PREVIEW: Burnout Paradise (360, PS3)
- Scribbled on December 13th, 2007 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Driving/Racing, Game Demos, Microsoft Xbox 360, Previews, Sony PlayStation 3
The demo for Criterion Games’ heavily awaited Burnout Paradise is burning up the servers right now, and things look promising.
The solo aspect of the game is probably the least interesting part of the game, and track-less races don’t really mesh well for me - if I’m doing a race, I want clear outlines and barriers of the race or time trial, er, “speed burn”. The city exploration looks a little more promising, as you seek out ramps and shortcuts, and try to do a stunt run, in which you do a series of jumps and stunts in a row for points.
Multiplayer, however, is where this mode shines. When in Freeburn mode, it’s a real gas to drive around the city, perform stunts as your scores ranks up against others who join you online, ie. who has been making the longest jumps, most barrel rolls, longest drifts, and so forth. However, there’s also a deathmatch element, since you’re encouraged to take out other players while driving around. Things can get nasty - in the best possible way - as you’re trying to do stunts and avoid other cars. In fact, some of the wildest things can happen during this mode. It’s taking the best part of Burnout Revenge (crashing people - getting a rivalry with them) and takes out the racing, instead substituting jumping, spinning, and stunt work. In this aspect, it’s almost like Crackdown, as at times you’ll try to do co-op stunts with other people (which you get credit for) and then suddenly it’ll become a demolition derby.
So far, this one looks like a real winner for January 2008, when the game is released, and some people (like myself) will get the most fun out of it away from the racing aspects.
For those of you who have tried the demo, let us know what you think.
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