OSCAR COOPER
"Xbox live in my book is nothing short of an entertainment revolution and few games utilize it to its full potential, Burnout Paradise was about to punch this theory in the face."
Why oh why have you put this game in with these legends I hear you saying, have I gone mental? Its an arcade driving romp with no relation to the real world or its prequels. Well sit back and enjoy because this game not only changed the online format for a lot of it successors, it also gave me some of the most white knuckle PVP races I have ever been lucky enough to participate in.
As you all probably know Burnout has a long history on the PS2 and Xbox, it was a balls to the wall racer with no qualms about realism and simulation physics, it just delivered on an arcade front on the same vein as Sega Rally or Out Run managed all those years ago. It did this by creating a incredible sensation of speed and pitting you against crazy AI rivals and brutal takedowns. Through the whole series it boasted a split screen two player mode including a turn based crash option that allowed up to four people to see how much damage they could do to a set piece of road littered with cars, it was guilty of stealing hours and hours of my time with friends. Smashing and t-boning each other off the track at breakneck speed, all with a whole bunch of AI racers in tow never got boring. In short the whole series was amazing, it was a refreshing change to the ultra real and well behaved Gran Turismo world and Criterion knew it, they continued pumping out sequels with improved game modes and add on's.
The franchise moved on to the next gen systems with some generic beefed up versions of the originals, but they where nothing to write home about, still it was nice to have newest versions. Then Burnout Paradise was announced, things looked very different, I watched an interview with one of the developers, he was talking through the damage physic's and it would cut to a video of a car pilling into a barrier in a full blown frontal collusion. I watched a gasp as every panel and bumper crumpled in beautiful slow mo, the bonnet concertinaed, the windscreen shattered into a thousand tiny glass fragments, the car lifted up at the rear demonstrating the sheer force of the impact. I thought it was an engine demo, you know the type, when they show off a 'out of game' reel highlighting new tech (Unreal do it all the time), but it wasn't, this was all in game and part of the new title, I couldn't believe my eyes, this was car crash porn at its best and I was going to be put in the directors chair.
So the day came, wild horses couldn't have stopped me throwing my money at the spotty cash attendant in the local game store, and I remember getting the tube home and staring at the box art and feverishly going through the manual. A few things worried me, no split screen, no crash mode, an open world and a new xbox live set up. This brings me on to the pivotal point of the article, xbox live in my book is nothing short of an entertainment revolution and few games utilize it to its full potential, Burnout Paradise was about to punch this theory in the face. Sitting down for my first few hours I was struggling with its difficulty, it was hard, from the outset you had to be very on the ball, they had mucked around a bit with the collision physics, but this was soon gotten used to. The idea of having a single GTA style map that you explored at your own pace was a good one, part of me missed the set race format of the prequels, but more of me liked the cruising idea and the pick and choose policy. As things went on I became a hyper reactive (self proclaimed) Burnout Paradise expert, I learned every dangerous corner and hazardous tunnel in the entire map. Going at warp speed into on coming traffic was second nature and friends would tell me that i would go into a trance like state during races, where talking or taking my eyes off the screen was not an option.
"I learned every dangerous corner and hazardous tunnel in the entire map. Going at warp speed into on coming traffic was second nature and friends would tell me that i would go into a trance like state during races where talking was not an option."
It was time for my online debut, if you read my articles you'll know i get a bit of stage fright with competing with the rest of the world on a favorite title as it usually shatters all the illusions I had about being a super star in my own little world. I had a friend at work who had already taken the plunge and told me to quit being a pussy and just log on. The interface for the online play is my first major complement to this game, its stupidly easy to just jump into a lobby, you don't even have to stop driving the car, just a few notches on the directional pad and you're in. I was scared, as this game is all about aggression, lighting quick reaction speed and knowing your stuff with the roads so I was crapping my pants at this point, but there was nothing to be afraid of. It was a free for all lobby with a set of challenges for the waiting players to muck about with, it eased me into what was about to occur, just as I was perfecting a barrel role when a notice came up saying Race Starts in 5, 4, 3, etc. Blimey it was happening I thought, my palms began to sweat as I nervously looked through my roaster of cars, it was like choosing old friends from a line up at a school lunch football match, I knew these machines well and I was confident in choosing my weapon for battle. Then another screen change and the course is laid out on the world map, this was also a familiar route that i have trodden many a time before, none of the a fore mentioned helped me however. The race opening screen features a breakdown of who you are racing against in an awesome camera panning cut scene, you get to see what car they are driving and it tells you how much of a bad ass they are, I was dreading to see what it said about me,...."oscarcooper007.....races won...0...go straight for him...he's a noob". Anyway the green light goes, the Pigeon Detectives kicks in and we're off. I am so excited that I take an immediate wrong turn, separated from the group I'm dashing like a lunatic to get back on the optimum path but I soon notice that this early balls up wasn't such a bad mistake, I'm hurtling parallel with third place on a straighter less hectic piece of road and the finish line is nearer to me at the bottom of the map, I have a moment of calm and glance over to my right and see the whole race neck and neck with me at a billion miles an hour, I look at the position counter and I'm only managing to win the race!! This however was short lived, as you all know glancing for 0.6 a seconds from the road in Burnout is like taking a moments rest on a treadmill that's going 90mph. I smash spectacularly into a central bollard, the car flips over itself, roles about 9 times and settles minus the doors and wheels belly up in the middle of the road, I had lost, but that epic seven seconds of being in front was unforgettable. I was well and truly hooked.
What then ensued was an aggressive no holes barred campaign to get all of my friends involved, I was totally obsessed with getting everyone together to compete. The ranking system is linked to the single player, if you haven't unlocked the cars you cant race them, so my poor mates had to grind for hours to bring to the table something that could beat me, which I don't think was a bad thing. You can tailor your own lobbies and pick the course and call the race when you want, fun was had by all and it hasn't been rivaled for high speed adrenaline fueled antics since. Closing comments are, outstanding soundtrack, amazing looking unlicensed cars, a revolutionary open map lobbing system that is still copied today with the likes of Forza Horizon and Need For Speed, there are very few games that I crave to still play and this certainly one of them, Criterion you are truly masters and I look forward to making a few more sweat induced wrong turns.
Best Wishes Oscar