Game Overview
As we said in the Intro, Burnout Paradise has been built from the ground up. EA have scrapped a winning formula, albeit one that was maybe starting to wear a little bit thin and rebuilt a game that has had such a massive influence on the racing genre. It was a risky policy, and although Burnout Revenge was a top notch game the gameplay and layout of Burnout was starting to get a little boring.

The first thing you'll notice with Paradise is the lack of in game menu, that's probably because there isn't one, full stop. The game revolves around Paradise City and you literally are thrown straight in. You'll be given one banged up old car and a map of the city, it is then up to you to roam the city (all free roaming) and take part in races by rolling up to some random traffic lights and doing a "Burnout". This triggers the event, whether it be a Sprint, Takedown race (Road Rage) or Marked man, you are then competing to win in an event against other AI racers. If you win you'll get a point added to your license, after a set amount of points your license will be upgraded and you'll advance through the game, the cool thing with the licenses is that if you have a camera you are able to take a picture of yourself and put it on your virtual license!

One other event Paradise has this year is the Showtime events, these have replaced the legendary Crash events from previous Burnout titles. Where as before there was a set "stage" as it were, this time you can take part in a "showdown" anywhere in the city by hitting the shoulder buttons at the same time. The street you start your "showdown" on will get the recognition for your new top score and there are achievements for getting top scores on certain roads around the city.

Long gone are the days where you select the race you want to take part in and restart if you wreck your vehicle or don't win first time around. This for us is a good thing due to the fact that it stop Burnout becoming one of those repetitive games where you try desperately to per-fect every single level and makes the whole gaming experience that little more natural!

With the free roaming element to the game there are lots of "extras" available throughout the city, you'll be asked to locate all the junk yards (the places your new cars are delivered to), filling stations, repair centre's, shortcuts and super jumps. There is loads to do throughout the city so you should never find yourself sitting around doing nothing, everything is enjoyable and very fast paced so you really have to be on the ball!

Our Conclusions
Paradise, for us, is a winner, top graphics (as you have come to expect), soundtrack as ever is "banging" (and yes, Guns n Roses are one it) and there are some great features like boost filling stations and auto repair centre’s allow you to keep ripping up the roads in style. Revenge has well and truly been pushed aside now and Paradise sits proudly in its place. With online features stronger than ever you'll be playing Paradise for a long time!

Overall Score: 9/10

Thanks to EA and Dave at Shine