For me, Burnout games were too good to bother changing the whole style, the gameplay mechanics were nearly flawless. It seems to have lost that edge now. Instead of jumping straight into Crash mode or a Race, you have to find one, which slows down the progress of the game. Some reviewers say driving around looking at the scenery is amazing. I for one do not care of the scenery, I want to race and crash, not look for billboards to jump into. Crash mode was much better than showtime because in crash mode they set out crashes on a plate ready for you to gorge. That brings me to another point... WHERE IS SPLIT SCREEN!!!! Am I one of the few guys who still have friends to come over and play video games? Am I the only one who still remembers how fun multiplayer on one screen is? The online is great but when friends come over you don't want to play 1 by 1, games like this and Motorstorm are set-up for split screen, but it isn't there. The gameplay itself isn't rubbish but the game doesn't know what it wants to be, Midnight Club? Need for Speed? or Burnout? Though the gameplay is quite good, it is missing out on some things that would make the game universal. Such as, having the option of choosing a level on the menu screen, restarting a race, split screen. Good, but there was no need to change it so much, the game was close to perfect, not a big step back, but a step back nethertheless.… Expand

First off, let me say if you're going into this game thinking that it is identical to Takedown or Revenge, you're mistaken. Instead of a map that you choose your events from, now there is this NFS-esque "free roam" mode. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. For me it adds a dimension to the game - where you can explore without the arrows and the X's. But, the minimap that they give you is an epic fail as it shows only about 2 feet in front of you, I find it easier to just look at the street signs in a race, which brings me to my next point. I like the free roam mode, but I wish that Criterion/EA would have given us a closed-walls race at least in events so you don't have to look at that epic-fail minimap that hurts my eyes. There is also a lot to do in this game, earn licenses, take down cars in free roam and earn their car, and a few new modes, one being Marked Man (which is awesome) and Stunt Run (which is just annoying). There is also new "car types" - Aggression (classic Burnout a la Takedown where your boost bar goes up to x3 with takedowns) Speed (Dominator style where you earn boost with near misses, etc and can chain Burnouts) Stunt (Smash into walls and billboards to build a boost bar) I didn't play the demo version and apparently I'm lucky I didn't. Also for the last note, DJ Atomika, STFU. I didn't give it a 10 because it had its flaws (even with all these patches, STILL no reset option is the biggest one), but it's addictive, much like the other Burnout games, so I'll vive this an 8.… Expand

I always wonder after each Burnout games release, how they intend to top it and what new ideas they will introduce next. This is by far the most innovative game they have come up with. The online features alone make it a thoroughly enjoyable game. Its not just the thrill of racing that makes it good though. Nice little touches such as random rival driver statistics at the start of each race give you an incite into how well you need to be doing and sense of satisfaction if you can beat someone who is ranked e.g 49th in the world! There is plenty to do in paradise city and even once you have managed to achieve everything there will still be more after to play around with. If you are to take this game online make sure you have a camera as collecting Mugshots of other taken down drivers can be extremely satisfying.… Expand

DO NOT JUDGE THIS GAME BY THE DEMO!!!!! After playing the demo of Paradise, I was left disappointed and confused. However, my friend bought the full game and he let me borrow it, and I absolutely love it now! I still like Takedown and Revenge a little better, but there's no other racing game like this except for mabye Midnight Club.

With the average price of a game being 40 GBP, I have a rule of only buying games with an average review score of 8/10 and above. Paradise got a lot of good reviews and the demo was great. But none of that really mattered. I have every version of Burnout except Dominator (I already had Revenge, so no point going backwards, right?). I even bought PoI twice (Gamecube and XBox). I bought Revenge for XBox and bought it again for 360. I'd always loved Burnout ofline, but playing multiplayer on 360 was the absolute best Burnout experience. All my racing crew, the large group of friends that used to race together from the UK, US and Canada all bought Paradise, looking for more of the same fun we had. It was fun doing all the challenges and road rules, and the open world style of the game is fine. We've always loved the fact that there were multiple routes to each course in Burnout races, but the fact that it's to easy to get lost and completely lose a race is very frustrating. It would not have been hard to 'lock' a number of roads during a race (or even give the option to), prevent this. Whatever the general consensus may be, the fact is none of the group of my friends that loved to play Revenge so much even play Paradise anymore. Sorry to say we had more fun playing Flatout U.C. while we were waiting for Paradise. Not being able to race the bikes was the last straw for the few guys that hung on. I'm the only one of the group that even bought the new island DLC, and I drive around it on my own when we're not all playing CoD or L4D. It's still a good game and you have to appreciate the massive effort Criterion put into it, but I'm happier playing Ridge Racer. Thanks for being a shoulder. /Rant.… Expand

I love the fact that you have to take down cars in order to acquire (most ) of them. I don't mind the lack of a restart as I think that would have taken away from the experience. Great sense of speed and incredible physics.

I love this game. I know many people are put off by the open-ended "menu" system, but I think it's a ton of fun to just tool around downtown.

