Burnout Paradise

Burnout Paradise is an open-world action racking game. Like its predecessors in the popular Burnout series, Burnout Paradise focuses not only on outracing other drivers but also on causing as much mayhem and damage as possible.

The game takes place in an open-world environment; the fictional Paradise City is the setting for the action. As you drive around Paradise City, you can initiate races against other drivers or begin the metal-twisting, fuel-burning demolition derby known as Showtime. Unlike most racing games, Burnout Paradise's races don't have set tracks; instead, the winner is the driver who arrives at a stated destination first. Knowing your way around Paradise City can make a big difference to your chances of victory. In Showtime, it's not about how far you can drive but about how far you can careen your car through a massive collision.

In addition to races and Showtime, you can also compete in a number of multiplayer modes, battling other players to get the most stunt points, competing in high-speed vehicular games of tag or trying to stop an enemy team from reaching their destination. These challenges and more will test both your driving skill and your knowledge of the streets of Paradise City to the utmost. DLC packs include new game modes, including a return of the popular Cops and Robbers mode from earlier games.

Burnout Paradise is a big, beautiful game and it helps to have a big, beautiful monitor to play it on. To that end, this game's Polyvision feature allows you to link multiple monitors together to create a dramatic widescreen view of Paradise City.

Like all Burnout games, Burnout Paradise is for the action nut more than the motorsport lover. While based on real vehicles, the game's cars are fictional and there are no real vehicle customisation options other than purely cosmetic ones. The driving gameplay is relatively fast and loose, focused more on ridiculous stunts and fiery takedowns than on realistic racing simulation.

With its over-the-top collisions, high-speed boosts and cavalier disregard for the lives, safety and property of Paradise City's imaginary citizens, Burnout Paradise is a great stress-reliever or multiplayer party for gamers who don't take their racing games too seriously.

Pros

• Fun multiplayer minigames
• Simple mission controls
• Entertaining explosions

Cons

• Unrealistic controls