Burnout Paradise

Editor's note: Recently, Burnout Paradise Video Review has appeared in our pages . We recommend it to your attention.

Burnout . It has been difficult not to come across this title over the past few years. Everyone probably at least something broke on their ears, and even more insightfully maybe even registered that if arcade racing, then only from Criterion Studios. Roughly Well, that's true - fans of developing cosmic speeds without thinking about the consequences of a possible accident know what it's all about. The latest installment of this series, and the first on next-genes, breaks with some of the assumptions made so far and focuses on the ambitious, though banal slogan of the "open world". So we don't have a series of races here, clearly separated routes, or a career mode in the classic sense. There is only Paradise City. Where the grass is green, the girls are beautiful, and Chinese Democracy in the stores.

Immediately after starting the game we are transferred to one of the city streets. We collect only a dilapidated wreck from the scrap yard and we can hit the road. At the very beginning we can get to virtually every, the smallest corner of the metropolis. There is no artificial division into levels or districts (although the bridges are still broken like in GTA - only that we can easily jump over the river). On one hand it's good because the first impression is very positive. The problem begins when we turn around a little and find that we have seen everything. Of course, this is not a right feeling, but it is a fact - we will not experience any special visual shock anymore. The city is quite big, but its charm is not in the surface, but in countless nooks and crannies, such as jumps and shortcuts. You have to get used to this idea, accepting the lack of special surprises after the period of initial familiarization with topography.

All competitions in which we can participate are scattered around the map in the form of markers. Usually they are placed at intersections - we drive onto such, stop and do not release the brake, we add gas - the race will start automatically. It is equally simple to opt out of participation in any event; when we see that we have no chance of winning, we just stand still for a moment. So banal that it's strange. Well, good: competition. You can't complain about monotony here. The basic type of competition is of course standard races, in which we get bearings for the start and finish (sometimes a checkpoint along the way), and it only depends on us how we move from one point to another. Sometimes it pays to go behind the crowd (pushing your opponents off the road loads your afterburner, so it's not stupid), sometimes it's better to look for some clever shortcut. In general, it is nice, although at least at the beginning you have to look too often at the map (BACK button on X360). Its thumbnail in the lower-right corner of the screen will not solve any zagwozdki, so until we get used to the layout of the streets we are doomed to a few seconds of downtime in action.

What do we have next. There is a Marked Man mode in which all other participants try to destroy our ride, and we need to get to the finish line safely. There is also Road Rage, where we get the mission to eliminate a certain number of opponents. As befits a modern, arcade car, there could be some competition based on tricks. This is called Stunt Run, and it involves spinning turns, salt and other strange figures using the jumps located here and there (usually). And that's cool. The level of difficulty in each of these modes increases with the number of completed events of a given type. There is no danger, therefore, that after taking the third license in turn, completely omitting e.g. Stunt Runa, we will be immediately thrown into deep water. If you think about it, this Burnout is full of features of very logical and preventive thinking on the part of programmers.

There is a gadget called Showtime next to these modes. This is such an absurd, bizarre addition that we can activate at any time of the game (even during the race) by simultaneously pressing LB and RB. Our car then falls into an irrational, weightless flight, in which it destroys everything in its path. The more civil cars we hook and the same massacre - the better. And in general, ideally, if we hit a bus, or bounce off the ground so as to hit some interesting billboard. The points will fly by themselves, miracle honey and nuts. It looks stupid by all means - "stupid" in the positive sense of the word. It just doesn't have to make sense, just to have fun.

Career development boils down to acquiring further types of licenses. The game tells us that we will win the next category of law after winning, for example, 20 more competitions - and that's basically everything. There is no narrative or hand lead here. And very good, because the driving force of this type of games must be gameplay par excellence. We must feel that each subsequent race gives us pleasure, it will not be replaced by any feature prostheses. The authors of Paradise were aware of this and did not wash our eyes with anything unnecessary. There is no tuning, customization of alloy wheels or other crap that usually distracts players from the merits of the case. If you want to change the color of the car, please, go through the paint shop, you can do it even during the race (no need to stop). Do you want to get a new car? Spot something interesting in the city and push the driver onto a concrete pole, and you will collect your trophy at the junkyard. You look at Burnout's menu and wonder what's so little about it. Nothing could be more wrong. Formalities have been reduced to a minimum, meat is abundant.

Single single, but the real fun in Paradise begins only after switching to Xbox Live. We do it extremely simply - press one of the directions on the "cross" and choose the option to join the game (or host it). After a few seconds, other players appear in the city. Revelation! There's a lot of work here. We have an analogous set of gameplay modes from the single (only Road Rage was missing), and more than these gigantic set of challenges to be completed. There will be 300 of them. They are divided according to the number of players needed to complete them: 50 tasks for 2 players, 50 for 3 and so on. You can see that the authors put a lot of heart into inventing these sub-quests; even though there are so many of them, they all seem to make sense. And as we are already at the multiplayer, it is impossible not to mention the mugshots, i.e. photos taken hot players at the time of accidents (of course it is necessary to have a webcam to the console). Photos of pushed to the side and massacred opponents after some time begin to create a tasteful album that you can fancy as part of remembering the good old days.

The graphic side of the game presses into the armchair at the first contact. Gather some people around the TV, start Burnout and just wait for their choral "Uuu!", "Wooo!", "Eeeee!" at each accident. Whenever we go into something, we apologize, we will see a truly sadomasochistic replay, where the main role is played by popping glass and bending sheet metal. By the way - it's easy to guess why in such circumstances it was abandoned placing virtual people in the vehicles, hyha. But. Everything here is just cool. Starting from the design of all menus, through color filters (check the blue shadows at the top and bottom of the screen), and ending with the animation and special effects. Fashionable and current - like from EA. Similarly, with music, among which we will find flashes of pop-culture consciousness of American decision-makers. In the foreground LCD Soundsystem ( Us v Them ), which is probably one of the coolest people in the world with the team. Heh. I can only hear that someone is annoyed by the incoming radio DJ (from the station called Voiced Crash FM). Me personally not.

Arcade - how can you not love this word, this support of all video games that have ever seen the light of day. Even the largest PC-conservative is able to sit in front of Paradise for several minutes and have a great time. Without thinking that you can't adjust the suspension hardness here. No, I am a bit full of stuff, but Burnout is a game of this type: it will appeal to everyone, small and large. Some will find in it the perfect way for a short, casual relaxation, while others will dissolve in a multitude of Achievements and challenges to complete in multiplayer. Console games are expensive - too expensive. But for some of them it is worth paying these two hard-earned bills. Burnout Paradise is just such a few.

Krzysztof "Lordareon" Gonciarz

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