I love how the majority of complaints have to do with not being locked into a track for every race. God forbid you spend some time driving around learning the shortcuts and good ways to get from point A to point B. Moreover, it's been said that using the minimap to navigate is much too hard. Just like to point out that the street signs at the top of the screen (as well as your car�39;s turn signal) tell you when a turn is coming up. The game is fantastic, but it definitely has a learning curve to overcome.… Expand

I just bought the game about 6 months ago, and it worth every penny. The fact that the game is free roaming is a great feature added to the series. You have many options on the game such as get a license each license brings new perks cars Game Achievements. They also various offline and online events such as racing, marked man, road rage and stun run (not my favoruite) also online they are various events for 2-8 players. You can restart these events by pressing D on your directional pad (not that hard guys) also they is extra content on DLC such as Boost Special Cars Hot Rod Extreme & Hawker Mech, Legendary Cars P12 Speciall 88 (The Delorean from Back to the Furture) Carson Nighthawk the New Nightrider and General Lee Hunter Calavary Bootlegger, Hunter Matthan Ghost Busters Echo1, Toys, Cops & Robbers and my all time favourite BSI Big Surf Island.… Expand

This game really made me hurt inside. I love the Burnout series with a firey passion that has only been matched by the NFS series. But, this... this has sent me in a deep down depression that only a new Burnout with the return of the Crash Mode. How dare you, EA, how DARE you?

This game is the fire! I am an avid racing fan, especially of driving simulators, but my taste buds were stimulated by the "other" end of racing, i.e. haulin a** through a city w/ full traffic. I've heard complaints of the Crash mode being eliminated...keep the Crash mode and give me the Showtime mode. It's the same concept just with open ended routes of distruction. Get some!

I can't give it a ten because I don't believe in perfect game ratings..... As with all the other Burnout titles, I was quickly addicted to Paradise. The improvements over Burnout Revenge are amazing. Criterion has managed to practically eliminate load times, for one. After the first couple hours of playing, I realized I never got a minute to wolf down munchies, and this includes online play. Revenge load times were decent, but Paradise is a MAJOR improvement. The way the online play is so seamlessly integrated into the main game is a welcome addition as well. Press right on the D-pad, and your racing with your buddies or any of the thousands of people flocking to Xbox Live. Even without jumping online with it, there's 300 things to do. Online, there is like 1000 things to do. After putting in the neighborhood of 400 hours into Revenge (online and off), I must admit this title scares me just a little; I'm afraid I may never see the sun again. Thank you Criterion. It was worth the aggravation of you putting us Burnout fans off for months and months to fine tune this already classic game. I am a cheap and easily disappointed consumer; This game is the first I've had the gall to slap down sixty dollars for. I do not regret it for a second.… Expand

Burnout Paradise is quite different from past Burnout games, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes very enjoyable, and it is hard to imagine going back to closed tracks.

I can understand the poor comments on here as I myself bought this game hoping for more Burnout revenge or takedown which I loved. I was so annoyed that it wasn't that I quickly put it away for 6 months. But after taking it out again and learning the new ways to play the game has become very addictive. The online play was awsome and I had great fun never having to click through menus. I still prefer the revenge edition but this was a massive leap forward in many ways. More of a car racing game for open world gamers. PS I totally agree about the map being useless (way too small and dark to use in a race) - how about the option of a bigger directional arrow like in NFS titles to make it more accessible for all. Accidentally wandered online and had a great time trying to right off other peoples cars to a soundtrack of classical tunes!. Overall a really great game if you put 3 or 4 hours into it before deciding). The next installment of burnout or BLUR game should be awsome.… Collapse

The new open world design is worth the price of admission. While startling at first (to this Burnout veteran), the non-menu driven free roam structure quickly draws you in. The game is not perfect, (as pointed out by many other reviewers) but will provide many exhilarating hours of gameplay on a cold winter's night. Criterion has done it again!

While it is a technically impressive, there are some genuine gameplay flaws under Paradise City's glossy 60fps experience. The lack of a "retry" capability for a event is worse than it sounds. If you have the wrong vehicle, you'll lose that race and have to drive back to a Junk Yard to select a different car, then drive back to the start. While there are no shortage of events on the first couple of license levels, you'll quickly find this to be a real annoyance as the event you need to re-attempt is half-way across the map. Sound like fun? It gets worse. When you manage to get the car stuck on scenery and not wrecked, you're going to have to do a K-turn the car to get out. At that time, you've already failed the event. It's about as much fun and driving the kids back and forth to school. The skill level is all over the place. Road Rage and Marked Man events are painfully easy if you've played any prior Burnout title -- to the point of not being rewarding or fun. Races and Burning events will be frustrating until you learn the city and will prove diabolical in the mountain routes. Crash mode and Crash party? NOPE. Local Multiplayer Split Screen? NOPE. I played Burnout Revenge on the 360 more/less non-stop until I unlocked all the cars and races -- then, I kept playing it online and with friends. I'm 3 days in to Paradise City and it's probably going to back to GameFly tomorrow. I am a huge fan of the series, but Paradise City is a disappointment. It looks great, controls are tight, excellent sense of speed, and is polished to a shimmer, but the gameplay just isn't there yet.… Expand

