dont have the time to learn all the routes and know all the shortcuts etc… So when I’m in a race, I have to check my map constantly to see where I’m going and then when I crash (due to me looking at the mini map for a second), I have to wait, for what seems like, forver to watch the crash. The crash looks really nice, dont get me wrong but there comes a point though where watchin the crash over and over and over and over again gets tiresome. Yes I know iv crashed and I crashed badly, I dont need to see it time and time again. Its almost as if its punishing me for sucking so bad at the game. I wish there were a button of some sort that could skip that crap.
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Hey man,
great review,
i was just wondering whether the Showtime function works in the demo?
coz i really wanna try that out,
and yeh i only figured out powerparking because of the mini leaderboard when you play with other ppl in multiplayer, not that hard to get 100%
February 4th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Will you be doing more reviews? I need to check this site out more…
February 10th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
nice call on the guns n roses and lcd soundsystem tracks. they are the only two i have playin on my playlist