Burnout Paradise review

Burnout Paradise is the latest game in the Burnout series released for PS3 and Xbox 360. This game is a total deviation from the previous Burnout games on PS2 in that this is an open world game. There are races, as well as marked man, stunt run, road rage and specific car races. Marked man pits you against cars that try to take you out while you try to reach the goal. Road Rage requires you to take down a number of cars within a set amount of time. Stunt runs require you to perform stunts and get a certain score. There are 5 regular licenses and 2 special ones. To move up in license rank, you win a certain number of events. To get one of the special licenses, you must complete every event. There are also in-game challenges that you could go for if you wish. There are over 75 regular cars to unlock. They are unlocked by taking them down in Paradise City or unlocking them by winning the car specific events. Each road you drive on has a time rule (a time to beat on the road) and a showtime rule (the most damage caused in showtime mode). Conquering the rules mean you rule the road. There are offline and online rules and the online mode is great. You can seamlessly go from online to offline and vice versa just by clicking right on the dpad and clicking instant freeburn. There are races, marked man, stunt run and road rage as well. There are 500 total online challenges (ranging from 2 to 8 player challenges.) All across the city, there are smash gates, billboards, and super jumps. The smash gates are yellow gates that lead to secret areas. Billboards are the red boards scattered across the city. Super jumps are marked by blue cones. The world is quite massive (the downloadable version is 3GB!). This game will have you playing for hours. I'm currently at 120 hours (and approaching 7000 miles) and I still love the game. There is a lot of downloadable content for the game, from bikes to the latest content, a new island named Big Surf Island. Go to Criterion's game website to see all the DLC. You can also view your stats (and see how you stay up against your friends.) on their website as well. The 360 achievements do not mirror the PS3 trophies (in fact, the PS3 has more trophies (99) as opposed to 60 achievements). There are custom soundtracks available. This is good because while the music is ok, it's nice to listen to something that doesn't loop while playing online. Overall this game is fun and there isn't really anything bad I would say about it. The game is rated E10 so fun can be had by all. The game is available in stores for PS3 and 360 as well as off the PSN store. If you are a Burnout fan and/or a racing fan, get this game.