Burnout is one of the best driving games I have played in my life. The graphics are wonderful, even though I think the physics could have been fleshed out more, the sound and soundtrack is wonderful, the premise is awesome, and the control and sens of speed are great. It makes me wonder how need for speed prostreet or Carbon came from the same company that made burnout. To me EA needs to let Criterion work on Need for Speed as well, may be it will bring it back to its roots.… Expand

I wonder what people were thinking when they heard that the next Burnout would be open world. Did they expect that it would be just like Burnout Revenge in an open world? Because it is. The demo doesn't do it justice, and aside from getting the option to restart burning routes or stunt runs I don't see a point in restarting races or marked man or road rage since those events are at every other corner. The game was developed to make you explore the world. A major fault is that this game is no longer fun in local multiplayer since there is no local multiplayer. That's truly a shame.… Expand

I'm a veteran of the burnout games and sadly Criterion messed this one up. Many things wrong. There is no speedometer, can't restart races or quit them, the car has an infinite amount of gears, offline there is no CRASH MODE or 2 Player, how can you make a burnout game where you can't play your buddies on your own console, that GOD-AWFUL song that plays everytime you start up the game and finally the rest of the soundtrack is easy to cringe at. however they threw in some good old classic techno songs from previous games. Oh I almost forgot the on screen navigation of the city, during the race is impossible to follow. Your blinker turns on at unpredictable times compared to where your turn is and sometimes it completely forgets or turns on when there isn't a street change. Please rent this game or play the DEMO first.… Expand

The open world concept is compelling but the execution is poor. The best thing about the previous Burnout games- the awesome sensation of speed - is absent in this game. The turn signals and indicators are completely useless. The cars aren't as good as in Revenge. One good thing is the integration of elements from the past Burnout titles: You can crash cars from behind to gain boost with some of the aggressive boost cars, and you can do burnouts ala Dominator with the speed cars. But this game could have been so much better. The reason the experts are rating it so highly is due to the Grand Theft Auto effect. Just for the record, I hate GTA.… Expand

Well... It's not the "Burnout" I used to like. I don't like driving for half an hour to find a race. I don't like trying to find my way while racing, looking at a tiny map. I don't like to spend so much time taking care of my car. I just want to drive and have fun. And this game is not fun. Period. Rent it, but don't buy it.

No crash is bad. Showtime is poor. No instant restarts bad. Nav system bad. Open worlds in race game a mistake.

A 7.1 so far? you have to be kidding. If you played just the demo, you're missing out. This game is great online, smooth as butter.

I've had some great fun with this game. The races are fun, road rage is great, and the online challenges with up to 7 other players is awesome. There are some pretty annoying flaws, though. The retry for a race is annoying, as well as not being able to abandon the race in the middle. I have accidently launched a race/roadrage/etc that I have already completed and I'm forced to complete the damn thing again. The sense of speed isn't very good until you start getting some decent cars, but then it gets immensely better. I would recommend renting the game first (as I recommend with all games, even though I myself don't follow that advice most of the time).… Expand

Good game but not a great one, quite simply put. For the first time on Burnout, I prefer to play offline than on, as online gets really boring very quickly as you have to complete stupid mini games rather than going straight into Road rage or a race. And I am no a great fan of the open world either, as finding races and events are fine but the choice of what you do is taken out of your hands almost completely. And Crash mode and the very annoying DJ whatever are crap! But there are more positives than negatives here, much more, but having gone through most of the series in a set way I guess I wasn't ready for change. In time though, I reckon will be! For now I will continue to burn offline, thats where Burnout lives strong for me!… Expand

If you look through these user scores - and all of the forum posts - you'll find that the low scores come from folks that wanted yet another iteration of the same game they've played 4 times before. Well, I'm happy to say that Criterion didn't give them what they wanted. Instead, they gave us one of the best gaming values on the planet next to N+ (400 levels for $10 - come on... that's bang for the buck!). Here's why: 1) There is over 200 miles of road to be had... from the very start. Hidden throughout are Billboards to drive through, fences to smash, and Super Jumps to hit. Finding all of these is no easy task, so they reward you with pimpy wheels for finding all of each set. 2) The online racing and co-op challenges make for great times. 3) There are cool little places hidden around the game world like an abandoned airport that is reminiscent of a skatepark. 4) When you get bored with something, there is always something else to do. Tired of racing? Get an SUV and do Road Rage or Marked Man. Tired of those? Look for some billboards/smashes/Super Jumps. Tired of those? Try setting the fastest time on a particular street and have your friends' times auto-streamed for comparison. Tired of that? Geez... you're picky, but there's still Showtime - which warrants it's own bullet. 5) Showtime: Now here's a matter of great consternation. Remember Crash mode? Well, it's gone. Get over it. Now imagine that you can trigger your own crash mode at any time during nearly any event - online or off. While is loses the puzzle element that was great about Crach mode, what you gain is the same thing that Criterion has given you everywhere else in this title: FREEDOM! 5) Speaking of which, this open world model allows you to do whatever events you want in whatever order you want. No more getting stuck because you have to re-race the same event over and over to eek out enough points to open the next tier of events. It's all available to you from the start. 6) Most importantly, they have dedicated the next year to constantly improve Burnout Paradise! There are new game modes coming online, an entire new Island, and a host of other goodies that they are going for absolutely free. Hopefully the reasons are apparent why you need to at lest rent this game to give it a shot. The demo on XBL/PSN doesn't do it justice.… Expand

In a word, Overrated. This game was penned by critics as the best open-world racer to date. However, what the game fails at is being a Burnout game. I've been a fan of the Burnout series since number 1, and this attempt at bringing something new to the franchise quite frankly disappoints. Get Burnout Revenge for half the price, or if you want a decent open-world racer, try Midnight Club: LA.

