Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Burnout Paradise is the first true next generation version of Criterion Games' seminal arcade racing series. The 2006 release of Burnout Revenge on the Xbox 360 was merely a port. Burnout Paradise is built from the ground-up to take advantage of the abilities of the new next-gen consoles.

You are given free reign in Paradise City. With the exception of a few events that have prerequisites, nearly every race and objective is available to you from the opening of the game. On the outset, Burnout Paradise simply feels like Grand Theft Auto with just cars. The longer you play, the more you will start to feel the game's various nuances shine through.

Like most Burnout games, there is no set storyline other than to dominate the road. Each of the 120 traffic lights in Paradise City offer up a different event. You can compete in traditional races, marked man races, burning routes, road rage, and stunt runs. Winning in certain events unlocks new vehicles. You have to take them down in the free roaming mode in order to add them to your collection.

Each car is rated according to the three car classes: Stunt, Aggression and Speed. The boost meter fills differently according to the class of car you are driving at any one time. Normal burnout tactics will fill your boost meter, but the keys to mastering each class lie in knowing which methods are the most effective. Stunt cars gain boost through precarious driving, such as jumps, power drifts, near misses and the like. Aggressive cars are most effective by scoring takedowns on your rivals, and speed cars excel by drifting and chaining burnouts.

You begin the game with your learners permit and after clearing a set number of events, the rank of your license goes up. By obtaining each class of license, more advanced cars will be unlocked as you clear events. Each new license will reset all completed events and allow you to complete each one again at a higher level.

What's Hot
Like most free-roaming games, once the game initially loads you will experience no further loading times to distract you while racing through Paradise City. Considering the fidelity of the graphics, speed of the game and the amazing draw distance, this is a major feat. Unlike most free-roaming games, you will not notice the same five cars, or buildings over and over as much. Thanks to the updated graphics and the new physics system, your time in Paradise City will be filled with crashes that make even Burnout veterans wince and cringe. Some of the more spectacular crashes and jumps will have you yelling expletives of joy at your screen.


Burnout Paradise
Traditional races are precisely what you would expect from the series. You get to race from one point on the map to one of the eight finish points on the map. Normal Burnout rules still apply; you gain boost by through risky driving and stunts, burnouts, or via takedowns; forcing your opponents to crash. Marked man events require you to reach the finish line in one piece while all of the other racers attempt to take you out. Each car in the game has a burning route devoted to it. If you can make it to the finish using the required car within the time limit will net you access to an upgraded version of the same car. Road Rage requires you to get a set number of takedowns before time runs out. Stunt runs task you with chaining together various stunts into a combination in order to get the highest score possible within the time constraints. Think: Tony Hawk or SSX with turbocharged drifting and barrel roll jumps instead of board grabs.

In addition to these, you can also compete in Showtime events, practice parking and search through the city to find all of the secrets.

Showtime replaces Burnout's traditional crash mode. Pressing both top shoulder buttons during any crash will put you into Showtime mode. You get to try to aim your wrecked car into as much traffic as possible in order to cause as much damage as possible. Thanks to the game's emphasis on remaining open-ended, you could in theory chain your Showtime rampage across the entire map. The only limiting factor in this mode is your boost, as it gets used up to propel your car once it loses momentum.

When you are not in the mood for any of the events, you can practice power parking, or you can search out any of the games' hundreds of secrets. In a game that prides itself on speed and destruction, parking can be one of the tougher parts of Burnout Paradise. While not quite a true event, Burnout lets you try to power-park your car. You are given a percentage rating for how well you are able to use your car's emergency brake to spin your car into a parking spot. Paradise City is huge and so are its secrets. You can search out all of the various drive-thru junkyards, paint shops, repair shops, gas stations, parking lots and a few hidden stunt areas if you know where to look. In addition, you can scour the city breaking through more than 400 'smash' gate shortcuts, bust through the hidden burnout billboards, or search for the many concealed 'super jump' ramps. Due to its massive size, you will never feel like there's not enough to do in Paradise City.