So, I decided to buy Burnout Paradise.
I was intially sceptical of the game. Free roam in Burnout? Too much of a departure - but I figured that they would get it right.
The good points first - no more of that ridiculous traffic checking they introduced in
Revenge. You cannot just drive into traffic travelling the same way now and expect to blunder through.
The game looks as gorgeous as ever and it drives as well as it always did.
Sadly, despite this, the game is a disappointment. The free roaming element has no place in the Burnout series IMO. It is supposed to be quickfire events that can be easily selected and, where needed, restarted. In this you have to find a bloody event first, then stop and press the accelerator and brake. This quickly grates.
Worse still, if you fail a race you are left only to find another race. No restarts here. People will say "well, there are plenty of events so just do another". Sorry, that is ridiculous. Eventually you have to get all of the races done and I foresee annoyance at having to traipse all the way back to the start to attempt the race again. Which you may well be doing a lot of, because you have to find your own route for the races.
I am also yet to see a crash junction on this game. A big part of the series appears to have gone.
Yet again EA ruin a glorious franchise. They have done a hatchet job on NFS by making it a free roamer (and chavtastic to boot) and now they appear to have influenced the wrong decisions for Burnout. It is horrible.
The series was once a byword for perfection. Burnout 2 and 3 were two of the best games I have ever played, ever. But they have list their way seriously. Sadly, I expect we will be given more free roam Burnouts in future. And, therefore, no more fun.