Great game and good concept but I don't think that the burnout series should of been changed to an open world.It gets very frustrating especially not being able to restart a race immediately.We'll see where they go from here,hopefully they will learn from reviewers and peoples opinion to perfect a package that is mind blowing and solid in every way.

I loved the old burnout series but then Criterion decided to go and make a need for speed clone instead of create another burnout 3 style game. The game in itself is not a bad game but they ruined the series for me taking it in this direction, hence the score from a disappointed former fan of the series.

This is different from the excellent burnout games that came before it. The change to the open city design is not fun. It ruins races, in my opinion. If you make one wrong turn, it could ruin a race. So rather than drive balls to the wall every second like in previous games, this one is all about going 75% so you don't miss your turns and don't waste your time in a race. That's not fun. You want to put me in a city with shortcuts? Fine. Just block off the unnecessary roads so I still have an opportunity to do something in each race. The open world objectives to complete with other drivers online can be fun, but only if everyone is on the same page, which is never the case. Some challenges require a lot of players to complete, and it's near impossible to get that many people willing to participate in whatever you want to do. So this means many of this games achievements are impossible. All in all this game just isn't fun to play. Sure, the mechanics are the same, and the sense of speed is exhilarating, but the open world is more frustrating than fun. I'll take a more linear, focused experience over this any day.… Expand

This review refers to the off-line part of the game, and is based on roughly six hours of playing. The free-roaming is a nice addition that works well. It is surprisingly rewarding just to drive around and discover shortcuts, new jumps, or just blast through the traffic. Overall it's a very polished experience, with a fitting soundtrack, and a good feel to the racing. I think car handling has been improved over previous installments. It's still very much an arcade racer, but the walls and traffic are less forgiving, and it's not as insanely fast as Revenge. I agree with others that the lack of a restart option in the events becomes annoying. Personally I enjoy trying to perfect a particular event through multiple tries and persistence. In this case, you have to drive back to the starting location every time. I also kind of miss the "medal system" in Revenge, which added an extra incentive and a feeling of accomplishments, although the system was sometimes very unbalanced. My biggest grudge, however, is the absence of a multiplayer crash mode. The crash party was a superb off-line event with a group of friends, and with an immediate appeal even to non-gamers. It would have been possible to incorporate something similar, starting at either side of a street, and keeping tabs on rounds and player performance in various game modes. Moreover, crashing is decidedly worse this time around. The endless bouncing around in a single try feels weird, and is so much worse than the timed one-hit (+an explosion or two) in Revenge. In other words, the distinguishing hallmark of this series, the excellent crashing, takes a backseat this time. This while nearly every other aspect of the game has been improved. A final objection is the continuing trend of not supporting offline multiplayer. Off-line, this game is strictly single-player, no split-screen, no taking turns etc. Still, overall it is an excellent game, and a reinvention of the series. Sadly, if you want a good crash experience, get Revenge.… Expand

This game is just completely unfun for me. The city is large and the detail everywhere is excellent, but the game play is shallow and frustrating. There are only a couple of different type of mission, and once you've done them each once theres no reason to do them again, other than to get a new car which is marginally different. The "narrator" is also trying way too hard to sound cool, I just want to punch him in the face. About the only reason to buy this game is if you really *REALLY* love crashing into cars over and over again for no reason whatsoever.… Expand

I'm not sure what game the reviewers got to play but the Burnout Paradise I played is the WORST sequel since Devil May Cry 2. No crash mode?? No auto restart? And what the hell happened to the sense of speed? The previous games were blazing fast. This barely gets things going. The Burnout series was always about one thing...FUN. You could hop in, run a couple of races or just smash around. Great times. But this game? All work. You've got to drive to every race, that you have to find yourself! No one's mentioned that you only see maybe 2 or 3 races when the game starts. You've got to drive around and discover where all the races start. Then you've got to drive back to the same spot if you lose. Oh and don't forget to drive one place to fix your car, another place to paint it (with so few options it's hardly worth it) and another place to fill up the turbo. This is annoying in real life. Why, oh why, would the designers think that that would be fun here? And did I mention that this game feels slow? Oh good I did. This used to be a great game for having your friends over and seeing who could finish a run the fastest or cause the biggest wreck. Now the only wreck here is the game itself. It is a real slap in the face to fans of the series. Just like DMC2. PLEASE rent before you buy if you must know how this is. You'll thank me later.… Expand

If you're a Burnout fan like I was then I'd suggest giving this one a miss.. doesn't quite know what it is and has staggered into territories best left untouched. Why can't you restart immediately for the love of God??? Design flaws aplently. After the almost perfect earlier incarnations this is quite a feat!

