Are you looking for a different racing game, or planning to get into the racing genre? Then this might just be the game for you!
Burnout Paradise isn't your usual racing game, but will still supply you with hours of fun!
The racing genre has many subcategories, and the burnout franchise might just be an entire subgenre on it's own. You still have the basics like racing of course, but EA has a different look at racing. You can crash into things, crash other racers, make stunts while still aiming for the first place.
Gameplay
The main concept is still the same. You are in a car, dropped in Paradise city, have fun. The physics aren't too different from other games, but I felt that drifting has been kept to a minimum. Which isn't necessarely a bad thing, especially not in a city full of buildings and other cars.
Like I said before, you are able to crash into everything, breakable or unbreakable. Remember however, that it doesn't mean your invincible. At least, not in most events. Fortunately, there are several repair stations around Paradise City so that shouldn't be the biggest of your problems.
You start off with a basic car at a junkyard, and the game will teach you several things before you start the journey. However, it does barely to not teach about the controls, which is something you have to find out yourself unfortunately. If you're familiar with racing games, then this won't be any problem for you, but it may be annoying for new players.
Each car has 3 stats, being Speed, Boost and Strength. It is up to you to seek the best combination which both fits your driving style and is the most useful in events. Events are scattered all around Paradise City, of which I have a few examples below:
- Races - I can't make it more obvious. The great thing about Burnout however, is that you decide your own route. That's right, you are not stuck on a set route where you just have to show your skills and prove your the best. Shortcuts and ramps are your best friends in Paradise City.
- Road Rages - Personally my favorite of the bunch. Your goal is to take out a set amount of cars in a set amount of time.
- Take overs - This has nothing to do with racing whatsoever, but it is still fun. Think of it as a minigame, where your car is like a ball, trying to hit as many objects as possible to get crash dollars, which are mandatory for completing the event. I will admit that this event gets boring after a while, and you have to do this event a lot if you're seeking completion.
When you complete an event, it sometimes occurs that there's a new car racing through the city. You can take it out and add it to your own collection! Also, you get a new car every time you upgrade your license. Your license gets upgraded every time after you have completed a set amount of events.
Presentation
The game is still part of the racing genre, but still does many things different from other games in the same genre. Instead of selecting events, you are racing through Burnout Paradise, which is the overworld itself!
I won't touch the graphics however. Graphics is something strictly personal to people, so I can't give my opinion on that. For me however, the graphics are pretty good and fitting of the game. You can see far ahead of you and I haven't experienced any lagg or framedrops during my playthroughs of the game.
We now have Steam music, but I still want to mention that the music selection in Burnout is pretty good. There is music for everybody, from metal to opera to classic. Of course, there is also the narrator, being the dj of this radio station, who will give you advice during the game.
There are a few things I have to mention, that may not be appealing to several people. For example, cars aren't customizable. The only things you can change to your car are the colours. I personally don't mind this but I can understand that other people do.
To go online, you are also required to have or creat an EA account. It's not too big of an issue, unless you are strictly against it of course.
The final steps
Beating the game isn't too hard. It only requires you to complete events until you got the final license. I would recommend trying to take on as many different events as possible, because otherwise it might become boring/repetitive over time.
Completing the game however, turns out to be a more difficult journey. The game does not have Steam Achievements, but there are in-game achievements called Paradise Awards. They are technically the same as Achievements, only that they won't show up on your Steam profile.
I myself am not a completionist, but it does bother me that the game handles collectables rather poorly. There are Super Jumps, Billboards to destroy and Fences to drive though. Unfortunately, When you achieve a colletable, it does not show up anywhere on the map for example. You will most likely have find them all by the end of the game, but it's still a nitpick which I can't overlook.
Conclusion
Burnout is a really fun game that I would recommend to anyone looking for a new fresh experience. People familiar to the racing genre might find a few nitpicks, but may still find a lot of fun here. And while this may be different from most racing games, this may still be a good starting point for newcomers to the genre.
While not necessary, it is recommended to play this game with a controller/
Loading reviews... 
Steam News 
