Racing Simulator? I’m sorry you got the right game?

Forget about making sure your car is in tact; forget about going slow for the corner, this game is all about speed, crashing, and having a damn good time! Burnout Paradise is the latest entry in the Burnout Franchise by Criterion Games.

 Set races have crashed and burned! And for a next-gen burnout game you need a totally new style of play, how have they approached this, well by giving the player one huge open city to enjoy.

From the menu screen you know you’re in for the ride of your life. Racing is still the core play and style of the game but it is the ability to crash in spectacular fashion, takedown opponents while racing, taking your own path to complete a race and doing super jumps and landing them that add so much value, excitement, and intensity that remains unmatched.

Completing a set amount of races not only give you access to newer rides in your junk yard and cars to takedown throughout the city, but it also increases your license rank, which then gives you access to even faster, stronger and slicker cars to race with.

120 different events sounds great doesn’t it, it sure does but once you get to your A license, the races start to get very repetitive, seeing you racing down the exact same road 5 or 6 times in a row, driving to the exact same finish line or even taking the same shortcuts during a race, it gets stale after a while.

Marked Man, Race, Road Rage and Burning Routes are the events included in Burnout Paradise, with Marked Man seeing you go from A to B without getting your car totaled by Men In Black style looking cars trying to run you off the road, Stunt Run will have you drifting, boosting, jumping, smashing billboards and spinning to earn you points you achieve the highest possible score, road rage is simple drive anywhere in the city you want while smashing your opponent off the road taking them down and burning route is a race for a specific car getting from A to B in a certain amount of time, and show-time using your boost to bounce your car and rake in the total damage done.

While not racing there are tons of stuff to do including billboards to smash, super jumps to land, and crash signs to crash. There’s always something to do in Paradise City.

There are auto repair stations, junk yards, fuel depots all around the city and trust me they do come in handy while doing road rage and you’re in critical damage. Make sure you know exactly where these are in the city to ensure you are always in the game and getting the upper hand in a race.

The graphics of Burnout Paradise are just superb. Lighting, car details, building, terrain, everything in Paradise City just look spectacular and really take advantage of the power of the 360. Crashing your car have never looked better, windows smashing, impaled cars, bonnets flying off and wheels rolling away, every little detail in a crash has been included to create the most authentic crash in a game.

Online is just a sight to behold. Free-Burn they call it, basically all the events are taken out and up to 7 other racers can jump in your city and just drive around for the fun, breaking the records set by each player complete around 300 different challenges or race each other and take home the bragging rights that you are the best!

Surround sound this game and you’re going to have one shaky house, you will cringe at every crash, shudder and every bump and jump and just sit blocking your ears and how intense the sound is in this game. Criterion have really taken the time to make Burnout Paradise sound, feel, look like the best smash and crash game in the series and a racing game to be reckoned with.

Burnout Paradise stands out to be the highlight of the Burnout series, taking the crashing and the smashing to a new level of fun and excitement. With an open city to do as you please, to crash what you want, to smash who you want, it will be a real tough job to top Burnout Paradise with the next installment in the series. Burnout Paradise has smashed its way through to being the best arcade racing game.

Graphics: 9/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Sound: 8.5/10