The races are great fun, it's just too much of a chore driving between them. One of the best things for Burnout is that it is instant fun, the free roaming, though very impressive, removes this totally.

Not a total waste of money, but it ain't as much fun as Burnout 2:POI or even 3:Takedown for me. Heavily biased towards online multiplayer with little circuits and tracks hidden away in the city. NO FUN for offline players who instead have to slog up and down the same boring tracks playing samey race after race.

This game is fun to start wit but becomes tedious due to the fact that there is NO RESTART OPTION, this was a huge over sight by criterion, its 2 pity because this game had to much potential, the other problem is the map, while it sounds fun to choose your own route in every race it gets annoying having to always look at the mini-map and if you make a single wrong turn it screws up your whole race and now because theres no restart option you now hav to drive to the other side of the mas again to try the race again. The other feature they seem to hav forgoten to put in is the crash junction, instead they replaced it with an option to barrel roll your car when ever you feel like it, basically this feature sucks and they must bring back crash junction, overall this is a poor attempt at a burnout game, its supposed to be fun...not tedious. Nice graphics and damage physics dont make a good game… Expand

No, Chris C., we didn't want the same game we've played 4 times before. WE just didn't want to be duped inot buying a game with the "Burnout" label on that was a noticeably inferior playing experience to the previous versions. Noe the subtle difference. What good are the forthcoming new online game modes if you're not interested in multiplayer? Why go out of your way to alienate the people who enjoyed the game previously in order to chase a new market of GTA players. $$$ must be the answer. The developer's "get over it" response to dissatisfied customers speaks volumes.… Expand

Open world + bad navigation system = ahhhhhh! What a shame the makers fell into the trap all other race game developers fall into when trying to reinvent their overmilked franchise. Open worlds is such a bad idea it should never have left the initial planning meetings! Bit tired of the whole Burnout thing now tbh. The hit a peak with no.3 and have been slipping since.

Since B3 there has been a steady decline in the series with an unecessary addition of new things for the sake of it, rather than perfection of what was already there. This one, whilst next-gen, really is clutching at straws and some very weird things have gone in or been omitted. Crash has vanished and has been 'superceeded' with the feeble Showtime. Open plan racing is one of the things you don't do.. particulary with the speeds involved here.. and if you are going to do it make damned sure the navigation system is up to the job.. which it's not. Full of disappointments for me personally. I expected a lot more after waiting so long.. and you have to drive back to the start to restart a race!! eurgh.… Expand

I originally bought the 360 version, but after seeing my mates PS3 version of the game, I took it back and swapped it for the PS3 version. The lighting and textures seem so much better. It's obvious the PS3 lead platform benefited from this release, so if you have both consoles, go with the PS3 version.

Brilliant game in every respect - and BRAVE and INNOVATIVE of the developers to NOT have a 'Restart' button!! It means every race really MATTERS. Plus it relieves you of that 100% completion obsession - forces you to play more organically.

Open world was bound to be contravercial and rightly so. It requires so many comprimises that I'm amazed it was even seriously suggested let alone implemented. I've been playing this for quite a while now and have always been a Burnout fan but this one just isn't Burnout and I can't really say that it's probably time Burnout put itself to bed before it gets evenmore confused.… Expand

No crash or restar.Where is the speed?of the previous games? Burnout series was always about fun. You could get in the car, race or just smash. This is a really confused premise. You've got to drive to every race and find it yourself. You have to drive around and discover where all the races start which is horrible. Then you've got to drive back to the same spot if you lose - even more horrible. There's one place to fix your car, another place to pointlessly paint it and another place to top- up the turbo. Rent before you buy is my advice. A pain.… Expand

The perfection of earlier Burnouts has started to fade, almost completely in this latest iteration. Burnout 4 was a little dissapointing after number 3 and Paradise continues this downward slide unfortunately. Franchises are overmilked these days and the games inevitably suffer as a consequence. Here is a perfect example of that in action.

Burnout 3, was one of my favorite games of all time, and although I didn't like Revenge nearly as much, I much prefer it to the sloppy mess of a game that Paradise is. My biggest complaint is the fact that you can no longer control you're car after being taken down, a trick that evened up the gameplay in the older games, instead all you can do now is watch the same crashes over and over and over again. Aside from this, the open ended world seems fun at first, but it also completely ruins the racing. There are so many routes open, it is incredibly easy to get lost and lose the race. But what's even worse is the fact that when you do get lost and you know you've lost the race you cannot simply restart the race. No, you have to either finish the race and be taunted by the DJ or enter Showtime mode, which you cannot quit out of either! This isn't burnout, it's simply a former shell of what it once was. Save you're money and just download Burnout 3 on Xbox Live.… Expand

Terrible Game. everything that was fun was taken out. No more crash mode, explosions or set races which you needed to complete in a series. now its an open world where you must drive to certain areas each time and find the races themselves. they added a lame Showtime mode which is nothing like crash mode...think magnetic cars that you keep bouncing off...stupid. Thank goodness for demos.

The game is fun but has some major issues, the fun parts are really fun but if your not winning it gets frustrating no restart race after losing sucks.....you have to drive all the way back to the start to restart...the MAP is also a huge FAILURE, normally when racing the little arrow representing your car points upward on your screen and north is shown rotating around the map, but instead your arrow roams aimlessly and the blinking steet signs that tell you to turn are often very wrong........besides these 2 major problems this game is awesome online and off both, have 300 + races, 70+ some cars and tons of fun to be had....some of the first cars suck....excellent FUN… Expand

I loved the earlier burnouts especially 3 and 4 but I can't say this is anywhere near as good. I REALLY hope that the developers go back to the level up system of previous games where you could not take a wrong turn in a race and you don't have to keep looking at a map. You've tried the new system - please go back to the older systems. Start by looking at what made revenge so bloody good.… Expand

What happenes when you mix Tony Hawks: Underground and Burnout? YOU GET THIS ABOMNATION! Who could possibly think that speeding 130 mph would mix with taking your eyes off the road to read a tiny map at the bottom of the screen? Not to mention oncoming traffic is no more, the best part of the game, gone. Sure you can vier into the other lane but 1 of 2 things will happen to you. 1) the opposing traffic will stear INTO you like a heat seeking missle or 2) the crash cam will enable well before you would have crashed. So you will be racing against oncoming, see a potential hazard and before you have time to steer out of the way, regardless of how easy it would be to miss the collision, the crash cam pops on and you must helplessly watch yourself slam into the obstruction. They have sucked all the fun out of a once thriving title, and I blame EA. I don't know how but they had to have done something, because I doubt Criterion would destroy their beautiful racer.… Expand

Wide open playing area is a nice try but the pros don

So far this game is a big disappointment. The last Burnout is my favorite racing game ever because of the simple, fun gameplay and the joyful bashing of cars. By trying to make B:Paradise more "realistic" they've lost a lot of the fun of the previous game. Specifically, deciding to remove the use of "pedestrian" cars as items you can bash into and push into other cars, etc. I guess I'll just go back to playing the other game, once I finish this one. Maybe this one will grow on me. It's got great graphics, a huge world to play in... too bad they lost the arcade flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants feel.… Expand

This game rocks. Sure it's a little different than the prior version, but overall very good worthwhile game. I will spend lot of time playing this game.

NO OFFLINE MULTIPLAYER?? WTF? This game LOOKS great, handles fine and plays fine, but I bought this JUST for the offline multiplayer. C'mon, a racing game without offline multiplayer? How ridiculous is that? Imagine they released Street Fighter II or Super Mario Kart without multiplayer, I'm sure those games would have faded into oblivion instead of being classics. One big issue I have with the 360 is the lack of co-op and vs in offline mode in MANY games. I REALLY don't get WHY they would decide not to include it. A complete mystery and that's why it doesnt deserve a higher rating. All previous Burnuts had it too, so before you go bashing, take that into consideration.… Expand

This game is addictive, I don't understand what people are moaning about.

Great game! Fun online, It will take months to complete. Only complaint is that is too easy to crash.

Very good online mode...Very good offline. I like it, don't listen to the negative critic!

I have purchased every Burnout since the first one, the day they come out. Burnout 4 was a let-down, this is a disaster. No crash mode, drive all over to find a race, have the wrong car, have to watch a map when racing, get lost, then no restarting. Open world is just a terrible idea. I wonder if all the good developers at Criterion moved on a few years ago. This gets my vote for worst Burnout game ever.… Expand

I saw the previews and I had a gutteral reaction: buy this game!! I played the demo, and it's sooo amazing. The cars are fantastic, the car sounds are great, the handling is perfect (for Burnout), the crashes are cool. But... where's the offline multiplayer? I was going to buy this game for my son and I, because we love playing Burnout 3 road rage and co-op crash mode on the old Xbox together. But that's gone now. Also, the free driving should be a mode, not the default. Works great for GTA, not so great for racing. I won't be buying this game. Really really sad. :-( The developers obviously didn't talk or listen to Burnout fans when they designed this game.… Expand

Paradise it ain't. Give me Takedown any day.

Very sloppy decisions made here. I used to be a Burnout fan but the game design has been altered unforgivably.

Fun Fun Fun game. I ran out of things to do so I wish it was a bit longer, but A blast to play on and off-line.

Point is, it sucks all around. When you race you are expected to navigate a poorly designed map or memorize the whole damn city or something. Everyone knows you need every precious second to watch what is coming up on the horizon. No time for "checking directions". Garbage. Gets old really quick. You know the music is ass, but you can't even play your own tracks anymore. Why even get it if you can't race to your own shi+? How hard was it to add this feature? These questions remain unanswered. Plus the open gameplay is crapola, I don't want to drive around for hours straight. I want to get a snack, take a breather, blink my eyes, smoke somethin, then choose a race or crash mode(which is a mere shell of the fun it used to be). Criterion just pissed in the mouth of John Q. Gamer. Bottom line- Rent it. I'm gonna go play GTA.… Expand

The biggest disappointment for the last couple of years! After the epic classic "Burnout Revenge" Criterion tried something new.... and messed it up seriously. This is rather a "midnight club" meets "need for speed" mesh but no "burnout" game anymore. Not a complete failure but a huge step-back in the series. Open-world gaming doesn't work, you can't restart races without travelling to the starting point again, the guns n roses title track is annoying (and also a sign that the series went towards mainstream...). I didn't play it online, but the single player mode is just plain boring! I can't believe it. Terribly overrated game!… Expand

Perfect intense flawless racing action! Game add-ons are worth every MS point!! if you don't own this BurnOut title you are missing out big time!!!

Don't like the open plan world system which is totally at odds in a Burnout game. Lousy nav too which is unforgiveable. Showtime is boring.

Burnout Revenge was an excelent game, and instantly after playing the demo of Paradise i was hugely disapointed, theyve made it like Need for Speed in the travelling around sense which is awfull, there is no need for it, Burnout was good enough the way it was.

It's not a bad game, it's just not Burnout. I should be focusing on a takedown, not looking at the map to see if I need to turn yet. No crash mode = Epic Fail.

Amazing game the good outweigh the bad 9 to 1. Hence the 9 rating.

No crash mode, new showtime mode not nearly as fun or engaging. No retry mode, have to drive back to the beginning of a race to retry. Wouldn't be a problem except for the fact its a game that revolves around crashing, and thus, you crash and lose, time to start driving. Open world seems like a great idea but its not, especially if you take a wrong turn during a race and end up on another island, assuring you lose the race have to drive back to retry. Find a race only to realize its car specific and have to drive to a garage to get a specific car and then drive back. Basically they ruined Burnout for me, so no thanks I'll stick to Revenge.… Expand

This ain't Burnout no more - identity lost. Crash gone - what idiot decided that! It's been pushed into new territory that wasn't needed. Don't do an open plan racer for goodness sake, it's never woked before and it doesn't work here. Worst Burnout yet.

Nowhere near good enough. Everything good from Burnout seems to have gone and it's now riddled with annoyances and stupid omissions.

Many of my favourite Burnout things have gone in this latest version. It's still a reasonable racer but some strange things have happened this time around that aren't my cup of tea at all. Looks nice and sounds great but ultimately falls short of what we're used to.

This game is awesome. smooth online intergration is really nice. i only have one main complaint, you can't abort/cancel events. i don't care that i can't restart it (as criterion said, they didn't want any load screens)... but i'd like to beable to abort a run.

A ok game, but i would prefer a good old fashioned burnout game. The open world is a little overwhelming at times.

One of the best in the series for sure.

I LOVE THIS GAME! I think it is more fun than halo and call of duty! No lie. The crashes are so realistic and when you crash, its not disappointing because your car goes flying. When you takedown another car, they can sometimes take out others cars which is the coolest thing ever to watch. The billboards, smashes, and superjumps are so much fun to hit. BUY THIS GAME! IT IS AMAZING DON9;T LISTEN TO ANYTHING UNDER AN 8 FOR THIS GAME!… Expand

Haha - just read the post from "Chris C"???? - now theres an EA insider trying a bit of marketing spin if ever I've heard it! Come on, who's gonna believe that 'review'? Nah, there lots wrong with this game for me. Obviously games need to move forward with each iteration, but changing everything at once and omitting the things that we fans were looking forward to playing more of, only better, is a pretty stupid move by the designers. There's some good stuff here, marred by some truly awful design descisions. Don't take my word for it, just read some of the user comments.. Not sure what Criterion can do now. Looks like Burnout is dead in the water and their other 'defining' game attempt 'Black' fell on its arse.… Expand

Criterion Games are back with another installment of the Burnout series, and it is certainly the best title yet. With gorgeous graphics and many new features, Burnout Paradise offers an incredible amount of replay value and will keep you entertained for many an hour. Whether you aim to complete all 350 online challenges, free-roam with your friends, enter ranked and player matches via Xbox Live, or just try and conquer hundreds of single player events and gain your coveted Burnout licence is up to you; but whatever you decide, I am sure you will have fun doing it. The game… Expand

This game is frustrating!All the other burnout games from the first one were incredible.Especially Burnout 3 and burnout revenge.I still will give this game a high score cause it is great but ea needs to fix the wrongs in this game.I still play burnout revenge because that game is a true example of perfection.I have to say that I like midnight club:Los Angeles better by a little bit.I give this game an 8.… Expand

Oh my word, this is a frightfully exciting game, isn't it, chaps? I say. I'm afraid to say that being a distinguished gentleman in the twilight years of his life, and dare I say it, "born with a silver spoon in his mouth", I had yet to encounter one of these new fangled "xbox 360" devices, but I was cajoled into having a "go" by my great-grandson and I'll say it was jolly good fun indeed! Unfortunately the opportunity for learning to drive an automobile never presented itself to me in life, as I've always enjoyed the benefit of having a chauffeur, so it took an awfully long time to become acquainted with the steering wheel "controller", but gosh the automobiles in this game do travel at some fair speed, I should hasten to add! If I were to be so rude as to fault the game at all, I should point out that it did not appear to feature the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, as I would very much have liked to see how the game designers would have portrayed the automobile that ferries me around in real life. However that is a triviality that barely warrants a mention. This game appears to be sterling stuff, and well deserved of the 10 that I have thus awarded to it. Good night.… Expand

If I have to listen to Paradise City by Guns N' Roses one more time......Burnout Paradise should be a great game. It has a lot of things going for it: addictive gameplay, an open world, different game modes. Unfortunately these aspects don't get to shine because of the clunky way the game was designed. Findings the kind of race you want is difficult and the map isn't much help. Making your own route to the objective is a good idea but is implemented poorly. The sign telling you which way to turn is hard to notice in an adrenaline fueled car-off with more crashes than the annual Crash Bandicoot convention that I just made up. With no running narrative, the only encouragement to keep playing is to upgrade your license. Somehow this does not set my shins alight with excitement. And that DJ is annoying.… Expand

As a Burnout game, I WAS mildly disappointed with the lack of an explicit crash mode with the chained explosion effect of the previous games, overall, it's a gorgeous, well-designed, and fun game. Just taking a drive through the miles of the city's open roads is a nice experience, and the cars perform (and deform) as they should. Showtime can't completely fill Crash's shoes, but it does a damn good job trying, and online is a completely engrossing experience that can hook you for days. Overall, a spectacular game that Criterion should be proud of and maintain. Oh, hey, look, I'm not getting paid off by the company! I actually just like this game!… Expand

It reminds me a bit of GTA except you don't have to bother feeding yourself or hopping from vehicle to vehicle on foot. Now you can just do the rooftop shuffle from the safety of your car! With dozens of fun little stunt spots, plenty of raced out toys to drive, hundreds of shortcuts & jumps, a time trial on every road, and a healthy variety of events (race & other)..there is enough to keep even the shortest of attention spans occupied. Plus, with an open map and no defined circuits, you're left planning your own race routes and improvising the path along the way...pure genius!… Expand

Burnout Paradise was a brave move from Criterion. The familiar destruction-oriented gameplay in an open-world environment was fresh and innovative, but riddled with problems. For example, crash a few times and fall too far behind early in a race? You're given the option of riding out the event, or quitting and driving back to the starting line. A restart feature was present in the previous Burnout games, so why not this one? The progression is tedious and EXTREMELY repetitive. Complete x number of events to unlock the next stage of your license, before doing the same events again to achieve the next level, and so on. The game features some amazing graphics, and driving around in the mountains offers you some beautiful views. There's a ton of collectibles to find, and this adds a bit more substance to the free-roam gameplay. Overall, Burnout Paradise is a fun game, sure - but lacking the same level of finesse and polish as the previous titles.… Expand

The modern-day equivalent of Paradise is a mix between NFS Most Wanted (2012) and DiRT Showdown. With unrealistic cars, variety in car classes, emphasis on free-roam and exploration, Burnout Paradise is possibly one of the best racing games to just hop on and hop off. You can play it for hours and hours, or just for a few minutes. It's very straightforward, and you feel you know the game right from the start. There are a lot of vehicles in the game, all of which do have distinct traits. For a game with such simplistic driving mechanics, it's remarkable how different each vehicle feels. And with a free update, there's even more content. The events include races, time trials, stunt runs and a takedown mode. The number of billboards and gates to smash through also give reason for free-roaming. The game is very fast-paced and intense, especially as the events don't have a set route with checkpoints just start & finish. The game is possibly the easiest pick-up-and play racing game available, and yet it's still exciting and satisfying. Indeed, the city has been well-designed to accommodate for all sorts of crazy stuff. There is very little wrong with this game to be honest. The graphics could have been much worse given that it's running on RenderWare, which was developed in the late 1990s. If you're looking for a hardcore driving experience this is the polar opposite. Paradise is a game for everyone, regardless of their experience or tastes. In a way, it's the more arcadey sister of NFS Undercover. Overall, Burnout Paradise achieves something which few other racing games have even attempted, and has been developed professionally with a great user experience too.… Expand

This is a Good game with lots of adrenalin but It is don't have story and And I can't customize the cars BUT this is a very good game with a little miss.

This is how i will point flaws: The good: Graphics. The bad: Everything else. Why: Ok first, this game is nothing like what the past games where. This one went all "racing" on us, instead of burnouts trademark crashes and takedowns. Second, while your driving, the game freezes at random spots so an imbred narrator can talk to you about the obvious. such as: "jump the ramps for points!". OK CAPTAIN OBVIOUS. This game is junk. I want my money back. Burnout 1-3 was good. The rest, nope. Did i mention the game is lifeless? Its so unreal its not even funny! So, you look into your car or others, and noone is there. Ghost car? And nobody walks on the street. This game is horrible.… Expand

This used to be a good game, i liked all of the previous series but after paradise i said goodbye to the series. Probably everyone did, considered the fact they're now doing Need for speed.. If you like burnout, you might not like paradise.